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Tax · Spain

Requerimiento de la Agencia Tributaria: a demand for information, explained

A requerimiento is a formal demand from the Spanish tax agency (AEAT) to clarify something, provide documents, or justify data in a tax return. It is not a fine and not yet a tax bill — but the clock for answering starts the day after it is delivered.

How serious: routineAlso called: requerimiento de Hacienda, requerimiento de información, requerimiento de documentación, carta de Hacienda

A requerimiento is the AEAT asking questions in writing. It usually means the agency has spotted a difference between what you declared and the data it holds from banks, employers or other third parties. It can also mean the agency needs paperwork to check a deduction or a refund.

The letter is not a fine and it is not yet a tax bill. It starts, or forms part of, a checking procedure — a formal process in which the AEAT compares your return with its own data.

Everything the letter demands is listed in its text, together with a deadline for providing it. That deadline begins immediately: it is counted from the day after the notification arrives.

Who sends it

The Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT) — Spain's national tax agency. It is the body that collects income tax (IRPF), VAT (IVA) and other state taxes.

The letter is headed 'Agencia Tributaria' with the AEAT logo, and the word 'REQUERIMIENTO' appears in the subject or body. It cites your NIF/NIE, an 'expediente' or reference number and a 'Código Seguro de Verificación (CSV)', names the tax and year concerned, lists what you must provide, and states a deadline — usually '10 días hábiles'.

The deadline

The deadline printed on the letter itself; by regulation it may not be less than 10 working days, counted from the day after notification (RD 1065/2007, art. 55.2: 'se concederá un plazo no inferior a 10 días, contados a partir del día siguiente al de la notificación del requerimiento')

The deadline is the one printed on the letter itself. By regulation it may not be less than 10 working days, counted from the day after the notification is delivered or deemed delivered (RD 1065/2007, art. 55.2).

If you do nothing

Not answering within the granted period is the tax infraction of 'resistencia, obstrucción, excusa o negativa a las actuaciones de la Administración tributaria': a fixed fine of €150 for the first unanswered requerimiento, €300 for the second and €600 for the third (Ley 58/2003, art. 203.4). The checking procedure continues without your input and can end in a liquidación — a tax assessment based on the data the AEAT already holds.

How it escalates

  1. 01The requerimiento is repeated, and each unanswered demand raises the fixed fine: €150 for the first, €300 for the second, €600 for the third (Ley 58/2003 art. 203.4).
  2. 02The underlying procedure (verificación de datos, comprobación limitada or inspección) continues and can end in a liquidación provisional computed from third-party data, without your evidence.
  3. 03Any resulting liquidación must be paid within the art. 62.2 LGT period; unpaid, it enters período ejecutivo with 5–20% surcharges (Ley 58/2003 arts. 28 and 161) and eventually embargo — seizure of assets.

Your options, procedurally

  • The reply can be filed online with the CSV code printed on the letter, through the AEAT sede trámite 'Contestar requerimientos o presentar documentación relacionada con un documento recibido de la AEAT' — with certificado digital, DNIe, Cl@ve, or even without identification using the CSV.
  • The documents can be submitted on paper at an AEAT office or any official registry within the same deadline.
  • Before the deadline expires, an extension (ampliación de plazo) can be requested through the sede electrónica if the documents cannot be gathered in time.
  • If there is disagreement that the information can be demanded, objections can be stated in writing within the deadline — Ley 58/2003 art. 99.2 covers documents already filed or not legally demandable.

Common questions

Is a requerimiento a fine or a tax bill?

No. It is a demand for information or documents. It is not a fine and not yet a tax bill — but it starts or forms part of a checking procedure, and unanswered demands carry fixed fines.

How much time is there to answer?

The deadline printed on the letter. By regulation it may not be less than 10 working days, counted from the day after notification (RD 1065/2007, art. 55.2).

What if the documents cannot be gathered in time?

An extension (ampliación de plazo) can be requested through the AEAT sede electrónica before the deadline expires.

What happens if it is never answered?

A fixed fine of €150 applies to the first unanswered requerimiento, €300 to the second and €600 to the third (Ley 58/2003, art. 203.4), and the procedure continues using the data the AEAT already holds.

Sources

Facts verified against the sources below on 28 August 2026.