balms newsletter march - april 2015

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C/ Generalife nº 9, Aloha Pueblo, Aloha Golf, 29660 Nueva Andalucía, Marbella Tel: +34 952 81 21 00 Fax: 952 81 27 67 web: www.balms.com LEGAL AND FISCAL UPDATES NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL 2015

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Newsletter with new legislation, comments on recent jurisprudence and interesting news

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Page 1: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

C/ Generalife nº 9, Aloha Pueblo, Aloha Golf, 29660 Nueva Andalucía, Marbella

Tel: +34 952 81 21 00 Fax: 952 81 27 67

web: www.balms.com

LEGAL AND FISCAL UPDATES

NEWSLETTERMARCH - APRIL 2015

Page 2: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

WARNING

The information included in this publication is purely for informative purposes in relation to certain legal and fiscal matters. It is general information which therefore does not constitute legal advice in any area of the law.

Although we always try to ensure that the information included is current and correct, we cannot always guarantee that it will continue to be correct in the future. Therefore if this information is used as reference, it should be previously verified and checked and relevant professional advice should be sought.

It is forbidden to copy, reproduce or pass on all or part of this publi-cation, by any means or method, without previous express and writ-ten permission from BALMS ABOGADOS ANDALUCIA S.L.P.

Page 3: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

Latest news

How to apply for Spanish nationality for Sephardic Jews? What is model 720 of the Declaration of Assets adn Rights abroad and who is obliged to present it?

Careful, the Tax Office monitor social net-works!

It is not true that the Supreme Court disa-grees with the Legislator

System for the Application of the Reduced Tax Rate on Property Transfers

I explain and I insist. It is not true that the Supreme Court disagrees with the Legislator

The Supreme Court reaches a decision on the repayment of the amounts paid in “ground clauses”

News flash

Most retweeted tweets

News

The Balms Children Foundation held a charity dinner to raise funds in Vigo

XVIII BGI International Conference in Mexico D.F., Mexico

Cont

ents

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Page 4: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

LATEST NEWS

News published on our website (www.balms.com) on our blog (www.balms.com/blog) and most retweeted tweets

DRAFT BILL IN TERMS OF THE GRANTING OF SPANISH NA-TIONALITY TO SEPHARDIC JEWS

HISTORIC REGULATION AND DOUBT. ACTION, REACTION AND REPERCUSSION IN ITS ORIGINS:

The name “Sephardic” is given to the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula, and in particular to their descendants who, after the Edict of 1492 which forced them to convert or face expulsion, eventually ended up outside “Sefarad” (the word for “Spain” in the Hebrew language), and founded new communi-ties primarily in the North of Africa, in the Balkans and in the Ottoman Empire, yet maintained an emotional link and roots in Spain, conserving the language and customs of their origins.

After expulsion or conversion, the admission and acceptance of the Sephardic people dates back to the era of Isabel II, when the Jewish communities obtained licenses in order to have their own cemeteries and, later on, authorization for opening some synagogues. Later on, in the first few years of the 20th Century, several ministers tried once again to

nationalize the Jews and, although the idea was abandoned due to opposition from other groups, the links between the Sephardic Jews and Spain were reinforced. Yet it was not until 1924 when the right to choose Spanish nationality was once again approved, by means of the legislative decree of the 21st December in whose statement of motives we read, “past protected Spaniards or their descendants, and in ge-neral individuals belonging to families of Spanish origin that on any occasion have been inscribed in the Spanish Registers, and these Hispanic people, with deep-rooted sentiments of love for Spain, due to the ignorance of the law or for other reasons unrelated to their willingness to be Spanish, have not managed to obtain our nationality”, and thus a process of na-tionalization was made available, lasting until 1930. Although barely 3000 Sephardic Jews pursued this right, this natio-nalization period became greatly useful after it had finished, during the Second World War, since many Diplomatic delega-tions, exercising their right as stated in the 21st December 1924 decree, protected numerous Jews, thus saving them from the Nazi Holocaust.

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How to apply for Spanish nationality for Sephardic Jews?

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

Page 5: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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CURRENT REGULATION FOR SELECTING NATIONALITY, DRAFT BILL

The Sephardic Jews may exercise their right to Spanish na-tionality via two routes: 1. Identifying oneself as Sephardic and proving legal re-sidence in Spain for at least two years, mixing with the na-tionals of other states and nationalities with a particular link with Spain, such as the Ibero-Americans. 2. With a Naturalization card/ Becoming Normal This will be granted when the interested party is involved in exceptional circumstances and such circumstances prove Sephardic heritage and a link with Spain even if they do not have legal residence in our country (Spain). The person res-ponsible for the Civil Register of the residence of the interes-ted party or the corresponding consular will be someone who certifies the Sephardic heritage and their link with Spain, and this will be proved by one or several of the following methods of proof:

- Certificate issued by the Secretaría General de la Federación de Comunidades Judías de España (the General Secretary of the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Spain) in which the interested party is identified as belonging to the Sephardic Jewish Community.- Certificate from the competent rabbinical authority, legally recognized in the applicant’s country of habitual resi-dence, or any other documentation that the interested party considers suitable to that effect. - By the surnames of the interested party or by the familial language or by other indicators that demonstrate their belonging to the Sephardic Jewish community. - The petitioner’s inclusion, or their direct ancestors’ inclusion, in the list of Sephardic families protected by Spain, which, in relation to Egypt and Greece, makes reference to the 29th December 1948 Decree-Law, or in any other si-milar list, or of any others who achieved their naturalization through the special route of the Royal Decree of the 20th December 1924.- The linking or parentage of the applicant with a per-son or with the ancestors mentioned in the previous bullet point. The interested parties must formalize their applications within a period of two years from the enforcement of the law; however this time period may be extended by up to one year upon the agreement of the Cabinet. Those who obtain Spanish nationality through their Sephardic heritage do not have to renounce their previous nationality.

Eva María Ortega RivasTramiuris S.L.

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NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

Page 6: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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From its finalization in February, model 347 (the annual informative declara-tion of operations with third parties) has henceforth been presented, but the professionals dedicated to tax and accounting advice, both for businesses and independent individuals, must con-tinue with preparing another model this March, before the commencement in April 2015 of the 2014 tax campaign. This model is another annual informa-tive declaration, and was created in 2013 as a way to fight tax fraud. We refer to model 720, the Declaration of Goods and Rights abroad.

For those who don’t yet understand what this declaration involves, we will briefly summarize the information that must be declared, those who must pre-sent this model and the consequences should they fail to present it.

We begin by determining who is obliga-ted to present (the declaration):

- Natural persons or entities resident in the Spanish State, including the taxable subjects resident in the autonomous territories of the Basque Country and Navarra.

- Persons who have the status of representatives or beneficiaries of the goods or rights (for example, the titleholder and his wife as “joint-agent” for a bank account abroad), that is, persons who hold the right to dispose of these goods or rights abroad.

Now that those who must present mo-del 720 have been identified, we move to outlining which assets and rights must be declared:

1. Accounts and open deposits in ban-king entities located abroad. Amongst others, the essential facts that must be included in the declara-tion are the following:

Business name or designation of the banking entity or of the credit, as well as the address, complete identification of the accounts, opening or cancela-tion date, account balance on the 31st December and the balance halfway through the last quarter of the year, etc.

2. Representative values of contribu-tion in any type of entity.

In this group the contributions or ac-tions of businesses located abroad, any policy held by those who are policy holders and finally temporary or life an-nuities are all addressed. All of these are relevant, provided that they have been deposited, managed or obtained abroad.

In this section, the values contributed for the administration or management of any legal instrument (trusteeships or trusts) and the contributions in Co-llective Investment Institutions located abroad are also included.

In this heading of the informative de-claration, it is mandatory that the fo-llowing information be included:

• For values: business name ofthe legal entity or the third assignee, as well as their address and balance on the 31st of December of each year, etc. • Foractionsandparticipationsof Collective Investment Institutions

(IIC/ CII): business name or CII/ IIC com-plete designation and address, as well as number, type of shares, etc.

• For the case of insurance:insurance entity with their business name or complete designation and ad-dress, etc.

In the case of temporary income or life annuity: Insurance entity with their bu-siness name or complete designation and address, etc.

3. Property assets, and the rights su-rrounding them, located abroad.

This section does not need additional clarification describing the assets that need to be declared. The information that must be included in this section is the following: Property identification, property location: country, city, street and number, date of purchase, etc.

What accounts, assets and properties do not need to be declared?

In the following cases (amongst others), there will be no obligation to declare the information indicated in the previous points: When each set of assets indicated in points 1, 2, and 3 are not worth above 50,000 Euros (if the value of the set is above this limit, all the elements owned in each group of assets must be declared, regard-less of their individual value), current accounts, those opened in establish-ments abroad with credit institutions domiciled in Spain, that must be decla-red by the credit institutions, provided that they had been able to be declared in accordance with the legislation of the country where the account is held,

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

What is model 720 of the Declaration of Assets and Rights abroad and who is obliged to present it?

Page 7: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL LATEST NEWS

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example, there is a minimum fine of 10,000 Euros; Similarly, there will be fines of 100 Euros for each fact or group of facts that are delivered late, and a minimum fine of 1,500 Euros, re-gardless of the number of errors, if the declaration has been presented after the designated time period without a prior request to the Tax Administra-tion.

What’s more, if model 720 is not pre-sented and the tax office discovers un-declared assets abroad, on top of the previous fine, the undeclared posses-sion of the asset or right abroad will be considered unjustified asset gain, and will be integrated in the general taxable base of income of the titleholders.

What are the consequences if model 720 is not presented?

Although the declaration of assets and rights abroad in model 720 is informa-tive and not for tax collection purpo-ses, the consequences that could arise from failing to present it, or its presen-tation after the required time period, or if the information it includes is not correct, could be very serious for tho-se who must present it. This includes fines of 5,000 Euros for each fact or group of facts that should have been included in the declaration; but in any case, for those that have not been fi-lled in completely or are inexact or fal-se, even if there is only one error, for

For legal entities, it will be considered undeclared income and assigned to Corporation Tax from the oldest tax pe-riod from amongst the unexpired taxes susceptible to legalization. And finally, in the assumption of unjustified asset gains a specific sanction is established of 150% of the whole payment (of inco-me or Corporation Tax), corresponding with the aforementioned unjustified as-set gain.

Rafael GuerreroFiscal Advisor FERS S.L.

Page 8: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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6

From the beginning of the crisis and be-fore the imminent drop in income, the Tax Agency has doubled its efforts for when the time comes to fight against tax fraud. To this end, it has gone over the 8,054 million Euros raised in 2008, to 12,318 million in 2014. In order to achieve this aim, one of the methods adopted to seek out the taxable inco-mes that were not detected until then was the creation in 2013 of model 720 (the declaration of assets and rights abroad).

In 2014, the action intended to de-tect computing manipulations in a company’s bookkeeping increased nota-bly, principally analyzing the computers of taxpayers that have been inspected in order to find deliberately hidden data. One of the measures employed to make sure that the intensification of the Tax Agency’s actions was effective was the offering of bonuses to the employees at the tax office for taking on extra hours, even adapting their salaries to the re-sults of the emergence (of taxable in-comes).

Regarding the tracking of information on computers, it must be made quite clear that the actions are conducted on businesses only, as private residen-ces are constitutionally protected. This does not mean that a private residence cannot be inspected, but in the event that the liable taxpayer denies access to their home, legal authorization, which would correspond with the Con-tentious-Administrative Courts, will be necessary, on the basis of the afore-mentioned constitutional protection.

Currently, with the Fiscal Identification Number (NIF) of natural persons or companies, the tax office has our IRPF (Impuesto sobre la Renta de Personas Físicas/ Personal Income Tax) infor-mation within its reach, and can also access the data supplied by financial

entities, local administration, electri-city companies, service providers and others, including the information of clo-se relatives. With all of this informa-tion, a reasonably accurate profile of the taxpayers’ economic and financial situation can now be calculated.

What are the new measures that the Tax Office will be ta-king?

The Tax Agency will go beyond this in 2015, compiling a register containing the information published on social net-works, both from tax persons as well as legal personnel from natural persons as well as companies.

At present, the Tax Agency technicians are already dealing with finding any information in this register that con-trasts with the tax information provi-ded by the tax payers in their income declaration, for example.

Thus, from taxpayers’ appearance in the mass media to public manifesta-tions considered as relevant and recor-ded on platforms such as Youtube or any other, are being analyzed meticu-lously.

To successfully deal with an enormous quantity of taxpayer information will require that the Tax Office utilizes computer programs with a sufficient capacity for processing, selecting and

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

Careful, the Tax Office monitor social networks!

Page 9: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL LATEST NEWS

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information is provided to the Tax Agen-cy by one of their contacts, who do have access to them.

All of this obeys the confidentiality of communications law, which, however, could be altered by a judicial decision, so that even Whatsapp messages, Fa-cebook chat or the Twitter DMs (Direct Messages) may be investigated if there are indications that information rela-ting to a crime could be uncovered.

For the time being, the Council of Mi-nisters has issued an authorization so that the State Tax Administration Agency may bid for a contract for the development and maintenance services

accumulating data published on so-cial networks (Facebook or Twitter, for example).

With the list of contacts that can be obtained from the processing of data on social networks it could be possible to uncover links between private indivi-duals and/ or businesses that did not appear related a priori, which could be even more evident via the exchange of public messages.

In this respect, it is important to clari-fy that it will not be possible to analyze the information that has been shared privately a priori; however, it may be the case that sensitive or suspicious

of the Tax Computing Department’s applications, from 2015 to 2017, ex-tendable by two years.

In conclusion, it could be said that the workings of the inspection performed by the tax office have not changed, simply that new tools are being provi-ded, which allow the analysis of a grea-ter number of data within the existing reinforcement of tax collecting action designed to fight tax fraud.

Rafael GuerreroAsesor Fiscal FERS S.L.

Information published in el BOE

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Page 10: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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I continually hear this on the television or read it in the news-papers. It springs out of the current political climate, and is heightened during the election seasons.

What should not be happening is that in a few blogs, from prestigious legal offices, things are written such as, the Su-preme Court have proclaimed that, “Compensation for unfair dismissal is included in the labour reform”, or that “a new ‘dissent’ element [has been] introduced between what is desi-red by the legislator in the 2012 labour reform and the judi-cial interpretation of the content of the labour reform”.

Whoever disagrees with the facts is the one writing such things, simply because such statements are false.

Those writing these (false) statements are basing them on the sentence passed on the 29th September 2014 by the Fourth Board, in order to resolve claim 3065/2014, which ap-pealed for the unification of doctrine, and complained against the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice of Castilla y León on the 21st of June 2013, at the headquarters in Burgos, in supplication appeal 218/2013.

I have read the Supreme Court’s sentence closely, without giving much time to it, as it is short and easy reading. Fur-thermore, for the sake of delving into the matter, a contras-ting sentence was provided for the formulation of the resol-ved supplication appeal; more specifically, for those who are interested, it is the sentence passed on the 16th of July 2013 in appeal 239/2013, by the Employment Division of the High court of Justice in Extremadura, confirmed by a decision made on the 29th of August 2013.

The only valid conclusion drawn from all this is that the infor-mation that circulates on the internet has no connection with reality, at least from a legal point of view, which is the point of view to which we must adhere. What’s more, the way in which this issue is addressed gives it a different - perhaps ideologi-cal - slant, that in the current climate is most appealing, as it allows the continuation of this species of stubbornness that many have achieved, at whatever cost, to censure the Royal Decree law 3/2012, which I will refer to as the 2012 reform. I am not criticizing the censure. I’m criticizing what has been done with a lucky ideological stink that makes me, particularly, very fed up.

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It is not true that the Supreme Court disa-grees with the Legislator

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

Page 11: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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The authors of statements such as the ones I have referred to at the beginning of this document, aim to have us believe that the Supreme Court has established a new judgement to calculate the compensation that corresponds to the le-vel of inappropriateness surrounding some of the dismissals undertaken after the 12th of February 2012, the commen-cement date of the 2012 reform, regarding work contracts entered into before this date. They hope to convince us that the Supreme Court has raised the amount of this particular compensation, thanks to the sentence it passed on the 29th September last year against the legislator. This is all comple-tely false.

In the contrasting sentence, the Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura revokes the first instance judgement, de-clares the inappropriateness of the discussed dismissal and incorrectly sets, as an alternative compensation to reins-tatement, an amount far greater than it should be. Exactly 62,023.08 euros, equivalent to one of the two payment limits that the fifth transitory provision of the 2012 reform esta-blishes, specifically the one with 42 installments.

The error was corrected via the 29th August 2013 clarifi-cation decree that reduced the compensation amount to 28,043.09 euros, a sum of money that corresponds far more accurately to what was expected in the aforementioned fifth transitory provision.

In the sentence issued by the Supreme Court, in which many have become obsessed with seeing what is not there, what the courtroom is doing is simply correcting the compensa-tions that were set inappropriately for the two workers in the supplication sentence. But this does not mean in any way that due to this, the Supreme Court has raised the com-pensations established in the 2012 reform, as if it were a confrontation with the legislator.

The matter resolved by the Supreme Court in their sentence on the 29th September 2014 is summarized in the following way.

Two (female) workers, employees since 1980 and 1989 res-pectively, had their work contracts terminated on the 18th October 2012, thus, the 2012 reform is valid, (due to the dates).

Both workers are propose a demand against the dismissal, asking that the number one Labour courtroom in Burgos re-solves the situation via a sentence whose verdict will demand that the terminations operated are in accordance with the law.

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In the face of the first instance judgement, they make an appeal that the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (headquarters in Burgos) resolves the issue via a sentence which revokes the court’s verdict, declares the inappropria-teness of the (contract) terminations and demands the wor-kers’ readmission or, as an alternative to this, the payment of the relevant compensations which are set according to the amounts corresponding to the 720 day limit, established for improper terminations of contracts concluded after the start date of the 2012 reform, disregarding, therefore, the content of the fifth transitory provision.

The workers put forward appeal proceedings for the unifica-tion of doctrine calculated by the Fourth Board, to revoke the supplication sentence and correctly recalculate the compen-sations, whose quantities remain fixed, corresponding to the limit of 42 installments, in order to correspond to a strictly accurate application of the much mentioned fifth transitory provision.

I could continue, now adding the arithmetical calculations, on the basis of which no claims have been made such as tho-se that I outline at the beginning of this article, and who-se implementation I recommend for those who, distancing themselves completely from the truth, affirm that with the sentence made on the 29th September 2014, the Supreme Court raised the anticipated compensation amounts in the 2012 reform, establishing a new disagreement with what the legislator wanted.

Simply not true.

Daniel Álvarez de BlasBalms Abogados Madrid

Page 12: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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System for the Application of the Re-duced Tax Rate on Property TransfersAnyone who has purchased a house for private use has been able to verify that the seller has not affected the VAT in the transfer because the operation is not subject to this tax if the trans-ferring party is not a business owner or professional, as demanded in Law 37/1992, 28th December. This tran-saction, then, will be subject to the Property Transfers Tax and Legal Docu-ment Acts, and then the purchaser or buyer (either a natural or legal person) will be the taxable person. That is, this person will have to hand over the tax amount to the corresponding Regional Government (the Autonomous Regions have surrendered the management of this taxation).

If we focus on Andalucía, and in detail on what is picked up on in art.25, Legis-lative Decree 1/2009, 1st September, it is possible to apply a reduced rate of 2% for the purchase of properties by natural or legal persons who pursue a business activity to which the adap-tation norms of the General Plan for Accounting in the Property Sector are applicable, and whenever the following requirements are fulfilled:

1. That the purchaser includes the property in their floating assets

2. That the property purcha-sed is subject to transfer within the five years following its purchase, with hand-over of the property whenever the transfer is once again subject to ITP-AJD .

The fulfillment of these mandatory re-quirements should be credited in order to be able to apply the 2% reduced rate (and should be recorded in public wri-ting).

Therefore, it is very important that the company is released in the I.A.E. with the buying and selling real estate acti-vity, and that the company’s accoun-ting is adapted to the Property Sector Accounting Plan (thus the purchased property will form a part in the Balance of the Company of the current asset under the heading “Supply” and that the property purchased is transferred, and the hand-over of ownership is cre-dited whenever the operation is subject to ITP-AJD.

As evidence of the company’s activity, together with the discharge in the IAE and the accounting adjustment, (the operation) should continue as follows:

- Once the property is purcha-sed under this premise, it must be put on the market with written evidence from different property agencies.

- All the purchase offers recei-ved must be made in writing and kept in the company’s archives.

As an added recommendation, the pro-perty should not be let during the sale process since this operation could dis-tort the concept of floating property assets supply, causing it to be consi-dered a fixed asset.

If any of the requirements mentioned above are not fulfilled, the following tax consequences could apply:

- The 8% that has not been paid in the purchase must be paid.- Interest must be paid for the amount that stopped being paid (in) at the time of purchase. - A penalty will be enforced.

Rafael GuerreroFERS S.L.

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

System for the Application of the Reduced Tax Rate on Property Transfers

Page 13: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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Recently I wrote a few lines that I published under the title, “It is not true that the Supreme Court disagrees with the legislator”.

In that article I analyzed the critiques that I had read regar-ding the judgment made by the Supreme Court on the 29th of September 2014 in appeal 3065/ 2014.

I will now explain part of what I said in this article, insist on its substance and add a conclusion.

Yes, it is true that in the calculations made by the Fourth Board, in one of the two cases analyzed, one of the claimants was awarded 836.19€ more than the amount that should have been paid out in the application of the equation of the fifth transitory provision of the Royal Decree, Law 3/2012.

I take it as read that the losing party in the appeal resolved by the Board will have asked for clarification in order to reduce the sentence, and in that particular excess derived from the error.

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However this error cannot be deducted, but it is due to the stubbornness which I talked about in my previous article; that the Supreme Court has raised “the compensation for unfair dismissal included in the work reform” or that they have “in-troduced a new ‘dissent’ element between what is desired by the legislator as stated in the 2012 work reform, and the judicial interpretation of the content of the work reform”.

My critique of the quotes above only serves to confirm/ vali-date my statements.

The compensation calculated according to the 42 month limit is not awarded to this particular worker, which would have entailed a difference of 9,601.40 Euros.

In conclusion, I am adding something which I did not wish to enter into when I started writing this article, but which is now necessary: my congratulations to the lawyer with whom the Supreme Court agreed in the sentence they passed last September.

Some will cross their fingers; others will clutch their favourite good-luck charm. I, personally, pray every time that I present appeal proceedings for the unification of doctrine before the Fourth Board that I won’t have to begin inadmissibility pro-ceedings.

Probably as a result of envy, even I cannot find the reason why the Board did not appreciate the lack of contradiction between the resolved case and the contrasting sentence pro-vided.

The fact is that when they deny me the contradiction, it is either because the worker from the matter under appeal and the party from the contrasting sentence had different star signs, or because the grandma of one of them liked to dress in black and the great aunt of the other always wore white.

Be as it may, it concludes. Accept my explanation, understand my insistence and congratulate the lawyer whose appeal was permitted by the Supreme Court.

For my part, I will remain unaffected by discouragement.

Daniel Álvarez de BlasBalms Abogados Madrid

I explain ad I insist. It is not true that the Supreme Court disagrees with the Legislator

Page 14: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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The Supreme Court had already reached a decision previously, specifically at the Judgement of the Supreme Court (STS) on the 9th of May 2013 regarding the invalidity of the ground clauses, understanding them to be invalid, within full rights to consider them as abusive clauses, but still no decision has been made on the retroactivity of the amounts paid more as a result of the invalidity of said clause; the Provincial High Courts are divided on this matter, with Courts such as Ma-laga that ruled in favour of returning the amounts paid, given that it constituted the mortgage, or Courts such as Granada which didn’t accept the return of these amounts.

In the Sentence of the 25th of March 2015, the Supreme Court set the doctrine to follow in this area, avoiding dispa-rities on the matter existing between the various Provincial High Courts, thus the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court has determined “that when in application of the doctrine set in the court’s judgement on the 9th of May 2013, validated by the judgement on the 16th of June 2014, Rc.1217/2013 and the one on the 24th of March 2015, Rc. 1765/2013, it is de-clared abusive and, for that matter, invalidates the so-called ground clause inserted into a loan agreement with a variable interest rate, and will proceed with the return of the inter-ests, paid in application of said clause from the publication date of the 9th of May 2013 judgement, to the borrower.”

A consequence of the enactment of said Judgement is that when a financial entity is demanded, because there is a ground clause in the mortgage loan deed, to consider the same clause as invalid within full rights to consider it as abu-sive and request for the return of the extra amounts paid for the application of the same clause, we now know that they will only return these amounts from the date of the publication of the Judgement made on the 9th of May 2013, which involves the financial entities’ obligation to reimburse said payments, although not all the payments made since the signing of the mortgage, only from the aforementioned date.

However, said judgement relies on the personal vote of one of the Magistrates of the Supreme Court, who understands that the invalidity must have, as it is established in the Civil Code, “ex tunc” effects, and the amounts should be returned from the confirmation or conclusion of the contract, and the injured party must recover the entire amount paid and not only one part of the amounts as the High Court has esta-blished.

Julia CrespoBalms Abogados Marbella

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The Supreme Court reaches a decision on the repayment of the amounts paid in “ground clases”

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

Page 15: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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Lawyers can now process their 2014 IRPF (Income Tax Return) declaration online, and that of their customers, with the ACA (Bar Associa-tion) card.

The Bar Association card with the ACA digital signature enables lawyers to carry out telematic operations with Public Administrations, always with complete legal validity and similarly to the signing of the document in the tra-ditional setting.

Read the complete article at Legal To-day http://bit.ly/1NYBJ3z

Lawyers’ partial satisfaction due to the urgent abolition of judicial fees for citizens.

The General Council of Spanish Law has shown its satisfaction for the Real De-cree Law procedure, approved by the Ministers Council on the motion of the Department of Justice, to repeal judi-cial fees to all citizens, in all jurisdictio-nal divisions and legal authorities. This satisfaction is partial because the re-peal of fees does not extend to SMEs, which would thoroughly repair the in-justice and would contribute to prope-lling economic growth and the creation of jobs.

Read the complete article at Abogacía Española http://bit.ly/1dRJoFQ

Football, urban planning and pu-blic interest

It is hard to deny that Spain is a football-loving country, in which it is likely that many entrenched issues, for better or worse, are resolved based on the affinity to or rejection of team colours. But it is also difficult to for-get that Spain is a social and legally democratic State in which justice is defended as one of the most important values of the legal system.

The problem that is all too frequent the-se days appears when the football and legal worlds collide. Prestigious footba-llers occupy the front cover of news-papers not because of they’ve scored a goal but due to their problems with the Tax Office and sports federations get tangled up with the State General Administration in fights that frequently have an impossible desire as their aim: that the Law doesn’t apply to them.

Read the complete article at Legal Today http://bit.ly/1dRJGgb

How should the Lawyer behave with the public that attend a hearing?

The role of the public in judicial procee-dings is completely secondary, as we al-ready know that the lawyer’s message is fundamentally directed to the judges, who they must convince or persuade.

However, as an imperative of procedural protection, the public has the function of bringing the law closer to the citi-zen and facilitating means of commu-nication, as it serves to control the conduct of anyone who actively takes part in court: the judge, the lawyer and the prosecutor – social control which is necessary for the transparency and comprehensibility of the information delivered by the law as well as the com-pliance of the obligations of those in-volved in it.

Read the complete article at Legal To-day: http://bit.ly/1FTedF2

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

Partner Rights in a Limited Company according to the per-centage of capital

What rights and implications does the diverse percentage of the share capi-tal have that a partner has in a limited company?

Clients often ask us what the risks are if they transfer a percentage of their business to a third party or what en-titles the percentage that holds the share capital of a company.

We indicate the principal implications of the position of the partner in the most common business format, the Limited Company.

Read the complete article at CyZAbo-gados: http://bit.ly/1Inuy5f

Who must declare their inco-me?

If you are unsure whether you have to declare your income or not, the Tax Agency makes it very clear who is obli-gated to do so and the minimum re-quirements that would make you liable to declare. These scales have changed a little in comparison to last year’s, which I also mentioned in this article.

The Tax Agency and the law both indi-cate the following as minimum require-ments:

All taxpayers who are natural persons resident in Spain are required to decla-re their income, by confirming the dra-ft or presenting a declaration, except anyone who receives income exclusively from…

Read the complete article at Sánchez Bermejo http://bit.ly/1IlPqeD

Page 16: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

NEWS

News published on our website (www.balms.com) on our blog (www.balms.com/blog) and most retweeted tweets

The Balms Foundation organizes the benefit dinner, and the funds raised will be allocated, once again, to the boys and girls both in our projects in Ciudad Bolívar, Bogotá (Colombia) and at the Colegio “Sagrado Corazón de Jesús de Jicamarca” (Peru), a project in conjunction with the Asociación de Antiguos Alumnos del Colegio Apóstol Santiago de Vigo.

In this way, these two projects will benefit more than 1,200 children in situations where their rights are particularly vul-nerable and at risk, which will favour both their development and the development of their community.

This year, Balms Group Inter-national once again holds its annual congress in the city of Mexico D.F. in Mexico. Thanks to our Mexican partners, BGI Villa-real, who kindly offered to orga-nize it again.

The Congress will take place on the 29th and 30th of April and the 1st and 2nd of May.

We are all looking forward to seeing each other again, chat-ting and meeting, and spending a few wonderful days in this beautiful country.

14

The Balms Foundation for Children organizes a benefit dinner at the Hotel-Pazo Los Escudos

NEWSLETTER MARCH - APRIL

XVIII BGI International Congress 2015 – Mexico, D.F., Mexico

Page 17: Balms Newsletter March - April 2015

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