In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of Spain has established that the Tax Authorities have a four-year period to claim a debt, even if the period ends on a non-working day. This ruling has important implications for companies and individuals who owe money to the tax administration.

The Supreme Court has established as a doctrine that the four-year limitation period of the Administration’s right to determine the tax debt through liquidation, provided for in Article 66 of the General Tax Law, is computed from date to date regardless of whether the last day of said period is a business day or a non-business day. Specifically, the High Court rejects the interpretation of the Administration that sought to extend the statute of limitations period when the last day was a non-business day, applying article 30.5 of Law 39/2015, which establishes that in that case the period is understood to be extended to the first following business day. According to the Supreme Court, in the regulations of the common administrative procedure, the rights are predicated of the citizen while the Administration is recognized the exercise of powers or actions, which it submits to the statute of limitations. Therefore, it is not possible to defend the extension of the statute of limitations of a right of the Administration on the basis of whether the last day of the period is a working day or a non-working day.

In short, the four-year period for the Tax Agency to claim a tax debt through liquidation is computed from date to date, so that if the statute of limitations period ends on a non-working day, it ends on that day, and cannot be extended to the next working day.