A Letter From the Hacienda: Requerimiento, Paralela, Deadlines

A requerimiento from the Hacienda rarely arrives at a convenient moment. Usually it is an envelope stamped "Agencia Tributaria", sometimes just an email telling you something is waiting in the portal. Ignore the letter and you lose rights faster than most people expect: the standard response window is ten working days. This article explains which letters the tax office sends, how to open and answer them in the portal, and what a paralela typically costs when it catches the mistakes foreign residents make most often. What belongs in a correct tax return in Spain in the first place, so none of this happens, is covered in that guide.

What Is a Requerimiento?

A requerimiento is a formal request from the Spanish tax administration asking you to provide information or documents within a set deadline, for example invoices, bank statements, or a rental contract. It is not yet a tax assessment and not a penalty. It is the start of a review in which the office wants to clear up a discrepancy between your tax return and its own data.

The Hacienda has plenty of that data. Banks report interest and account balances, rental platforms report bookings, and through automatic information exchange within the EU it also learns about foreign pensions, accounts, and investment portfolios. How the office checks whether you are even tax resident in Spain in the first place is a separate question worth understanding on its own.

The Four Most Common Letters

The requerimiento de información is the mildest version. The office asks for proof of a specific item, for example a rent payment or a foreign pension statement. Respond fully and on time and the matter often ends with a short internal note, without any formal assessment.

The propuesta de liquidación provisional is what everyone on Mallorca just calls a paralela. The Hacienda has recalculated your return and lays its version next to yours, line by line. The result is usually an amount it wants from you, or occasionally a smaller refund than you claimed. According to the Agencia Tributaria's own procedure description, you have ten days from notification to file objections (alegaciones) before the office issues the final provisional assessment. The office itself must close the procedure within six months.

The acuerdo de imposición de sanción usually arrives as a separate letter after the paralela. It sets the fine due for the under-declared tax. You can also respond to it within the stated deadline.

The diligencia de embargo is the last stage. It announces or carries out the seizure of a bank account, part of a salary, or a vehicle because an outstanding debt was not paid. Reaching this point usually means several earlier letters went unanswered.

The Ten-Day Rule for Electronic Notifications

This is where the costliest mistakes happen. Once you have opted into electronic notifications, you stop receiving paper mail. According to the Agencia Tributaria's FAQ on electronic notifications, notification counts as delivered as soon as you open the document in the portal, or at the latest ten calendar days after it is made available, even if you never clicked on it. The response deadline starts from that day, and it counts in working days: Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays do not count.

For companies, corporations, and self-employed people in certain regulated professions, electronic notification is mandatory. Private individuals can opt in, but should do so deliberately. Spend three weeks back in your home country and miss the notice in your inbox, and you may come back to a procedure that already closed without you.

Reading and Responding in the Portal

You need either a Certificado Digital from the FNMT or access through Cl@ve. Cl@ve PIN works with an app and a one-time code, Cl@ve Permanente with a password. Both require a one-time application: the certificate needs in-person identification at a tax office or a registration point, Cl@ve also accepts video identification.

Here is what to do once a letter arrives:

1. Go to your Área personal in the Sede Electrónica portal and open the document under "Mis notificaciones." Alternatively, the state's central hub DEHú shows every official notification from the last 30 days.
2. The top right of the letter shows the reference number, the procedure, and the deadline. You will need this number for every reply.
3. Upload your response under "Contestar requerimientos, efectuar alegaciones y aportar documentos," as a PDF, with a short cover note that addresses each point of the letter in order.
4. Save the registration receipt (justificante) with its date and time stamp. It is your proof that you met the deadline.

If the deadline is too tight, for example because you still need to request a foreign pension statement, you can request an extension. In practice the office grants up to five extra days if you apply at least three days before the deadline and give a reason. Do not count on it, though: it is safer to submit what you have and flag what is still coming.

Answer It Yourself or Call a Tax Advisor?

A plain requerimiento de información asking for a specific document is something you can answer yourself, provided you have the document and it supports your return. With a paralela, take a hard look first: is the office right? If so, agreeing is usually the cheapest path, since it substantially reduces the fine. If the office is wrong, for example because it double-counted a foreign pension or ignored a double taxation treaty entirely, you need a written objection backed by the relevant legal provision. That is where a tax advisor who can draft alegaciones in Spanish earns their fee. What that typically costs on Mallorca is covered separately.

For sanction notices and seizures, the rule is: get professional help immediately. You have one month to file a recurso de reposición with the tax office or a reclamación económico-administrativa with the TEAR. Miss that window and the assessment becomes final.

What a Paralela Costs

The back tax itself is only the start. On top come late-payment interest and, if the office finds fault, a fine. Spain's general tax law, the Ley General Tributaria, classifies an under-declared tax as a minor infringement when the shortfall is under 3,000 EUR and there was no concealment involved. The fine then amounts to 50% of the tax owed.

Two reductions bring that number down: a 30% discount if you agree to the office's recalculation, and a further 40% off the remainder if you pay on time and do not appeal. 50% effectively becomes 21% of the amount owed.

The three classics among foreign residents are an undeclared state pension from home, rental income from a property back home, and a foreign investment portfolio that never shows up on the Spanish return. Pension authorities report payments made to Spain, and the Hacienda cross-checks them against your Renta. Owners with foreign assets above 50,000 EUR per category who never reported them also get letters about Modelo 720. Since the ECJ ruling from January 2022, no special penalties apply to that anymore, just the standard fine rules.

Can I report a forgotten income item before the Hacienda writes to me?

Yes, with a declaración complementaria. As long as no requerimiento has been issued, no fine applies, only a surcharge of 1% plus 1% for every full month of delay, capped at a flat 15% plus interest after twelve months. That is nearly always cheaper than a paralela.

The Bottom Line

Mail from the Hacienda is no reason to panic, but it is a reason to move quickly. Open every letter right away, note the deadline in working days, and respond even if you have not gathered every document. With a paralela, whether the office is right decides the next step: agreeing and paying within the deadline cuts the fine to a fifth, while a substantiated objection needs an advisor. And if you use electronic notifications, register your días de cortesía before any longer absence. How to structure your tax return so a requerimiento never lands in your inbox in the first place is covered in the guide on filing a tax return in Spain.