Spain has more than one tax authority. This surprises most UK buyers, and it surprised me too. Understanding the difference between them — and knowing which one just wrote to your company — is the kind of knowledge that makes the whole experience feel less like wading through fog.
Spain’s two tax authorities
The one most people have heard of is the Agencia Tributaria, also known as the AEAT or simply Hacienda. This is the national Spanish tax agency, equivalent to HMRC. It handles income tax, VAT, corporation tax, and customs at a state level. If your gestor is filing quarterly returns on behalf of your Spanish company, they’re filing with the AEAT.
The Agència Tributària Valenciana — note the different spelling, using Valencian rather than Castilian — is an entirely separate body. It’s a regional tax authority, an autonomous agency of the Generalitat Valenciana, the regional government covering Alicante, Valencia, and Castellón provinces. It handles taxes that fall within the region’s own competence, including certain property-related taxes, and manages official administrative communications at a regional level.
Two different names, two different organisations, both with authority over you if you own property or a company in the Valencia region. The fact that their names are so similar is genuinely confusing — even experienced property owners mix them up.
The letter that arrived a year in
About a year after setting up my Spanish SL, a letter arrived at my company’s registered address in Alicante — forwarded to me by my virtual office provider. It was from the Agència Tributària Valenciana, on official Generalitat Valenciana headed paper.
The title read: NOTIFICACIÓN DE INCLUSIÓN OBLIGATORIA EN EL CENSO DE PERSONAS O ENTIDADES DESTINATARIAS DE NOTIFICACIONES Y COMUNICACIONES ADMINISTRATIVAS ELECTRÓNICAS.
Which translates as: notification of mandatory inclusion in the register of persons and entities subject to electronic administrative notifications and communications.
In plain English: from this point forward, all official communications from the Agència Tributària Valenciana to my company must be received electronically, not by post. Under Law 39/2015 and Decree 39/2021, my SL had been automatically added to this register, and I was now legally obliged to receive official notifications through the electronic office of the Generalitat Valenciana — the sede electrónica at sede.gva.es.
What the electronic notification system actually means
The sede electrónica de la Generalitat Valenciana is the regional government’s online portal. To access notifications there, you need either a recognised digital certificate or Cl@ve — Spain’s digital identity system that allows individuals and companies to verify their identity online when dealing with public administrations.
This matters more than it might seem. Notifications accessed through this system are considered legally received at the moment you open them — or automatically after ten calendar days if you haven’t accessed them. An unread notification doesn’t protect you from its consequences. The clock starts ticking whether you’ve read it or not.
As a UK-based owner of a Spanish company, access to this system is something to understand early, before letters start arriving. In practice, your gestor will typically manage this on behalf of your company — but knowing it exists, and knowing what it requires, puts you in a better position to ask the right questions.
My reaction — and why forwarding the letter was the right call
My honest reaction when this letter arrived was a combination of mild panic and confusion. I wasn’t sure whether my gestor had already handled electronic notification registration as part of the company setup, or whether this was something new that needed actioning. My day-to-day visibility into the administrative side of running a Spanish SL from the UK is limited, and that’s not a comfortable feeling.
I forwarded the letter to my gestor with a simple question: are we already registered in the electronic notifications system, and do we have alerts set up so nothing gets missed?
The reply confirmed that yes, the company was already registered, and that notifications would be flagged to me as they arrived.
Nothing to action, nothing missed — but I wouldn’t have known that without asking. And if the registration hadn’t been in place, an official notification could have been sitting unread with a legal deadline attached to it. The instinct to forward official correspondence immediately, even if it turns out to have been unnecessary, is the right one. You will occasionally look overly cautious. That is fine.
The tax office visit — and why it was so confusing
This wasn’t my first encounter with Spanish tax administration in person. Earlier in the process, about a year before this letter arrived, I spent a day in Alicante with my gestor that I remember primarily for its sheer density of activity and information.
That day involved: a visit to the Agencia Tributaria office (the national one) to set up my personal tax identity using my NIE; two separate banks to try to open a business account for my SL and use a banker’s draft for the required opening company balance; and a visit to the notary for the escritura for my company. All in one day, with thick accents, unfamiliar processes, and a lot of documents to sign.
At the tax office specifically, I had been told I would need to sign a tablet to authenticate something digitally. When we arrived, it turned out that wasn’t needed — the system had changed and a form was submitted instead. I left not entirely sure what had been set up. My gestor knew what had happened and handled it. I didn’t fully understand it at the time.
I’m including this not to suggest you should accept confusion as inevitable, but because understanding that these visits can feel disorientating even when they’re going well is genuinely useful. The goal is to go in as informed as possible — ask your gestor in advance what each visit involves, what you’ll be asked to do, and what the outcome should be. The more questions you ask beforehand, the less bewildering it is on the day.
What to do if you receive a letter from the Agència Tributària Valenciana
Don’t ignore it. Even if it turns out to be something your gestor has already handled, official correspondence from a Spanish tax authority always warrants a prompt response. Forward it to your gestor immediately with a brief note asking for confirmation that it’s been actioned or doesn’t require anything from you.
Keep a record of when you forwarded it and when you received a reply. If you don’t have a gestor and are managing your Spanish company independently, the letter should direct you to sede.gva.es where you can access the electronic notifications portal. You’ll need Cl@ve or a recognised digital certificate to log in.
Understanding the system — even at a basic level — means that when the next official letter arrives, it’s a process you recognise rather than a document that stops you in your tracks.