Modelo 720: do I have to file?

What is modelo 720?

Modelo 720 is an information return. If you are tax resident in Spain, it tells the Tax Agency what money, investments and property you hold abroad. You report what you own; you do not pay any tax with it. If you are not tax resident in Spain in the year you are reporting, you do not file it.

It covers fintech apps, neobanks and brokers based outside Spain too. What counts is where the account or investment is held, not where the company comes from.

Who has to file modelo 720, and when is it required?

Your assets abroad are split into three categories, and each one is checked on its own against :

• Bank accounts: the total balance on , or the average balance for the last quarter. If either is above the limit, you report all your accounts.
• Securities, funds and insurance: their total value on .
• Property: the total purchase price, including costs and taxes.

You only report the categories that are above the limit. Joint accounts and assets count at their full value for each holder, not just your share, and an account you are only authorised to use still counts towards your total.

After your first filing, you report a category again only when its total has grown by more than since you last reported it. If you sell or close something you reported before, you must file that year, whatever the totals.

If you are under the Beckham regime:

Modelo 720 and Trade Republic: do accounts with a Spanish IBAN count?

The legal test is whether an account is located abroad, not the letters at the start of the IBAN. Accounts opened at a Spanish branch, which reports them to the Tax Agency itself, are generally treated as located in Spain. Accounts held directly with a foreign bank or broker can still count as abroad, even with a Spanish IBAN.

For Trade Republic and similar neobanks and brokers, the answer depends on which part of the company holds your cash and your investments, and the calculator cannot see that. If you tell it an account is held through a Spanish branch with a Spanish IBAN, it leaves that account out and explains why. If you are not sure, ask your bank or platform whether it reports your account to the Tax Agency.

When is the modelo 720 deadline, and how do you file it?

You file online, once a year, for the previous year. The next window: .

For each category you report, have the details of every item ready: for accounts, the bank, the account number and the balances; for securities and funds, the provider, each holding and its value; for property, the address, the purchase date and the price.

What happens if you don’t file modelo 720?

The special, much heavier penalties that used to apply to modelo 720 were removed in , after a ruling by the EU Court of Justice. Today the general rules for information returns apply.

If you do not file on time, the fine is for each item or set of data, with a minimum of and a maximum of , for each category. If you file late but before the Tax Agency contacts you, it is halved: per item, with a minimum of and a maximum of . Returns that are incomplete or wrong can also be fined. The calculator above does not work out fines.

What about crypto? Modelo 721

Crypto does not go on modelo 720. If a provider abroad holds your crypto for you, it goes on modelo 721, with the same limit on the value and the same rule for later years. Wallets where you hold the keys yourself are not included. Next window: .