In order to improve tax control of the taxable events that may arise from the holding and operation of virtual currencies, new reporting obligations on cryptocurrencies have been introduced, which were regulated by Law 11/2021, of 9 July, on measures to prevent and combat tax fraud and by Law 5/2022, of 9 March, amending the Corporate Income Tax Law and the revised text of the Non-Resident Income Tax Law, in relation to hybrid asymmetries.
These new statements, which will be filed for the first time in 2024 with the information relating to 2023, establish the obligation to report the balances at 31 December of virtual currencies (Form 172), transactions involving the acquisition, transfer, exchange, bank wires, receipts and payments made with this type of currency (Form 173)
and the holding of virtual currencies located abroad (Form 721).
The characteristics of these forms are as follows:
Form 172 – Information statement on balances in virtual currencies
This statement must be filed by all persons and entities providing private cryptographic key safekeeping services on behalf of third parties, to hold, store and transfer virtual currencies. The information statement refers to the totality of the virtual currencies they hold in custody.
Form 173 – Information statement on transactions involving virtual currencies
This statement must be filed by persons and entities providing exchange services between virtual currencies and fiat currencies or between different virtual currencies, intermediating in any way in the performance of such transactions, or providing services for safeguarding private cryptographic keys on behalf of third parties, for holding, storing and transferring virtual currencies.
In the same way as form 172, this is an annual statement that is filed electronically during the month of January, but for this year 2024 there is a special provision, which is that only transactions corresponding to the financial year 2023 carried out since 25 April 2023, the date on which Royal Decree 249/2023 of 4 April was enacted , which implements this reporting obligation, must be included.
Form 721 – Information statement on virtual currencies located abroad.
This statement must be filed by individuals and legal entities who, provided that on 31 December they are holders of virtual currencies located abroad, have the status of beneficiary, authorised person or otherwise have the power of disposal over virtual currencies located abroad.
This statement must also be filed by natural and legal persons who were at any time owners, beneficiaries, authorised persons, or beneficial owners at any time during the year to which the statement relates and who have lost that status by 31 December of that year.
This statement does not have to be filed when the balances at 31 December, valued in euros, do not exceed, jointly, 50,000 euros.
This statement is annual and must be filed electronically from 1 January to 1 April 2024, with the information corresponding to the year 2023.
