New Urgent Measures applicable in 2020

Royal Decree-Law 34/2020, on urgent measures to support business solvency and the energy sector, and on tax matters, which came into force on 19 November, establishes a series of measures to alleviate the current situation.

The approved regulation includes numerous important measures to bring domestic regulations into line with those of the European Union regarding the granting of public guarantees, the extension of the term of certain publicly guaranteed debts and the extension of the term for which the obligation to request a declaration of bankruptcy is suspended. It also includes other amendments such as allowing capital companies to hold their meetings by telematic means without the need to modify their articles of association and measures in the energy sector to adapt to European regulations.

For their part, the tax measures included in the regulation and which are of particular interest are as follows:

• In relation to Corporate Income Tax, the amendments affect:
  • Deduction for investments in foreign productions of feature films or audiovisual works: The production phase is incorporated for the application of the incentive in animation productions and the application of this incentive to the execution in Spain of the part of international productions related to visual effects is maintained, provided that the amount of this deduction does not exceed the amount established by the European Union for de minimisaid.
  • Freedom from depreciation on investments made in the value chain of electric, sustainable and connected mobility in the Temporary National Framework for aid measures to support the economy in the context of the current outbreak of COVID-19: The incentive will apply to investments in certain new items of tangible fixed assets that come into operation in the tax periods ending between 2 April 2020 and 30 June 2021.
  • Deduction for innovation in processes in the automotive industry value chain: The regulation establishes the modification of a series of tax incentives for the automotive sector to bring them into line with Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, modifies the deduction for innovation and introduces different types of deduction depending on the size of the company (50% for SMEs and 15% for others).
• In VAT, the following COVID-19-related amendments are regulated:
  • 0% rate: The application of a 0% Value Added Tax rate to domestic deliveries, imports and intra-Community acquisitions of healthcare material to combat COVID-19, whose recipients are public entities, non-profit organisations and hospitals, which was in force until 31 October 2020, is extended until 30 April 2021; where applicable, taxable persons must rectify the VAT charged or paid prior to the entry into force of this Royal Decree-Law. In addition, Commission Decision (EU) 2020/1573 of 28 October 2020 amended Decision (EU) 2020/491 and extended until 30 April 2021 the exemption from customs duties and VAT for the import of goods needed to combat the pandemic.
  • 4% rate: From the entry into force of this regulation and until 31 December 2021, the VAT rate applicable to supplies, imports and intra-Community acquisitions of disposable surgical masks for recipients other than those to whom the 0% rate applies is reduced from 21% to 4%.