Spanish citizens to declare foreign crypto holdings by the end of March

Spanish residents holding any crypto assets on non-Spanish platforms will have to declare them by March 31, 2024 under new laws governing the taxation of virtual assets.

The Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) has published Form 721, a tax declaration form for virtual assets abroad, first announced in the Official State Gazette on July 29, 2023.

The submission period for Form 721 declaration will commence on Jan.1, 2024, and end on the last day of March. Individual and corporate taxpayers must declare the amount of funds stored on their crypto accounts abroad as of Dec. 31.

However, only individuals with balance sheets exceeding the equivalent of 50,000 euros (around $55,000) in crypto assets are obliged to declare their foreign holdings. Those who store their assets in self-custodied wallets must report their holdings through the standard wealth tax form, Form 714.

The AEAT has recently been increasing its efforts to charge the local holders of crypto assets. In April 2023, it dispatched 328,000 warning notices to those who didn’t pay their taxes on crypto for the 2022 fiscal year. The number of notices increased by 40% annually, with 150,000 warnings in 2022. In 2021, there were only 15,000 notifications.

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The country is trying to move proactively with a variety of regulations to govern crypto. In October, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation reported that the first comprehensive European Union crypto framework, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Act, will come into force nationally in December 2025, six months ahead of the official deadline.

In November, the principal financial regulator in Spain, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), opened its first case against a technology provider for violating crypto promotion rules in the country.

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