What is it for?
The Modelo 309 is a form used to declare and pay VAT (Value Added Tax) for individuals or businesses that do not have a regular obligation to file VAT.
Who needs to submit this form?
It must be submitted by taxpayers who are required to declare VAT but do not have a quarterly obligation to submit Modelo 303.
This includes certain service providers or businesses involved in occasional transactions, as well as self-employed individuals registered solely under the Special Regime for Equivalent Surcharge (Recargo de Equivalencia) who need to pay VAT on imports of products or services provided by other self-employed individuals or businesses outside Spain.
What operations are informed in this model?
- Intra-Community acquisitions:
This is used when a company or self-employed person, especially under the Recargo de Equivalencia regime, purchases goods from other EU countries. In this case, they must self-assess VAT with this form, as they are not obliged to file Form 303.
- Import of goods:
When products are imported from outside the EU and, for some reason, VAT has not been properly settled at customs, Form 309 is used to regularise the outstanding VAT.
- Sales under the Equivalence Surcharge Regime:
Although Form 309 is more commonly related to purchases, it can also be used for sales in certain cases, for example, when intra-Community sales or exports are made that are not taxed in Spain but must be self-assessed.
- Operations in which the reverse charge applies:
If a company purchases certain goods or services (such as scrap or waste) subject to the reverse charge rule, the purchaser has to self-assess VAT using Form 309.
- Sales or acquisitions of goods or services in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla:
Form 309 can be used to declare certain transactions between the Spanish mainland and these regions that have a special VAT regime.
- Intra-Community transactions:
If you sell to an EU country and you are under the Recargo de Equivalencia regime, you may have to use Form 309 to declare these operations.
- Exports:
Exports outside the EU, although exempt from VAT, may require the use of Form 309 to correctly settle tax obligations.
To sum up, Form 309 is a self-assessment tool for various exceptional cases of both purchases and sales, especially in special regimes such as the Recargo de Equivalencia or when Form 303 is not filed.
When should it be submitted?
The form is submitted quarterly, with the same deadlines as other self-assessments, with the peculiarity that it will only be filed when the transactions mentioned in the previous section have taken place during the current quarter.
This form must be paid before its submission, so once its result has been calculated, the payment must be generated with the instructions provided on Hacienda’s web page.
When do I need to pay, and when do I not?
The result of this form will always require a payment, as it will only be submitted when there is VAT to declare.