The number of forms that must be submitted to the Tax Agency is so large that it is normal not to know them all in depth or not to know which one and when it has to be submitted. Things get even more complicated when some of them change very often and it is hard to keep up with the latest developments. One of the ‘more complicated’ ones, so to speak, is form 340, which originally was a document that included the transactions recorded in the VAT ledgers.
However, the numerous updates have meant that many people, especially those who have only recently started submitting the form, do not know how to manage it or find it difficult to understand, particularly since the Tax Agency’s technological information systems were standardised, which
limit the use of this form. Therefore, today we are going to explain point by point what form 340 consists of, the changes it has undergone and how to submit it if it applies to you.
What is form 340?
As mentioned above, this document submitted to the Tax Agency has gone through several ‘reforms’, but originally it was a declaration of all the VAT from invoices issued and received by both a company and a self-employed person on a monthly basis or who has to do so under the IGIC (Canary Islands general indirect tax) if that were the case. The only difference is that this is cheaper due to the geographical location of the Canary Islands.
When the form was created, there was not much else to submit, so as it stood it was sufficient. You simply had to ensure and verify that all the amounts declared in form 303 had an appropriate and accurate origin. That is why the form was accompanied by the following ledgers:
- The ledger of issued invoices.
- The ledger of received invoices.
- The ledger of intra-Community transactions.
- The ledger of investment goods.
Changes began to appear when the Immediate Information Supply system arrived, the Tax Agency’s application that incorporates computerised accounting systems connected to it. In this way, companies and self-employed persons who previously declared VAT monthly now had, by law, to send any documents to this platform as soon as they issued or received an invoice.
What happened is that all the information collected with form 340 now had to be sent to the SII (Immediate Information Supply) from July 2017. From that moment, it is no longer obligatory to submit it even if still
registered under the monthly regime. Currently, only companies or self-employed persons registered under IGIC are required to submit this form.
Although it offers some convenience when submitting invoices by uploading them to the Tax Agency’s electronic office, all those affected by the change must be aware of it and adapt accordingly. If it must
still be submitted, it must be done together with form 303 for VAT every month before the 20th day of the following month.
Data to complete form 340
If you are already up to date with all the changes and are going to use the Tax Agency’s electronic office to submit form 340, you should know that the first question you will encounter is: are you a company or self-employed? If you are the former,
you will need a digital certificate to access the office, whereas if you are the latter, you will have more options: you can access with a digital certificate, electronic DNI or Cl@ve PIN.
If you have just started your project or activity, you may not have a digital certificate, so you must obtain one or authorise someone else who already has one to submit the form on your behalf. Bear in mind, however, that that other
person must be registered as a social collaborator or proxy. As for technology, it will suffice to have Java installed on the computer on which you intend to send the invoices.
How to complete the form
Although it may not seem so, filling in form 340 is quite tiring because it is very extensive and requires many elements: remember that you must include all the details of the invoices to be declared. Therefore, if you want to fill it in, it is best
that we explain step by step how to do it so you don’t miss any details, as otherwise you would have to submit it again in full.
If you want to save yourself this step, it is best to engage an advisory service to handle these procedures for you so that you can forget about submitting a form that can become very burdensome. At Blegal we can help you to process this and other documents thanks
to our team of lawyers, tax experts and accountants, who guarantee excellence in all of our fiscal and tax services.
In any case, it is important to understand what data and documents you are submitting and what they are for. These are what you will need for form 340:
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- Declarant’s details. The first thing you must do after identifying yourself as a
company or self-employed person is to enter your details for identification: name, NIF or CIF
and contact phone number. - Period of the month and fiscal year. Next, you must indicate the month and year
- Declarant’s details. The first thing you must do after identifying yourself as a
corresponding to the period being declared so that the Tax Agency can verify the period you are reporting.
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- Electronic code of form 303. You must then locate form 303 for
VAT that has already been submitted and note the electronic code from the first page. With this, the Tax Agency can check that all the information you have entered in the two forms is identical and matches precisely.
Once you have entered all the required information, you can save the declaration and proceed to the next screen where you will be asked for the invoice details. Bear in mind that each invoice entered will be a new record with the following sections:
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- Declaring entity’s NIF. As it is yours, it will appear automatically since you entered it on the previous page. It will be the only field to do so.
- Declared entity’s NIF, that is, the supplier’s or client’s.
- Country code of the supplier or
client (a dropdown will appear for you to select the location).
- Fiscal ID key. You can choose between NIF, CIF for intra-Community operator, passport, document issued in country of residence, etc.
- Operation key. Usually ‘habitual operation’, except in special cases.
- Number of invoices. This option is reserved only if an entry key covers multiple invoices. Generally, only one is required.
- First and last invoice numbers. If it is a summary of invoices or tickets, you must indicate the first and last document number.
- Invoice identification (its number).
- Date of issue (when it was issued).
- Taxable base.
- VAT (you will have a dropdown to select the rate).
- Total amount, where you enter the invoice’s total amount.
With this, you would have filled in all the mandatory fields of the form; the rest are optional. The only thing you must be absolutely sure of is to repeat the same process and enter all the information for each of your invoices. Once you have completed this task, you can save the entry, verify that all the boxes you have filled in contain correct information, and finally submit the form.
Penalties
Of course, as with all forms or documents submitted to the Tax Agency, failing to submit them or submitting them incorrectly on purpose will incur a penalty that depends on the severity of the situation. Article 198 of the General Tax Law (LGT),
which regulates tax infractions, explains that those not submitted within the established deadline, provided there is no financial detriment to the Public Treasury, will be considered as such.
In that case, the offence is deemed minor and carries a fine of €200. If the issue concerns census declarations or those related to appointing a representative for persons or entities, the penalty rises to €400.
If the penalty arises from general information supply obligations (articles 93 and 94 of the law), it will be €20 per data item or data items relating to the same person or entity that should have
been included in the declaration. A minimum of €300 and a maximum of €20,000 is set.
However, if the returns or declarations are submitted late without a prior request from the Administration, the penalty will be half of the amounts mentioned above. Therefore, penalties for form 340 will always be limited to the maximum and minimum amounts established by law.
If you want to learn more about this form or see what the pages look like when filling it in, you can consult the Tax Agency’s user guide, but if you prefer to forget about these submissions and focus on your
projects, you can leave all these procedures to us. At Blegal we offer you a professional, prepared and diverse team working closely with you so that each client gets what they need. We look ahead to the
future of your business, growing with you. If you want to know how we can help, just get in touch with us so we can assist you.
