# Notification from tax office 2.5 years after leaving Spain



## BMC77 (Aug 15, 2009)

Hello one and all,

It's been a very long time since I used this forum, but I always remember there being a good knowledge base here, which I am (rather cheekily) hoping to be able to tap into.

I lived in Spain from September 2012 until December 2017, when I left for good. During that time, I worked as an EFL teacher and I submitted annual tax returns, and the _Hacienda_ always owed me money. I received my last salary in December 2017, and I submitted my last ever tax return in April 2018 (from abroad), and, once again, got a refund. I then transferred the money to my British bank account, and closed the account in Spain, thus ending my financial links to the country.

Last week, I received an email from _Agencia Tributaria_ (which looked genuine) advising me of a notification. Not having a [email protected] PIN or electronic certificate, I have no way of accessing the notification. That said, I have no reason to believe I owe any tax of any sort. I submitted annual tax returns for every year I worked there, I don't own any property in Spain (or anywhere for that matter), nor have I ever done, and I never took out any loans or lines of credit from any financial institutions. So I am completely baffled as to what this notification might be for.

I guess I've got two questions:

1. Aside from unpaid income tax/IBI, does anyone know what kind of notifications _Agencia Tributaria_ sends? 
2. Since I have left Spain for good and have no plans to ever return, do I even need to worry about this?

Thanks in advance.

BMC


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

BMC77 said:


> Hello one and all,
> 
> It's been a very long time since I used this forum, but I always remember there being a good knowledge base here, which I am (rather cheekily) hoping to be able to tap into.
> 
> ...


You could try finding out if the email is real or not

This is from their website. They probably have English speakers

https://www.agenciatributaria.gob.e...viso_de_seguridad_/_Aviso_de_seguridad_.shtml


> *Colabore para evitar el fraude por Internet*
> 
> Estos fraudes son detectados en muchas ocasiones gracias a la colaboración de los internautas que se ponen en contacto con los servicios de información de la Agencia Tributaria, que toma inmediatamente las medidas necesarias para perseguirlos.
> En caso de duda sobre la autenticidad de cualquier correo electrónico o sitio de Internet, SMS recibidos o servicios de cita previa o similares, que afirmen estar remitidos o ser propiedad de la Agencia Tributaria, contacte con nosotros en el *Centro de Atención Telefónica del Departamento de Informática Tributaria (901 200 347 o 91 757 57 77 o 93 442 27 64)* para verificar su autenticidad.
> La Agencia Tributaria agradece la colaboración ciudadana para informar sobre este tipo de actuaciones.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

BMC77 said:


> Hello one and all,
> 
> It's been a very long time since I used this forum, but I always remember there being a good knowledge base here, which I am (rather cheekily) hoping to be able to tap into.
> 
> ...


Sounds fake to me. All the communications I have had from Agencia Tributaria asking for money have been by signed delivery. Did you have property before leaving because that might generate a bill if AT thought you hadn't paid enough.


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## BMC77 (Aug 15, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> You could try finding out if the email is real or not


I've done quite a bit of Googling to try and find out. But all I've discovered is that they _do_ send emails out if you sign(ed) up for electronic notifications (although I don't recall ever having done so), and that if they email you to advise you of a notification, which has to be accessed through the portal, they will include your NIE with some numbers blocked out. And that's how it appears in this email.



baldilocks said:


> Sounds fake to me.


It would be nice if it was fake! However, the email does look as though it comes from an official source, although I can't find any email addresses on _Agencia Tributaria's_ website to confirm this.



baldilocks said:


> All the communications I have had from Agencia Tributaria asking for money have been by signed delivery.


They don't have a postal address for me, either in Spain or abroad. 



baldilocks said:


> Did you have property before leaving because that might generate a bill if AT thought you hadn't paid enough.


I have never owned a property anywhere. In Spain, I rented rooms in shared apartments.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

If you really want to know what it says you can request a letter be sent to your address with an activation code for the [email protected] system. This is fully remote so you could in theory do that without setting foot in Spain.

https://www.agenciatributaria.es/AE...cion_para_el_registro_en_Cl_ve_con_CSV_.shtml

Other things to consider could be:

Do you ever plan to come back to Spain? I mean, if you do owe money, from your profession it would seem unlikely that it would be an amount for which they would ever issue any international proceedings, so unless you came back, maybe there is no real issue (unless there is a moral weight).

The debts to Hacienda pare subject to either a 4 or 7 year prescription period depending on the type of debt, so you could just sit it out and wait....


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

I have had a few demands for this and that from AEAT / Hacienda, all have been register post which I have had to sign for. The last was during the lock down. 

So emails, sounds like a scam


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## BMC77 (Aug 15, 2009)

Overandout said:


> If you really want to know what it says you can request a letter be sent to your address with an activation code for the [email protected] system. This is fully remote so you could in theory do that without setting foot in Spain.


Thanks. If I thought I owed them anything, I would probably do that, but I honestly don't believe I owe them so much as a cent!



Overandout said:


> Do you ever plan to come back to Spain? I mean, if you do owe money, from your profession it would seem unlikely that it would be an amount for which they would ever issue any international proceedings, so unless you came back, maybe there is no real issue (unless there is a moral weight).


I have no intentions whatsoever of ever coming back to Spain - five years of struggling to make ends meet was more than enough for me!



Overandout said:


> I mean, if you do owe money, from your profession it would seem unlikely that it would be an amount for which they would ever issue any international proceedings, so unless you came back, maybe there is no real issue.


My gross earnings each year were between €10,000 and €15,000, and for most of my time in Spain, I paid around 12% tax, which is why I got a refund each year - I intentionally chose a much higher tax rate than required to ensure I never owed the _Hacienda_ money. I cannot see how I could possibly owe them a cent, which is why I was wondering if _Agencia Tributaria_ sent notifications for anything else.


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## BMC77 (Aug 15, 2009)

Juan C said:


> I have had a few demands for this and that from AEAT / Hacienda, all have been register post which I have had to sign for. The last was during the lock down.
> 
> So emails, sounds like a scam


I'd love it to be a scam because then I wouldn't need to worry about it. But I'm usually pretty good at spotting scams and this one didn't instantly ring any alarm bells. There was no promise of a refund (obvious scam), nor were there any links to click on (major red flag).

It was sent from an email address ending in 'correo.aeat.es' and it simply said,_"La Agencia Tributaria ha emitido una notificación dirigida al NIF XXX8582XX"_. 

The format of the email seems to be in keeping with the kind of electronic notification _Agencia Tributaria_ sends (no personal or identifying information, NIE partially blocked out), and that is actually my NIE, or at least the visible digits are all in the right place. That said, it struck me as a little strange that there was no information regarding the next step, e.g., where I go to see said notification.


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