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Are there rules for taxing digital services
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Rules for taxing digital services were proposed, and the draft bill was moved to the Parliament and Senate for approval. Although the project received many criticisms, it was presented to Congress on an identical basis of the draft as a consequence of the lack of another strong alternative to taxing digital business. The new Government formed by the political coalition between Socialist Party and the left-wing will likely push the Congress for approval of the bill in the following months.
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Applicable date
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The law was enacted and the Digital Services tax last 16th October and it will enter into force 16th January 2021.
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Nature of tax
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Digital services tax.
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Tax rate
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3.00%
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Affected business models/in-scope activities
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Social networks; Search engines; Intermediaries; Digital services.
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Revenue stream in scope
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Only 3 digital services are levied to this tax:
- Online advertising services,
- Online intermediation services,
- Sale of user data (data transfer services).
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In scope of tax treaties?
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No.
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Thresholds / de-minimis
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Global revenues in excess of EUR 750 million
Local revenues in excess of EUR 3 million
It also applies at a Group level.
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Deduction or credit for recipient (DST only)
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It is expected that DST will be deductible for CIT purposes. The DST in Spain has been approved as an indirect tax, even though the DST is calculated based on the income obtained (as for direct taxes). Therefore, the DST does not fall under the scope of the DTT.
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Exemptions
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No specific exemptions; however, cases where the rules may not apply include:
- sales of goods or services acquired online via the website of the supplier of those goods or services, where the supplier is not acting as an intermediary.
- supplies of goods or services between users of the digital interface in the context of an on-line intermediary service.
- the provision of on-line intermediary services, where the sole or main purpose of such services provided by the entity making available a digital interface is to supply digital content to users or to provide communication services or payment services to users.
- the provision of regulated financial services by regulated financial institutions.
- the provision of data transmission services, when provided by regulated financial institutions.
- the provision of digital services when performed between entities belonging to a group under certain circumstances.
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Revenue or profits based tax
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Revenue.
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Revenue in scope
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Revenues from sales / services to local consumers / users.
Revenues from sales / services to local businesses.
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Who do these rules apply to
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Any company is treated as a taxable person if they render digital services located in Spain. In general terms, the location for DST purposes is Spain when the user of the services is located in Spain, regardless of whether the user has contributed in money to the generation of revenue for the company.
However, a specific set of location rules are established for each of the digital services listed above, based on the place where the devices of these users have been used, generally located by their IP addresses.
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Reporting / Compliance obligations
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Quarterly.
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OECD membership
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Yes.
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As at
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16/11/2020
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| BDO local resources |
BDO in Spain |