Customs assesses import VAT in the DUA (documento único administrativo, the single administrative document). It is paid with the customs debt, within 10 calendar days of notification (30 if guaranteed), and then deducted in form 303, the Spanish VAT return. With deferred VAT, a business that files VAT every month does not pay it at customs: it includes it in box [77] of the 303 and deducts it in that same 303.
With the customs debt of the DUA. The AEAT always recalculates what was declared and notifies its assessment: VAT (tax B00) goes together with the duty, with a single payment method per declaration (box 47, sub-box MP). There are 10 calendar days from notification, or 30 if the debt was guaranteed (art. 108 of the Union Customs Code, UCC, Regulation (EU) 952/2013).
| Method (box 47) | When it is paid | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| A · Payment before release | Before the goods are collected | No payment, no release. Paid online, release is automatic; paid at a bank, the payment must be notified in the Sede. |
| R · Deferred payment with guarantee | Within 30 calendar days of notification | Requires declaring at least one guarantee (box 52). The goods are collected without waiting for payment. |
| J · Deferred payment without guarantee | Deferred, with no guarantee | Reserved for public bodies and specific cases. |
| Deferred VAT (art. 74.1 RIVA) | Not paid at customs | It has no code of its own in the DUA: the clearance system checks whether the importer has opted in. The VAT is declared in form 303. |
The exact deadline is not calculated: the AEAT gives it in the assessment. General information; not tax advice.
In the AEAT online office (Sede), under “Pagos y consultas de comercio exterior” (foreign trade payments and queries), or at a bank with the payment letter (form 031). Only the importer and the representative that took part can see the debt; anyone can pay it. There is no web service for payment: the payment and its NRC (full reference number) are made and obtained in the Sede or at the bank.
Only a business that files VAT every month (art. 74.1.a of the VAT Regulation, RIVA, which implements art. 167.Dos of Law 37/1992, the VAT Act, LIVA). A business that files the 303 quarterly cannot defer it.
All of them also keep their VAT books through the SII, the immediate supply of information system (art. 62.6 RIVA). A business that stops filing monthly is excluded from that same day, with no formality: there is no need to wait until November.
Customs in Cofactu| Monthly period (art. 71.3 RIVA) | Who |
|---|---|
| Large companies | Turnover in the previous year above €6,010,121.04 |
| Acquisition of a business | Whoever acquires a business that, added to its own, exceeds that figure |
| REDEME | Businesses registered in the monthly VAT refund register (art. 30 RIVA) |
| VAT group | Businesses applying the special VAT group scheme |
| Hydrocarbon tax warehouses | Their keepers and those who extract products from them |
With form 036, ticking box 530 during November: it applies from 1 January of the following year and renews automatically every year. The option covers all the taxable person's imports; you cannot choose DUA by DUA. With it, no VAT guarantee is required, unless there is a risk or the solvency criteria are not met.
| What | Box in form 036 | When | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opt in | 530 | During November of the previous year | From 1 January of the following year; renews automatically every year |
| Opt out | 531 | During November of the previous year | From 1 January of the following year; minimum three years |
| Exclusion | 532 | On ceasing to file VAT monthly | From the day the monthly obligation ends |
Some third-party guides cite other numbering; the AEAT guide prevails. General information; not tax advice.
Box [77] includes the VAT on customs assessment documents received in the period. For imports, the assessment is notified with release: a DUA cleared and notified in February goes in the 303 filed from 1 to 30 March.
Form 303“Import VAT assessed by Customs pending payment”: the full amount Customs assessed, with no pro rata applied.
Form 303As for any DUA: [32]-[33] for current goods and [34]-[35] for capital goods, with the deductible percentage and the pro rata. It can be deducted in that same 303 (art. 99.Tres LIVA).
Form 303The result is [69] = [66] + [77] − [78] + [68] + [108]. Credits carried forward [78] are capped at [66] + [77]. If everything is deductible, [77] and the deduction cancel out and VAT no longer ties up cash.
Form 303VAT not included in the return goes straight to enforced collection (arts. 76 and 77 RIVA) and may be an offence.
Form 303Box [77] is only used by those who defer: it adds to the result the VAT not paid at customs. The deduction always goes in [32]-[35], whether or not the VAT was paid at customs.
| Box | Official name | What goes in |
|---|---|---|
| [77] | Import VAT assessed by Customs pending payment | Deferred VAT only: the full amount of DUAs whose release was notified in the period |
| [32] · [33] | Input VAT on imports of current goods (base and VAT) | Deductible VAT from any DUA, paid at customs or deferred |
| [34] · [35] | Input VAT on imports of capital goods (base and VAT) | The same, when the imported goods are capital goods |
| [78] | Credits from previous periods applied in this period | Capped at [66] + [77] |
| [69] | Result of the return ([66] + [77] − [78] + [68] + [108]) | [77] is added; the deduction is already subtracted in [66] |
| [59] | Intra-Community supplies of goods and services | The onward supply after an exempt import under procedure 42 |
General information; not tax advice.
Customs procedure 42 releases non-EU goods for free circulation without import VAT because the importer then supplies them, exempt, to a business in another Member State (art. 27.12.º LIVA). Customs duty is paid as under procedure 40.
Spanish VAT number of the importer or of its tax representative; VAT number of the buyer in another Member State; being the consignee on the transport documents; transport immediately after import; and the supply being exempt under art. 25 LIVA (art. 14.3 RIVA).
They go as additional tax references: FR1, the importer's, in the header; FR2, the buyer's, on each item; FR3, the tax representative's, instead of FR1. Mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands only.
The supply is declared in form 349 (the recapitulative statement) with key M and in box [59] of the 303. The exempt import does not appear in the 303: there is no VAT to deduct. Without an exempt supply there is no exemption, and the import VAT becomes due.
It is the VAT on imports of goods arriving from outside the EU. Customs assesses it in the DUA (the import declaration) as one more customs charge (art. 167.Dos LIVA, the Spanish VAT Act), together with the duty, and the importer pays it. A business then deducts it in its form 303, the Spanish VAT return, like any input VAT.
Ten calendar days from notification of the debt, or 30 if it was guaranteed (art. 108 of the Union Customs Code). The AEAT gives the exact date in the assessment itself. With payment before release (method A), the goods cannot be collected until paid.
A business that files VAT every month (art. 74.1.a RIVA, the Spanish VAT Regulation): turnover above €6,010,121.04, businesses registered in REDEME, VAT groups and keepers of hydrocarbon tax warehouses. Quarterly filers cannot defer it. A non-resident business needs to be registered for VAT in Spain, and to file monthly, to use it.
With form 036 (the census registration form), ticking box 530 during November. It applies from 1 January of the following year and renews every year. Opting out (box 531) is also filed in November and is binding for three years. It covers all imports; you cannot choose DUA by DUA.
Box [77], “Import VAT assessed by Customs pending payment”, for the full amount. The deduction goes in [32]-[33] (current goods) or [34]-[35] (capital goods). The period is the one in which the assessment is notified, which for imports arrives with release.
No. The DUA payment method only accepts A, R and J, and none of them is deferred VAT. According to the AEAT Sede, the clearance system checks on acceptance whether the importer has opted in. The AEAT response shows the deferred VAT amount separately.
VAT that the representative pays at customs on the importer's behalf is passed on as a disbursement, outside the taxable base of its invoice (art. 78.Tres.3.º LIVA). Deferred VAT is not: nobody pays it at customs; the importer declares it in its 303.
Under customs procedure 42: the goods are imported exempt (art. 27.12.º LIVA) because they are then supplied, exempt, to a business in another Member State, which pays VAT in its own country. Duty is paid as usual. The supply is declared in form 349 with key M and in box [59] of the 303.
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