Spaniards will declare their bitcoin holdings to the Treasury “predictably” this year

Companies and investors linked to bitcoin (BTC) in Spain will have to report their holdings and movements to the State “predictably” in 2022, according to the state ordinance. Therefore, the details of that first declaration will be available as soon as 2023.

This was established in the 2022 Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan, which was presented this Monday, January 31, 2022 in a State official newsletter.

The document makes it known that the Spanish government intends to develop the Treasury’s information models on cryptocurrencies this year, protected by Law 11/2021. These are the already reported models 721, 172 and 173.

The government specifies that the first call to declare before the Tax Agency on the holdings and movements of digital assets, through the aforementioned models, It will also be held this 2022. Therefore, the results will be known next year.

Meanwhile, the government spoke of the Spanish taxpayer assistance model. As explained by the tax economist José Antonio Bravo, the request for fiscal data inherent to income tax will be “enhanced”, such as notices for having carried out operations with virtual currencies and cryptocurrencies.

Treasury tax models

What the government says through the bulletin lets it be known that they have decided to advance in the models that seek to regulate bitcoin from the tax point of view.

It should be remembered that, in the case of models 172 and 173, fixation is with cryptocurrency exchanges and other companies related to the ecosystem. The first forces report on the balances held by holders of virtual currencies.

The second sets the obligation to report on all operations carried out by a company linked to bitcoin in Spain, such as acquisition, transfer, exchange and transmission.

The other model, the 721, is directed against investors. As we reported in CriptoNoticias, this measure requires the declaration of holdings of cryptocurrencies in foreign exchanges that are greater than 50,000 euros (EUR).

What is relevant is that this model has, as far as is known, a penalty system identical to that of Model 720, which was recently outlawed by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which also declared it “extremely repressive”.

The use of bitcoin grew and so did tax risks

According to Spain, during 2021 there was an exponential growth in the investment of virtual currencies. With that, “the tax risks that these operations entail.”

For this reason, they justify that for this 2022 the “actions initiated in previous years” are maintained, which seek to “facilitate the voluntary compliance with the tax obligations derived from the transactions carried out, as well as the control of their correct taxation.”

These “actions” are the development and elaboration of the Models mentioned above, as well as the continuation of the tasks relating to obtaining information from various sources related to operations with cryptocurrencies.

The systematization and analysis of the information obtained on taxation and the strengthening of the computer tools necessary to facilitate the control of transactions are also part of the government’s objectives.

Likewise, they intend to strengthen international cooperation and participation in forums “in order to obtain information on operations carried out with virtual currencies.” The same in working groups where regulation is debated.

What the Spanish State communicates can be translated into a regulation movement in progress, approaching it from various flanks, for which they decide to try and withdraw initiatives. For the economist Bravo, the call to Spanish users of cryptocurrencies is clear: “keep an eye”.