- The tax charges the manufacture, import and intra-EU acquisition of these gases, and their irregular possession.
- A territorial register is created and the warehouse-keeper is regulated, who can defer payment while holding stock.
- Anyone selling gases or equipment containing them must show on the invoice the type of gas, the kilos and the tax paid.
On 31 August 2022 Royal Decree 712/2022 of 30 August, approving a new Regulation on the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Tax, was published in the Official State Gazette. It takes effect on 1 September and replaces the 2013 regulation. It was published together with a Ministry of Finance order, HFP/826/2022, approving form 587 for self-assessment and form A23 for refund requests.
The regulation implements a reform of the tax law itself, approved in July through Act 14/2022, which seeks to simplify the tax and reinforce the fight against fraud, above all in cross-border purchases. It is one of the tax commitments that Spain undertook with the European Commission within the Recovery Plan. It matters to the whole refrigeration and air-conditioning sector, and to companies that buy or maintain equipment using these gases.
What is taxed and who pays
The gases covered are the hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride listed in the European regulation on fluorinated gases, as well as mixtures containing them. After the reform, the taxable event is their manufacture, import or intra-EU acquisition, and also irregular possession in Spanish territory, so the taxpayers are manufacturers, importers, intra-EU purchasers and those who hold them irregularly.
These gases are used mainly as refrigerants in air conditioning, cold stores and heat pumps, so the effect is felt by installers, maintenance firms, distributors, supermarkets and the food industry. It is an environmental tax: it aims to make the gases with the greatest warming potential dearer and to encourage alternative technologies with less climate impact, in line with the emission reduction targets of the climate change law.
Register, warehouse-keepers and invoices
The regulation sets up a territorial register for the tax and the role of the fluorinated gas warehouse-keeper. The warehouse-keeper may defer payment of the tax while holding stock, so as not to have to advance the tax long before recovering it through sales. Authorisation is granted by the Tax Agency, is subject to conditions and, during the transition, operators in the previous register may ask to move to the new one.
Anyone selling or delivering fluorinated gases, or products and equipment containing them, must state on the invoice or in a certificate the type of gas, the quantity in kilograms and the tax paid. Stock accounts must also be kept, together with the documents proving exemptions or non-taxable cases for the limitation period. These are formal obligations whose breach can bring penalties.
Transition and what to review
The rule provides for transitional arrangements. Summary declarations of transactions in fluorinated gases for the period from 1 January to 31 August 2022 will be filed under the procedure set by a ministerial order, and the self-assessment of stocks will use form 587, paying the amounts when filing. The order published the same day also regulates registration and the keeping of stock accounts.
Companies in the sector should check whether they are registered or need to register, how they reflect the tax in invoices and quotes and how they value their stock. Anyone commissioning the installation or maintenance of cooling equipment can ask whether the gas price already includes the tax and whether the invoice itemises it. This is general information; your tax adviser can specify the obligations in each case.
A tax that is small in volume nonetheless requires registers and procedures that should be ready from day one.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
