Tomás Aguilar is a doctor in Salamanca. In his 2024 income tax return he declared a loss of 11,400 € on the sale of shares in a US technology company that he held with a foreign broker, and offset it against other gains. On 12 February 2026 the Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish tax agency, notifies him that a limited verification procedure (in Spanish, Comprobación limitada) has begun: it asks him for the broker's statements with the purchase and sale dates and prices. One colleague tells him "that's an inspection". Another says "it's just a formality and nothing will happen". Neither is entirely right, and understanding exactly what it is helps Tomás know what to expect and where his defences lie.
A tax management procedure, not an inspection
The limited verification procedure is governed by articles 136 to 140 of the Ley General Tributaria, Spain's General Tax Law, and by articles 163 to 165 of the Regulations on tax management and inspection (Royal Decree 1065/2007). It is a management procedure, normally handled by the Agencia Tributaria's management offices, and it is designed to review specific items in a return using documentary information.
Article 163 of the Regulations lists, among others, three situations in which it begins: when errors or discrepancies are detected between what was declared and the information held by the authorities; when it is appropriate to verify some item of the obligation; and when there are signs of an obligation to file that has not been met. Tomás's case fits the second: Hacienda, as the Spanish tax office is commonly called, has no information from the foreign broker and wants to verify the loss.
It can begin with a communication asking for documents, as with Tomás, or directly with a proposed assessment, when the authorities already have enough information (article 137.2).
What the authorities can do and what they cannot
Article 136.2 says that in this procedure the authorities "may carry out only" certain actions. That "only" is the key.
| They can | They cannot |
|---|---|
| Examine your returns and the supporting documents you submit or they ask you for | Ask third parties for information on your financial movements (article 136.3) |
| Examine the information they already hold from other sources | Examine the accounts beyond checking whether they match the information they hold (article 136.2.c) |
| Examine the books, records and invoices required by the rules | Act outside their offices, except in listed cases such as checks on the census register or on the flat-rate methods (article 136.4) |
| Ask third parties for documents to cross-check the ones they have | Widen the scope without a reasoned decision notified before the arguments stage (article 164.1 of the Regulations) |
| Ask you to justify financial transactions that affect the tax due | Regularise again what has already been verified, except for new facts discovered through different proceedings (article 140.1) |
For Tomás this means that the Agency can ask him for the broker's statements, but it cannot, within this procedure, require the Spanish bank where he received the transfers to hand over his account movements. If it needed to go further, it would have to turn to an inspection.
How it ends
Article 139.1 provides for three ways of ending:
- An express decision, which must identify the obligation and period verified, the specific steps taken, the facts and legal grounds, and a provisional assessment or an express statement that no regularisation is needed.
- Lapse, if the maximum period passes without a decision being notified.
- The start of an inspection covering the same object.
Before the provisional assessment, the authorities must send you the proposal so that you can put forward your arguments (article 138.3). What to do with that proposal is explained in I have received a proposed assessment: do I sign it?.
The six-month period and how it is counted
The rules on limited verification do not set a period of their own, so the general one in article 104.1 of the General Tax Law applies: six months from notification of the decision to begin. Added to that period are the stretches that do not count, which article 104 of the Regulations lists as delays not attributable to the authorities: the taxpayer's delay in complying with requests, an extension of deadlines granted at his or her request, and documents provided after the arguments stage.
Applied to Tomás:
- Notification of the start: 12 February 2026.
- Six months: until 12 August 2026.
- Tomás asked for an extension of five working days, which was granted: those are days of delay.
- In addition, he provided the statements nine calendar days after the extended deadline: another delay.
- The maximum period moves on by those stretches. The exact calculation depends on how they appear in the case file, and the authorities must set it out in the decision.
- If the assessment is notified after that adjusted date, the procedure has lapsed.
On what counts as notification in time, article 104.2 provides that it is enough to prove an attempt at notification containing the full text of the decision, and, for electronic notifications, it is enough for the decision to be made available on the online portal.
Article 139.1.b) allows the authorities to start the procedure again as long as the right to assess is not time-barred. A lapse means that the steps taken in the lapsed procedure do not interrupt the limitation period, but it does not prevent another one from being opened. Nobody can guarantee that a lapse will solve the underlying problem.
Why a lapse matters even though the case can be reopened
Even so, a lapse has effects that can be decisive:
- The limitation period keeps running. Article 104.5 establishes that the actions of a lapsed procedure do not interrupt the limitation period. If the year was close to becoming time-barred, there may no longer be time to open another one.
- Voluntary correction becomes available again. The same article provides that those actions are not treated as requests for the purposes of article 27. After a lapse, filing a supplementary return once again carries a surcharge instead of a penalty, provided it is done before a new procedure is opened. The difference between the two is explained in the difference between a notice letter and a formal request.
- The evidence obtained can be reused. The documents and information from the lapsed procedure remain valid and can be brought into the new one, under the same article 104.5. It is a nuance worth keeping in mind before celebrating.
In Tomás's case, the 2024 income tax does not become time-barred until mid-2029, so a lapse would only give him time, and the possibility of correcting with a surcharge if there were something to correct.
What is closed off when it ends well
If the verification ends with an express decision, article 140.1 prevents the authorities from regularising the same verified object again, unless in another procedure they discover new facts arising from different proceedings. This is the preclusive effect. That is why it matters so much that the decision describes precisely what was verified: anything outside its object can be reviewed later. It also explains why providing documents outside the scope offers no protection, as can be seen in which documents I have to provide.
And there is a warning in article 140.2: facts to which you give your express agreement cannot be challenged later, unless you prove that you made an error of fact. Before agreeing to anything, it is worth being sure of it.
If you have a verification open and want to know what stage it is at and how long it has left, you can send the communication that started it and whatever you have replied through the letter-from-Hacienda form. The period is calculated from the notification dates of each step.
Limited verification, data verification and inspection
It should not be confused with the two other procedures it is often mixed up with. Data verification is narrower: it is used to correct obvious errors or discrepancies with information from third parties. An inspection is broader: it allows the accounts to be examined in depth, bank movements to be requested from the banks and action to be taken at the taxpayer's premises. A summary of the different types of communication is in the guide on types of communication from Hacienda.
In the foral territories of the País Vasco and Navarra, which have their own tax systems, the procedures are governed by their own rules and the periods may not match the ones described here.
Handling limited verification procedures, from the first request to the assessment and any appeal, is described on the Salama Tax page on letters from Hacienda.