Appealing to the Administration: reposición and alzada appeals

Appealing is formally asking the Administration to review a decision that harms you (a denial, a penalty, a tax assessment). Before going to court, the law provides for administrative appeals regulated in Ley 39/2015, de 1 de octubre (the Spanish Administrative Procedure Act).

The key to knowing which one applies is whether the act puts an end to the administrative route. If the act exhausts this route, you can file an optional reposición appeal before the same body, or go directly to court. If the act does not exhaust the route (it was issued by a body with a hierarchical superior), an alzada appeal before that superior is appropriate.

You do not have to guess. The notification itself includes an appeal footer at the end indicating which appeal is possible, before which body and within what deadline. Managora reads that notification and identifies the correct appeal for you.

The reposición appeal (articles 123 and 124 of Ley 39/2015) is filed before the same body that issued the act, and it only proceeds against acts that put an end to the administrative route. The body that resolved the matter has the opportunity to reconsider its own decision.

The deadline to file it is 1 month counted from the day following the notification, if the act was express. If the act was presumed (there was no response), it can be filed at any time from the day following the presumed act. The body has 1 month to resolve it.

It is optional. You decide whether to submit it or go directly to the contentious-administrative appeal in court. However, if you opt for the reposición, you must wait for it to be expressly resolved or understood as dismissed by silence before going to court. You can check the updated amount on the administrative reposición appeal page.

The alzada appeal (articles 121 and 122 of Ley 39/2015) proceeds against acts that do not put an end to the administrative route, meaning those issued by a body that has a hierarchical superior above it. That superior resolves it. You can submit it to the body that issued the act, which is obliged to forward it to the competent body within a period of 10 days.

The filing deadline is 1 month from the day following the notification of the express act (or at any time from the presumed act, if there was no response). The superior body has 3 months to resolve it.

Unlike the reposición, the alzada is mandatory. It must be filed and its resolution awaited to exhaust the administrative route before you can go to court. You can see the updated amount on the administrative alzada appeal page.

The 1 month deadlines are calculated from date to date (article 30 of Ley 39/2015). The calculation starts the day after the notification and the deadline expires on the same day number of the expiration month. For example, an act notified on March 10 has a deadline until April 10. If that day does not exist in the expiration month, the deadline ends on the last day of the month. And if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it is extended to the next working day.

Administrative silence appears when the Administration does not resolve the appeal within its deadline. In appeals, silence has a negative meaning: the appeal is understood to be dismissed. This does not mean you lose your right, but rather that the path is opened to take the next step (for example, the contentious-administrative appeal before the court).

That is why the decisive factor is not letting the 1 month pass. Managora controls the notification date and submits the appeal within the deadline so that your claim is not lost due to a matter of time.

When the decision comes from the AEAT (the Spanish Tax Agency), such as a tax assessment, a penalty or an enforcement order, the route is the tax reposición appeal, regulated in Ley 58/2003 (the Spanish General Tax Act) (articles 222 to 225). It is filed before the same body that issued the act.

The deadline is 1 month from the day following the notification (or from when the effects of silence occur), and the AEAT also has 1 month to resolve it, with negative silence. This appeal is optional, but it is prior to the economic-administrative claim. You cannot do both simultaneously. If you submit the reposición, you will have to wait for it to be resolved or dismissed by silence before claiming.

Once the reposición is exhausted, the next step is the economic-administrative claim before the Economic-Administrative Tribunal, with a new deadline of 1 month (article 235 of Ley 58/2003). You can check the updated amount on the reposición appeal before the AEAT page.

Managora takes care of the appeal from start to finish. We review the decision and its appeal footer, determine whether a reposición or alzada (or the tax route) applies to you, draft the document with the reasons for your disagreement and submit it through the electronic headquarters on your behalf, within the deadline.

Afterwards, we send you the submission receipt and notify you when the resolution arrives, indicating what next step is possible if the appeal is dismissed. You do not have to study the law or struggle with the electronic headquarters. You only provide the notification you have received and explain to us why you disagree. We prepare it and submit it for you.