The Spanish Finance Ministry has announced a new tax reform in which it states that financial organizations now have the authority to collect taxes on behalf of the Spanish government.
The interesting clause in these new tax reforms which would certainly grasp the attention of the crypto holders in the country is that the Spanish Ministry of Finance can now seize digital assets to settle tax debts.
The move is viewed as an attempt from the Finance Ministry to gain more control over the monitoring of cryptocurrencies in the country and while the move may sound good for the economy of the country as it will be able to bring more tax money into their reserves, it would be interesting to observe what the general crypto population views are regarding this reform.
The Ministry of Finance is developing new legislation, under the leadership of the current Finance Minister, Maria Jesus Montero, in which reforms to the General Tax Laws will be made.
The main point of focus is Article 162 of the Spanish tax law which contains reforms regarding Corporate Personal Income Tax. What the authorities are seeking control over is the right to identify and seize crypto assets owned by taxpayers who are not up to date with their taxes, meaning they haven’t paid their overdue debts.
Effective February 1, a new royal decree has been implemented, which broadens the scope of entities authorized to have tax collection capabilities.
Previously, only banks, savings banks, and credit cooperatives were permitted to report to the Treasury. The reporting typically involved sharing details about financial transactions, account balances, or other relevant financial data as required by tax regulations and laws.
In addition to this change, the Treasury is gearing up for a more assertive approach against tax evasion. It aims to compel both banks and electronic money institutions to disclose information on all card transactions as part of its intensified efforts.
The country has been working quite vigorously in introducing new regulations to government the crypto market inside the country.
In October of 2023, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation announced that the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Act, the initial comprehensive crypto framework in the European Union, was set to be enforced at the national level by December 2025, instead of July 2026, which was the previously agreed deadline.
According to a release from the Ministry on October 26, Spain’s First Vice President, Nadia Calviño, held discussions with Verena Ross, the President of the European Securities and Market Authority, outlining the government’s commitment to expedite the implementation of MiCA.
While the general deadline for all 27 EU member states to implement MiCA is July 2026, Spain announced that it was aiming to accelerate this process by reducing the transition period from the standard 36 months to 18 months.
The move to seize crypto assets to pay for overdue taxes is not the first crypto-related tax reform that the Spanish government has announced in recent times. In November 2023, the Spanish Tax Administration Agency known locally as Agencia Tributaria, published Form 721, which is a declaration form for crypto assets stored abroad.
The form stated that all Spanish residents who are holding their crypto assets on foreign platforms were required to declare them to the tax authorities by the end of last year which was December 31, 2023.
The submission process for the Form 721 declaration started on January 1, 2024, and would conclude by the end of March.
There was some relief given regarding the taxable amount. According to the declaration only those crypto holders were eligible to declare their crypto assets whose crypto holdings are equivalent to 50,000 euros or above in fiat currency, which amounts to 54000 in U.S. Dollars.
Individuals who store their assets in self-custody wallets were directed to disclose their holdings by using the standard wealth tax Form 714 ensuring that they are complying fully with the country’s tax regulations.
