Financial sector taxes: the tasa Tobin (Tobin tax, 604) and the insurance premium tax (480)

The Financial Transaction Tax (ITF), known as the tasa Tobin (Tobin tax), is an indirect tax created by Ley 5/2020, of 15 October (the Spanish Financial Transaction Tax Act). It taxes the onerous acquisitions of shares in Spanish listed companies whose market capitalisation exceeds €1,000 million as of 1 December of the previous year. The rate is 0.2% on the consideration paid, excluding transaction costs (art. 5 and 7 of the Act).

Here is the most frequently asked key point: the taxpayer is the acquirer of the shares (the investor bears the cost), but the taxable person who declares and pays the tax is the financial intermediary. If an investment firm or credit institution buys on its own account, it is the taxable person; if it buys on behalf of a client, the taxable person is the market member executing the order or, when several intermediaries are involved, the one receiving the order directly from the acquirer (art. 6). It does not matter where they are established: a foreign broker trading subject Spanish shares is also a taxable person, as confirmed by the Directorate General for Taxes in binding ruling V2563-21.

To know which shares are subject, you do not have to calculate anything: Hacienda (the Spanish Tax Agency, AEAT) publishes every December on its electronic headquarters the list of Spanish companies whose capitalisation exceeds €1,000 million. The list for the 2026 financial year, with the capitalisation as of 1 December 2025, includes securities such as Aena, Endesa, Amadeus, Naturgy or Telefonica. If the security does not appear on the list, the purchase is not taxed that year.

An important nuance for the investor: although they do not submit form 604, they are jointly and severally liable for the debt if they communicate erroneous or inaccurate information to the intermediary regarding exemptions or the taxable base (art. 6.3 of Ley 5/2020).

Article 3 of Ley 5/2020 includes a broad catalogue of exemptions designed not to tax corporate financing or market functioning: the issuance of shares (primary market), initial public offerings in their initial placement, instrumental acquisitions by placers and underwriters, price stabilisation in initial public offerings, operations by central counterparties and central securities depositories, contracted liquidity providers, market making, acquisitions between entities of the same group, mergers and spin-offs under the special regime, securities financing transactions (repos and securities lending) and collateralised guarantees, bank resolution measures, share buyback programmes and, since Ley 12/2022 (the Spanish Act amending the ITF), acquisitions by occupational pension funds and non-profit mutual societies.

The exemptions do not apply automatically: the acquirer must communicate to the taxable person that the exemption scenario applies, and the intermediary must reflect and keep this in their operations register (RD 366/2021). An error in that communication shifts the responsibility to the acquirer.

Another frequent doubt: share sales are not taxed (the tax levies acquisitions, not transfers from the seller's side), and derivative instruments only come into play when their execution or settlement results in the delivery of subject shares.

The Insurance Premium Tax (IPS) is regulated in article 12 of Ley 13/1996 (the Spanish Fiscal, Administrative and Social Order Measures Act) and taxes insurance and capitalisation operations deemed to be carried out in Spain. It accrues when the premium is paid and the current rate is 8% since 1 January 2021 (raised from 6% by Ley 11/2020 on the General State Budget).

The taxable person is the insurance entity: it self-assesses and pays the tax. This obligation equally applies to insurers from other European Economic Area States operating in Spain under the freedom to provide services, who fulfil it directly: the obligation to appoint a tax representative in Spain was abolished by Ley 20/2015 following the EU Court of Justice ruling of 11 December 2014. However, the law requires the tax to be passed on entirely to the person contracting the insurance: this is why the 8% appears itemised on the receipt and the economic cost is borne by the policyholder, not the company.

The taxable base is the total amount of the premium or quota. Surcharges established in favour of the Insurance Compensation Consortium or the tax amount itself are not part of it.

The management has two parts: form 430, a monthly self-assessment with payment (electronic form in force since January 2024, approved by Orden HFP/1284/2023), and form 480, the annual summary declaration submitted in January which must balance with the twelve 430 forms of the financial year.

Article 12 of Ley 13/1996 leaves out of the tax, among others, these operations: compulsory social insurances and collective insurances that implement alternative systems to pension plans and funds, life insurances and insured provision plans, capitalisation operations based on actuarial technique, reinsurance, surety insurances, export credit insurances, combined agricultural insurances, healthcare and sickness insurances, and international transport insurances for goods and passengers.

The practical effect is direct: a life or health insurance receipt does not carry the 8%, while home, car, civil liability or business multi-risk insurance receipts do. For the insurer, the consequence is documentary: they must keep a register separating subject and exempt contracts, because form 480 requires declaring both blocks.

The ITF form 604 is submitted every month between the 10th and the 20th of the month following the settlement period, always electronically with a digital certificate. Real Decreto 366/2021 allows channelling the submission and payment through a central securities depository (in Spain, Iberclear) or doing it directly before the AEAT, and requires keeping an auxiliary register operation by operation.

The IPS form 430 is submitted within the first 20 calendar days of the month following the monthly period, with one exception: the July self-assessment can be submitted during August and the first 20 calendar days of September. Form 480 is submitted from 1 to 31 January of the year following the financial year.

Submitting late without a prior requirement generates surcharges for late declaration and, if there is an AEAT requirement, it can lead to a penalty. In monthly taxes, an oversight is multiplied by twelve, so the key is to industrialise the process: Managora manages the calendar for you and submits each form within the window.

Managora prepares and submits these forms for you before the AEAT electronic headquarters. For the ITF: we check that the securities are on the AEAT list for the financial year, validate the article 3 exemptions applicable to your operations, assemble the technical file with the operation-by-operation details according to Orden HAC/510/2021 and submit form 604 on time every month.

For insurance premiums: we review the separation between subject and exempt contracts, calculate the monthly quota for the 430, and in January we balance the annual summary 480 with the twelve self-assessments of the financial year so there are no discrepancies that trigger a requirement.

The scope of these services depends on the volume of operations and the operations of each entity, so they are quoted custom-made. Check the corresponding procedure file (form 604, Financial Transaction Tax; form 480, Insurance Premium Tax), tell us your case and Managora prepares and submits it for you.