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Recurso de reposición: the appeal printed at the foot of nearly every official letter

The recurso de reposición is Spain's standard first-step appeal: a request that the office which issued a decision reconsider it. Nearly every official letter names it in its final paragraphs — the 'pie de recurso' — together with the one-month deadline.

How serious: routineAlso called: reposición, pie de recurso, recurso potestativo de reposición

It is optional ('potestativo') — the next instance can usually be used directly — except against municipal tax acts (IBI, plusvalía, local fines), where it is the compulsory first step.

Every notification must state which recursos are available, where, and in what deadline. That closing paragraph is the 'pie de recurso'.

If a reposición was filed, the answer arrives as a letter titled 'Resolución del recurso de reposición', stating estimación (upheld), estimación parcial, or desestimación (rejected), and naming the next available route.

Who sends it

It is filed with — and decided by — the same body that issued the contested act (AEAT, ayuntamiento, DGT, TGSS...). It appears first as the appeal route printed at the foot of nearly every Spanish official letter, and later as the letter resolving the appeal.

As an option: the final paragraphs of an official letter, beginning 'Contra el presente acto podrá interponer recurso de reposición en el plazo de un mes...'. As a letter: titled 'Resolución del recurso de reposición', stating estimación, estimación parcial or desestimación, and naming the next available route (reclamación económico-administrativa or contencioso-administrativo).

The deadline

One month to file, counted from the day after notification of the contested act (Ley 58/2003 art. 223.1 for state taxes; Ley 39/2015 art. 124.1 generally; TRLRHL art. 14.2.c for municipal taxes). The administration then has one month to decide (LGT art. 225.4; Ley 39/2015 art. 124.2)

One month to file, counted from the day after notification of the contested act (Ley 58/2003 art. 223.1 for state taxes; Ley 39/2015 art. 124.1 generally; TRLRHL art. 14.2.c for municipal taxes). For periodic collective taxes such as the IBI, the month counts from the day after the voluntary payment period ends. The administration then has one month to decide (LGT art. 225.4; Ley 39/2015 art. 124.2).

If you do nothing

Two silences matter here. Yours: if the one-month filing window passes, the act becomes final in the administrative route, and only extraordinary remedies or the courts remain. The administration's: one month without a resolution of a filed recurso means it is legally deemed rejected by negative silence (LGT art. 225.5; Ley 39/2015 art. 24.1 — silence is 'desestimatorio' in appeal procedures), which opens the next instance.

How it escalates

  1. 01Not filing within one month: the act (liquidación, sanción, providencia) becomes firm and enforceable; later challenges on the merits are barred.
  2. 02Filing but not paying or securing the debt: a reposición does not by itself suspend collection of tax debts — suspension must be requested, generally with a guarantee; sanctions are the exception, automatically suspended (LGT art. 212.3).
  3. 03Ignoring the desestimación: after the express or silent rejection, the next windows run — reclamación económico-administrativa (one month, LGT art. 235.1) or contencioso-administrativo (two months per LJCA art. 46).

Your options, procedurally

  • The recurso can be filed within one month with the same body that issued the act, in writing or via its sede electrónica, stating facts and legal grounds and attaching evidence (for municipal acts, TRLRHL art. 14.2 regulates the content).
  • Suspension of the contested act can be requested in the same filing, offering a guarantee where required.
  • Against state tax acts, the reposición can be skipped and the reclamación económico-administrativa filed directly (LGT art. 222.2 — but never both at once; the first filed is processed).
  • Against municipal tax acts, the reposición is obligatory before going to court (TRLRHL art. 14.2).
  • After one month of administrative silence, the recurso counts as rejected and the next route opens (LGT art. 225.5).

Common questions

Is filing a reposición obligatory before other appeals?

Usually not — it is 'potestativo', and against state tax acts the reclamación económico-administrativa can be filed directly instead. The exception is municipal tax acts (IBI, plusvalía, local fines), where the reposición is the compulsory first step (TRLRHL art. 14.2).

What does it mean if a month passes with no answer?

The recurso is legally deemed rejected by negative silence (LGT art. 225.5; Ley 39/2015 art. 24.1). That silent rejection opens the next instance — the reclamación económico-administrativa or the courts.

Does filing a reposición pause the debt?

Not by itself for tax debts — suspension must be requested, generally with a guarantee. Sanctions are the exception: they are suspended automatically (LGT art. 212.3).

Sources

Facts verified against the sources below on 28 August 2026.