A reminder re Form 720 - asset declaration

As the year-end approaches I thought it worth reminding anyone with assets outside Spain that they must declare any group valued at 50,000 Euros or more, or if assets have increased by more than 20,000 Euros (easily done with a house).

They should be declared using Form 720, and fines for not doing so and to time are draconian, as one case I have recently heard of.

"You are obliged to declare all assets held during 2019 even if only held for part of the year. The declaration must be made by 30th April 2020. In subsequent years the date will be 31st March.
In subsequent years you only re-declare an asset if the value of that asset has increased by more than €20000. It is not entirely clear how this is applied but hopefully it will become clearer by the time the next declaration is due.

PENALTIES FOR NON DECLARATION.
The fine for each item not declared is €5000 with a minimum fine of €10000. In addition the value of the asset will be considered as income and taxed at the normal income tax rates of up to 50% or more in some regions. In addition there will be a fine of 150% of the tax due and if the tax due is over €120000 it will be considered a criminal offence.

So, if you fail to declare a bank account with €300k in it you could end up with a bill for €375K and end up in prison!"

I know of one couple who failed to declare (their gestor never told them about it....) who have been fined 3000 Euros each (joint property, reduced to 2250 for prompt payment with no challenge to the fine). Remember that this is for non-declaration, nothing to do with the tax.

They have appealed to the EU but the fine stands so far, three years later.

If you are tax-resident and have a pension pot, or a house, or even an expensive car in the UK this applies to you.