- The order approves forms 200, 220 and 206 for tax periods that began during 2021.
- For companies with a calendar year, the return is filed from 1 to 25 July, with direct debit available until the 20th.
- The forms include changes such as the detail of donations and the legal changes on exemptions and international tax transparency.
The BOE of Wednesday 4 May 2022 published Order HFP/379/2022 of 28 April, approving the corporate income tax and non-resident income tax returns for tax periods beginning between 1 January and 31 December 2021. The order takes effect on 1 July 2022, the date on which the filing period opens for companies whose year ends in December.
The forms are form 200, for corporate income tax and the permanent establishments of non-residents; form 220, for tax groups, including those of cooperatives; and form 206, the payment or refund document for non-resident income tax. For a company whose financial year matches the calendar year, the deadline will run from 1 to 25 July, and bank direct debit of the payment can be requested from 1 to 20 July. Anyone filing for the first time, or after a restructuring, should review the new boxes with particular care.
Deadlines and method of filing
Form 200 must be filed within 25 calendar days following the six months after the end of the tax period. A company with a December year-end therefore files in July; one that closes on 30 June files in January. Form 220 for tax groups is filed within the same period as that of the representative entity or parent of the group.
Filing is electronic, through the tax agency’s online office, and there is no paper route. The supplementary forms covering adjustments and deductions, social security bonuses for research staff or the investment reserve in the Canary Islands must be filed electronically before the return where the relevant circumstances apply, something to bear in mind in the internal calendar. If the deadline coincides with other closings, audits or due dates, it is worth setting an earlier internal date to have some margin.
What is new this year
The forms include a detail table for the deduction for donations to non-profit entities and priority patronage activities, and break down the boxes for the supplementary self-assessment more precisely. These are formal changes, but they require accounting and tax departments to have more detailed information on which contributions were made and to whom.
The order also reflects legal changes introduced in recent years. Law 11/2020 amended the exemptions for dividends and for gains on the transfer of shareholdings, with a transitional regime; Law 11/2021, on measures to prevent fraud, introduced payment of the exit tax in five instalments, extended international tax transparency to permanent establishments and adjusted the special regime for shipping companies in the Canary Islands.
What to review
Although the filing deadline is still some way off, it is worth starting to prepare the tax close in good time: reconciling accounting profit with taxable income, identifying permanent and temporary adjustments, reviewing deductions and tax losses still to be applied and checking the instalment payments already made. This makes it possible to estimate the amount payable and plan cash flow.
It is also a good moment to gather documentation on donations, related-party transactions and shareholdings, which are the areas where the rules have moved most. If the company is part of a tax group, coordination with the parent entity is advisable. Your tax adviser can help you plan and review the effects of the legal changes in your specific case.
Filing without surprises in July depends above all on the work done in May and June.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
