Alberto Nieto is a self-employed graphic designer in Salamanca. In April 2026 he was notified of an income tax (IRPF) assessment of 22,000 €, with a voluntary payment period ending on 20 May. On 15 May he applied to pay it in 24 instalments without a guarantee, with payments of about 920 €. During the summer, with little work, he did not pay the instalments he himself had proposed. On 8 September the Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish tax agency, notified him of a refusal: it considers that his difficulties are not temporary but structural. Alberto does not know whether to appeal, apply again or look for the money.
The first thing he has to look at is not the reason for the refusal, but the date at the bottom.
The period the refusal opens
Article 52.4.a) of the Reglamento General de Recaudación (the General Collection Regulations) governs what happens when an application filed in the voluntary period is refused: notification of the refusal opens the payment period in article 62.2 of the Ley General Tributaria (the General Tax Law).
- If the refusal is notified between the 1st and the 15th of the month, payment is due by the 20th of the following month.
- If it is notified between the 16th and the end of the month, by the 5th of the second month after.
Alberto received his on 8 September, so he has until 20 October 2026.
If he pays within that period, there is no surcharge. Only late-payment interest is charged, from the day after the end of the original voluntary period, 21 May, until the day he pays. If he does not pay, the enforcement period starts and the Agency begins enforcement.
What each option costs
Interest is calculated at an assumed rate of 4 % a year, purely for the example; the official rate can be checked on the Agency's website.
| Option | Until when | What Alberto pays | Surcharge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay everything on 20 October | 20-10-2026 | 22,000 € plus about 370 € of interest (153 days) | None |
| Appeal and not pay | A month to appeal, but payment still falls due on 20 October | The same, plus a surcharge if he does not pay in time | 5 %, 10 % or 20 % from 21 October |
| Apply for a new deferral | Until the decision to sell assets | Principal, surcharge and interest on the instalments | The enforcement period starts on 21 October all the same |
| Pay part and defer the rest | Payment before 20 October; the rest in the enforcement period | What is paid, with no surcharge; what is deferred, with a surcharge | Only on the unpaid part |
Why applying again does not protect you in the same way
This is the most common mistake. Alberto thinks that if he files another application before 20 October he will be protected again, as he was the first time. That is not so.
Article 161.2 of the General Tax Law establishes that a deferral application in the voluntary period prevents the enforcement period from starting, but its second paragraph adds an exception: it does not do so when another application for the same debt, filed in the voluntary period, has previously been refused and a new payment period has been opened without payment being made. That is exactly his case.
In other words: Alberto can apply for the deferral again, but on 21 October his debt will be in the enforcement period all the same, with its surcharge.
There is a second barrier. Article 47.2 of the Regulations declares inadmissible applications that are "repetitions" of others already refused when they contain no "substantial change", in particular if they seek to delay collection. Filing the same thing with a different date does not work. A new application has to change something that matters: a shorter schedule, a guarantee that was not there before, a significant initial payment, or documents showing that the situation has changed.
A refusal can be challenged by an appeal for reconsideration (recurso de reposición) or a claim before the economic-administrative tribunals, within one month of notification (article 52.5 of the Regulations and articles 223.1 and 235.1 of the law). But filing the appeal does not stop the payment period. If by 20 October nothing has been paid and no suspension has been obtained, the debt enters the enforcement period while the appeal is decided.
When it makes sense to appeal
An appeal is useful when the Agency has made a mistake, not when it has simply taken a different view. Some examples where it is worth looking into:
- The refusal is based on missed payments during processing that were in fact made, or that could not be made because of a direct debit error for which the taxpayer was not responsible.
- The Agency has counted as accumulated debt something that had already been paid or guaranteed, and that took the application out of the no-guarantee circuit.
- The decision gives no reasons for treating as structural difficulties that the documents presented as temporary.
In Alberto's case, the reason is hard to argue against: article 51.2 of the Regulations requires the proposed instalments to be paid during processing and allows a refusal if they are not paid. He proposed the payments himself and did not make them. An appeal would have little chance, and it would not avoid the surcharge if he does not pay in the meantime.
What we would do with Alberto's figures
Without guaranteeing any result, the reasoning would be this:
- Work out how much he can get together before 20 October. Every euro he pays within that period stays free of surcharge.
- If he reaches 22,370 €, pay. Even with a loan: a 5 % surcharge on 22,000 € is 1,100 €, and a 20 % one, 4,400 €.
- If he does not, pay what he can and prepare a different application for the rest: shorter, with a first instalment he can really pay and an explanation of what has changed since the summer. This time, paying each proposed instalment while it is processed.
- Bear in mind the surcharge on whatever is left unpaid. We explain it in if the enforcement order has already arrived.
If your deferral has been refused and you need to decide before the new period expires, you can send us the decision and your situation through the deferral form. We will tell you whether there are grounds to appeal and what schedule would make sense to propose, without being able to assure you that the Agency will accept it.
If they do not answer
The opposite can happen: the Agency does not decide. Article 52.6 of the Regulations sets a maximum of six months for notifying the decision. Once that period has passed, the applicant may treat the application as refused in order to appeal, or keep waiting for an express decision. In the meantime, interest keeps running, because article 26.4 of the law excludes deferrals from the rule that stops it when the authorities are late.
During that wait it is advisable to keep paying the proposed instalments. That is precisely what prevents a refusal like Alberto's.
Other grounds for refusal
Alberto's is not the only one. An application is also refused when the guarantee offered turns out to be insufficient and is not topped up within the ten days of the request (article 48.4 of the Regulations), or when the Agency, investigating a waiver of the guarantee, finds assets and the applicant does not offer them (article 50.1). The case of an application with documents missing is different: if it is not corrected within the ten-day period in article 46.6, it is treated as not filed and closed. And if that period ended after the voluntary period, the same article requires the enforcement order to be notified directly, without the additional period that a refusal does open. Answering the request in time, even incompletely, makes a big difference to the outcome.
Designing a schedule that does not break in the summer is covered in how many months you can be given and in the guide on how to propose a schedule that holds up.
After a refusal, at Salama Tax we first fix the payment deadline and then assess whether a second application has enough changes not to be declared inadmissible.