Do you have to file Modelo 720 again?

The law does not require you to file Modelo 720 every year — only when one of the three groups has risen by more than €20,000 against the last return you filed.

At Aitax we still recommend sending it every year. Hacienda keeps the snapshot from the last return you filed. After two or three years it is extremely hard to keep a clear picture of what changed, and it gets harder to answer a Hacienda request with a clean snapshot — or to update the 720 after several years of changes in your portfolios.

Sources: Royal Decree 1065/2007 (articles 42 bis.5, 42 ter.5 and 54 bis.7), Order HAP/72/2013 and the AEAT Modelo 720 filing frequency FAQ (Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria).

When the law requires you to file again

You must file again if, in one group (accounts, securities or property), the figure has risen by more than €20,000 against the last return you filed.

For accounts there are two numbers: the 31 December balance and the average of the last quarter. Either one rising by more than €20,000 is enough. For securities and property it is the 31 December value.

You must also file again if you stop being the owner of something that already appeared on a 720. You closed an account you already reported. You sold all the shares you already reported. You brought the money to Spain and that means cancelling that account. You have to tell Hacienda, even if the group did not rise.

The AEAT puts it this way: if you filed because the account was over €50,000 and later the balance falls and you close it, you still have to report that closure.

If you sell only part and you still own the rest, the law does not open a new 720 for that alone. Only if the whole group rises by more than €20,000.

Updated 11 October 2026. Sources: Royal Decree 1065/2007 (articles 42 bis.5, 42 ter.5 and 54 bis.7), Order HAP/72/2013 and the AEAT Modelo 720 filing frequency FAQ (Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria).

Why it still makes sense to file

The law and what is practical are not the same. Hacienda keeps the last return you sent. That is the official snapshot. If you skip two or three years, there is no picture of those years — not in your history and not in Hacienda’s.

Knowing what changed becomes almost impossible. Which accounts closed. Which securities you sold. What totals you had then. With several brokers and several tax years, that comparison stops being reliable.

And if Hacienda asks you to explain a movement, you need a clean year-by-year snapshot. Rebuilding it later from old statements is where the thread gets lost. Filing does not avoid a penalty. It avoids having to rebuild, years later, what was never sent.

Filing each year leaves the same picture on your side and on Hacienda’s. The next year you compare with last 31 December, not with a 2023 return. In Aitax, having that history squared means the next campaign starts from figures you already checked — and updating is very easy.

What Aitax does with second and later filings

With Aitax, updating your 720 is very simple: you upload your last 720, update the positions following our instructions, and once it is up to date you download the file to file it on the Hacienda website.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to file Modelo 720 every year?
You are only required to file if a group (accounts, securities or property) rises by more than €20,000 against the last return, or if you stop being the owner of something you already reported.

Does closing a foreign account mean I must update the 720?
If that account was already on a 720, yes: you have to tell Hacienda you closed it, even if the balance has fallen below €50,000. If you never had to file, no.

Does an IBAN change or a transfer of securities mean I must file?
No, if you are still the owner. If an account you already reported is no longer abroad, you do have to report it.

How to prepare this year’s 720 with Aitax

With Aitax you upload your broker statements and get the document ready for Hacienda. If you already have the last return in the app, it compares this year’s figures with those. You review the result. You file it yourself on the AEAT site.

Prepare Modelo 720