Unofficial translation provided for information purposes.
Please note our language policy.
Formality description
Law 10/2010 of 28 April on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing establishes that a prior declaration of movement of means of payment in the terms provided in Chapter V shall be made by natural persons who, acting on their own account or for the account of a third party, perform the following movements:
- Incoming or outgoing cross-border movements of means of payment for an amount of EUR 10,000 or more or its equivalent in foreign currency.
- Movements within national territory of means of payment for an amount of EUR 100,000 or more or its equivalent in foreign currency.
For these purposes, movement shall mean any change of location or position taking place outside the address of the bearer of the means of payment.
Likewise, for the purposes of Law 10/2010 of 28 April the following are considered as means of payment:
- Paper money and coins, domestic or foreign.
- Bearer cheques denominated in any currency.
- Any other instrument, including electronic ones, designed to be used as a bearer payment means.
- In case of cross-border movements, the following shall be also considered as means of payment subject to the obligation of prior declaration:
- Bearer negotiable instruments, including monetary instruments such as traveller’s cheques.
- Negotiable instruments, including cheques, promissory notes and payment orders, whether in bearer form, endorsed without restriction, made out to a fictitious payee or any other form in which ownership thereof is transferred on delivery.
- Incomplete instruments, including cheques, promissory notes and payment orders that are signed but omit the name of the payee.
Provisions regarding movements of means of payments are applicable to neither personal cheques nor registered credit cards or debit cards.
Target audience
Natural persons who, acting on their own account or for the account of a third party, perform the incoming cross-border movements of means of payment to which the previous point refers.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, natural persons acting on behalf of companies that, duly authorized and registered by the Ministry of Interior, engage in the professional transportation of funds or means of payment shall be exempted from the obligation of prior declaration of movements of means of payment.
Process
In person
Entering through a border crossing with permanent Customs Services
In the case of means of payment entering into national territory in an amount equal to or greater than EUR 10,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency per person per journey through a border crossing with permanent Customs Services, the bearer shall declare, without the need of a request, those payment means transported by providing the duly completed S-1 form to the said Customs Services, prior to any control activity by the Administration.
After verifying the identity of the person filing the declaration and that the declaration has been fully completed and, where necessary or appropriate, the accuracy of the reported data, the Customs Services shall stamp the declaration expressly indicating the date of submission and return it to the interested party.
THE BEARER OF THE MEANS OF PAYMENT SUBJECT TO DECLARATION MUST SUBMIT NO DOCUMENT TO SEPBLAC.
Entering through a border crossing with no permanent Customs Services
In the case of means of payment entering into national territory in an amount equal to or greater than EUR 10,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency per person per journey through a border crossing with no permanent Customs Services, the bearer shall previously declare the payment means transported by submitting by the electronic procedure described below the duly completed S-1 form to the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT, from its initials in Spanish).
By electronic means
In the case of means of payment entering into national territory in an amount equal to or greater than EUR 10,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency per person per journey, regardless of whether the entry is made through a border crossing with or without permanent Customs Services, the bearer shall previously declare the payment means transported by submitting by electronic means the duly completed S -1 form to AEAT.
For this purpose, the AEAT has established a technical procedure for the electronic filing of the declaration of means of payment entering into national territory in an amount equal to or greater than EUR 10,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency per person per journey through its website http://www.aeat.es. Once successfully completed all sections by the person filing the declaration, the system will display the declaration on screen duly validated with an electronic code, also indicating the date and time of submission. Otherwise, a description of any errors or omissions identified will be displayed on screen for the purposes of correction by the person filing the declaration.
The validated declaration, once printed, must be signed and carried by the person who filed the declaration, together with the means of payment, for display when requested by officers of the Customs Service or the Security Forces of the State, who may verify the accuracy of the reported data.
THE BEARER OF THE MEANS OF PAYMENT SUBJECT TO DECLARATION MUST SUBMIT NO DOCUMENT TO SEPBLAC.
However, in those cases in which the means of payment entering into national territory in an amount equal to or greater than EUR 10,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency per person per journey be verified through a border crossing with permanent Customs Services, the declaration may be done in person as described above.
