Tax Litigation

Tax audits and investigations in Spain

Every response should address the present enquiry without compromising the defence that may be needed later.

A Spanish tax inspection is designed to verify and investigate compliance and may end in one or more assessments. From the opening notice, the stated scope, taxes and periods, information requested and decisions about representation shape the taxpayer’s position. The first phase is therefore not merely administrative: it is the foundation of any later agreement, claim or appeal.

Fragmented replies increase risk. Facts, documents and legal analysis should follow the same logic from the first request through meetings, audit records, proposed adjustments and final assessments. Before providing information, we consider what it proves, where it sits in the chronology and what further questions it may raise. Cooperation should be prompt and constructive, but also organised and conscious of procedural safeguards.

Lullius represents companies, entrepreneurs, executives, families and international clients in complex Spanish tax audits and investigations. We combine substantive tax knowledge with procedural experience, allowing us to challenge not only the interpretation of a tax rule but also the authority’s treatment of facts, evidence, reasoning, time limits and investigative powers.

Where the matter crosses borders, we coordinate records and technical positions with advisers in the other jurisdictions. If controversy continues, we retain conduct of the administrative claim and court proceedings. The client therefore has one strategy and one factual record from the opening notice to final resolution.

Focused support

Through every stage

Opening notice and scope

We review authority, scope, periods, taxes and deadlines, establish representation and create an internal protocol for centralising requests and communications.

Speak to our team

From the first request

Strategy

Prepare before answering. The first weeks matter. We form the team, allocate responsibility, preserve records and build a chronology of transactions, filings and communications. This preparation allows the client to respond quickly without improvisation and reveals issues that could expand the enquiry. Where several advisers are involved, we establish a single coordination channel. Consistency between accounts, contracts, emails, returns and technical explanations is as important as the quality of any one document.
Substance and procedure move together. An adjustment may be disputed because of the law, the authority’s evaluation of facts or the procedure followed. We analyse all three dimensions from the beginning. Procedural points are not saved for the end, nor are they used to avoid explaining a technical position clearly. We distinguish defensible differences of interpretation from risks that may justify another strategy. Before a material decision, the client receives a candid assessment of alternatives, cost, timing and practical consequences.
Continuity through resolution. If an assessment or penalty must be challenged, the file already contains evidence and a narrative developed with the later claim in mind. That continuity reduces contradiction and keeps the appeal focused on the issues that genuinely determine the outcome. In cross-border matters we also consider double-tax relief and coordination with proceedings elsewhere. Each route has its own conditions and effects and should be selected as part of one strategy.
Sensitive information and process governance. Audits may involve personal, commercial or financial information of particular sensitivity. We establish who has access, how it is reviewed and through which channel it is produced, meeting disclosure obligations without unnecessary internal circulation. We report through clear milestones: current status, next deadline, decision required and movement in risk. Good process governance reduces disruption to the client and ensures that strategic choices are made with enough time and reliable information. For a business, we coordinate tax, finance, management and the operational teams who understand the underlying events. Their involvement is structured proportionately, obtaining reliable facts without allowing the enquiry to create avoidable disruption across the organisation. A decision log records material choices and the basis on which they were made for use in later stages. We also define escalation points for material developments, including an expanded scope, a proposed adjustment or a penalty issue. This gives the client time to obtain approvals, consider financial implications and align communications before the next procedural step. Every production is indexed and placed in context. That record supports later review.