Fernando and Paloma bought a villa in Estepona on 18 November 2022 for €410,000. The seller was Belgian and non-resident, and at the notary's office they kept 3 %, €12,300, to pay it in with Modelo 211. They did not pay it in: the kitchen refurbishment swallowed that money and they kept putting it off. In September 2026 they received a requerimiento, a formal request, from the Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish tax agency. What follows is what happens when Modelo 211 is not paid, told through their case and with the figures the law allows us to calculate. We give the conclusion first: the most expensive scenario is exactly theirs, withholding deducted, not paid in, and Hacienda (the tax authorities) moving first.
Three ways of not paying, three different consequences
"Not paying Modelo 211" can mean very different things, and the law treats them very differently. On Fernando and Paloma's €12,300:
| What they did | What applies | Approximate added cost |
|---|---|---|
| File and pay late, before any letter | The recargo of article 27 of the Ley General Tributaria (Spain's General Tax Act), the surcharge for filing late unprompted; after twelve months, 15 % plus interest | €1,845 plus interest, or €1,383.75 with the 25 % reduction |
| File Modelo 211 on time without paying | There is no infringement for non-payment: the debt moves into the enforcement period with its surcharges of 5, 10 or 20 % | Between €615 and €2,460 plus interest |
| Neither file nor pay, and receive a request | An assessment with late-payment interest and penalty proceedings | A penalty of 100 % to 150 %: from €12,300 before reductions |
The right-hand column is not a sales estimate: it comes from applying the percentages in articles 27, 28 and 191 of the Ley General Tributaria to the withholding. Late-payment interest depends on the rate set each year by the Budget Act and on the exact number of days, which is why we do not quantify it here.
Why they fall into the bottom row, and in its harshest form
Article 191 of the Ley General Tributaria grades a failure to pay according to several circumstances. When what has not been paid in is withholdings, the infringement is never minor. And when withholdings actually made and not paid in exceed 50 % of the base of the penalty, it is very serious, with a fine of 100 % to 150 %. Fernando and Paloma deducted the €12,300 from the price they paid the seller: the withholding has been made and 100 % of it is still unpaid. Had they not deducted it, the infringement would be serious, at 50 % to 100 %. The difference here is made by having had the money in their hands.
The bill, step by step, in the best possible case
- Tax due: €12,300, the withholding they should have paid in.
- Late-payment interest: from the day after the end of their period until the assessment: 18 December 2022 fell on a Sunday, so the period moved to Monday 19 and interest runs from the 20th. Almost four years.
- Minimum penalty: 100 % of €12,300 = €12,300.
- Reduction for agreeing to the proposal, 30 %: 12,300 × 0.70 = €8,610.
- Reduction for prompt payment without appealing, 40 % of what remains: 8,610 × 0.60 = €5,166.
- Approximate total: 12,300 + 5,166 = €17,466, plus interest. Against this, filing Modelo 211 on their own initiative a month earlier would have cost them the tax and €1,383.75 of reduced surcharge, plus interest.
The reductions come with conditions: the 30 % one requires not appealing the adjustment, and the 40 % one requires paying within the period stated in the notification and appealing neither the assessment nor the penalty. How they fit together is in the penalty and its reductions.
If they do not pay the assessment either
The assessment that is notified has its own voluntary payment period, set by article 62.2 of the Ley General Tributaria: if it is notified between the 1st and the 15th, until the 20th of the following month; if notified between the 16th and the last day, until the 5th of the second month after. If that passes without payment, the enforcement period begins:
- Paying before the providencia de apremio, the formal demand for payment, arrives: a 5 % surcharge, without interest.
- Paying within the period given by the demand: a 10 % surcharge, without interest.
- Paying later: a 20 % surcharge plus late-payment interest.
On the €12,300 of tax, that is €615, €1,230 or €2,460. Then come the attachments: bank balances, refunds of other taxes, salaries and pensions in their attachable portion, and assets. And there is one feature that only this withholding has.
The villa answers for it, even if it changes hands
Article 25.2 of the Non-Residents Income Tax Act provides that, if the withholding is not paid in, the assets transferred become charged with payment of the lower of that withholding and the tax the seller owed. In practice, the debt sticks to the property. If Fernando and Paloma sold the villa without having resolved this, the new buyer could face a transfer of liability because of that charge (the afección). What they saved in 2022 ends up as an obstacle to selling in 2027. The long explanation is in Modelo 211 filed late.
The limitation period is four years from the end of the voluntary period, and Fernando and Paloma were three months short of reaching it. But the tax authorities have the data from the deeds, and any action of theirs formally brought to the taxpayer's knowledge interrupts the count and restarts it. Betting that the letter will not come is betting the highest penalty the law provides for this form. We explain it in the four-year limitation period.
What they can do now
With the request already received, the article 27 surcharge is no longer available. What they can do is reply on time, provide the escritura (the deed of sale), pay as soon as possible to stop the interest and consider whether the proposed penalty has been correctly graded: whether it is classed as very serious depends on the withholding actually having been made, and that is argued with documents. What they cannot do is ask for a deferral: article 65.2 of the Ley General Tributaria excludes the withholder's debts, and the application is declared inadmissible. It is explained in the debts that cannot be deferred.
If your situation is the one in the first row, a delay with no letter, you are still in time for the cheap scenario: file and pay. If it is the third, it is wise for someone to read the notification before the deadline for replying runs out. You can tell us about it in the Modelo 211 withholding form.
For anyone reading this before the letter arrives
If today you are where Fernando and Paloma were a year ago, withholding deducted, spent and no letter from Hacienda, there is one decision that changes the outcome even if you do not have the money: filing Modelo 211 without payment. Article 191 of the Ley General Tributaria excludes from the non-payment infringement a self-assessment that is filed without paying, because in that case the debt goes straight into the enforcement period. You will pay the article 27 surcharge for filing late and, on top of that, the enforcement surcharges on the tax you do not pay in, but not a 100 % penalty. With a €12,300 withholding, the difference between filing without paying and not filing is, at the very least, several thousand euros.
It is not a comfortable solution, because the demand for payment and the attachments follow their course, but it is the one that costs least when there is no cash and deferral is not available. And it leaves you better placed to gather the money without the penalty growing at the same time.
The seller, meanwhile
There is a third party who also suffers from the non-payment: the Belgian seller. He filed his Modelo 210 on the gain on the basis that the buyer had paid in the 3 %. If that money never reached Hacienda, his account with the tax authorities does not add up and, sooner or later, he will make a claim. It is a civil front added to the tax one, and the only way to close it is to pay in and hand him the receipt.