Declaration of overseas assets to Spanish authorities via Form 720

EXPATRIATES living in Spain who are considered Tax Residents are required to submit Form 720 to the tax authorities listing assets held overseas if their value amounts to €50,000 or more in certain categories.

There are three groups which are relevant and you only need submit the declaration for any group where your assets exceed the €50,000 limit.

The three groups are;

1. Bank Accounts which are already open, or for which you are already an account holder during the year which corresponds to the declaration. The valuation should be based on whichever is the highest the balance as of December 31 or the average balance for the last quarter of the year.
2. All types of financial assets which includes information on securities, assets, shares or amounts representing the capital stock of all types of companies, or the transfer of capital to third parties held abroad, as well as life insurances for which the individual is the beneficiary and annuities or temporary income of which they are the beneficiary. The valuation should be based on the value on December 31 of the year being declared.
3. Real estate of all types based on either cost of acquisition or current value, depending on which is higher.

If this is the case, you need to submit Form 720 which must be completed and presented no later than the end of March listing assets owned in the previous year and you do not have to submit further forms unless;

1. Any of the three groups have increased in value by €20,000 or more.
2. You are no longer the owner of the assets due to sale or transfer (even if disposed of at a loss).
3. You previously didn’t have assets to the value of €50.000 in any one or more of the three groups, but an increase in value during the year has taken the asset value over the €50,000 threshold.

There are quite heavy fines for those who knowingly or unknowingly don’t submit this form to the authorities and the form itself is relatively complicated, so in the first instance it may be advisable to take professional advice concerning completion.

The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice but merely conveys general information related to legal issues.