AEAT Emergency Checklist
The four most common expat tax emergencies, compressed to checkboxes. Each section links to the full guide with official sources. Print it, save it, act on it.
Bank account suddenly blocked (embargo)
- Log in to the AEAT Sede and identify the exact debt — and which authority actually issued the order.
- Open DEHú: an unopened electronic notification can count as notified 10 calendar days after being made available.
- Salary or pension credited to that account? The part up to the SMI is protected — demand an adjustment (bank first, then the issuing body).
- The bank holds the seized amount ~20 calendar days before transferring: use the window — pay, request aplazamiento, or challenge.
A letter saying "providencia de apremio"
- Find the payment deadline printed on the document (art. 62.5 LGT window) — put it in your calendar today.
- Paying inside the window keeps the surcharge at 10% instead of 20% + interest.
- Don’t recognise the debt? Check it in the Sede before paying — opposition exists but only on limited grounds.
- Can’t pay? Request aplazamiento/fraccionamiento BEFORE the window closes.
Fear of unknown debts
- Get your own access once: Cl@ve, digital certificate or DNIe (free, no gestor needed).
- Sede → "Pagar, aplazar y consultar" → "Consultar deudas": every open debt, amount and stage.
- Check the stage: voluntario = still clean; ejecutivo = surcharges running.
- Cross-check DEHú and Sede notifications — debts rarely travel alone.
Not sure what your gestoría filed
- Sede → "Consulta de declaraciones presentadas": search by your NIF, model and year.
- Ask the gestoría for your exact model list — in writing — and check each quarter against the Sede.
- Verify any PDF they send via its CSV code in the Sede.
- Found a missing period? File voluntarily before a requerimiento (art. 27 regime — much milder).
The habit that prevents all of the above
- Open DEHú once a week — notifications count whether you read them or not.
Informational material, not asesoría fiscal. Sources and details in each linked guide.