Legal treatment on delayed payments on commercial debts in Spain: maximum delay and interest rate.

 

About the máximum payment term allowed in Spain:

There is maximum delay of payment according Spanish Law. As in Spain we had a great problem with delayed payments in commercial deals, the Parliament has adopted a law (Ley 3/2004 de 29 de diciembre) applicable to all payments made as remuneration from commercial transactions between companies or between companies and the Administration to combat this serious problem.
 

This law provides that the deadline for payment to be met by the debtor, if it had not set a date or period for payment in the contract, shall be thirty (30) calendar days after the date of receipt of goods.

Payment term indicated may be extended by agreement between the parties without in any case, cannot be agreed more than a 60 days term.

So that means that a company can agree with his customers a delay term between 1 and 60 day calendar. Longer terms are banned.

However, it is usual that Spanish customers try to negotiate payment periods between 60 and 150 days, knowing that they are opposite to the law, or they try to impose longer payment periods than the agreed one with all sort of tricks. Those cases may occur when the customer could feel a top customer. In this eventuality, it is usual that when the business relationship is broken, the supplier claims payment of default interest.

About the interest rates in case of delay of payment under Spanish law.

In case of any delay of payment, the default interest payable by the debtor shall be the result of the contract, and in absence of agreement the statutory rate set forth below.

The statutory rate for late payment which the debtor is required to pay is the sum of the interest rate applied by the European Central Bank to its most recent main refinancing operation carried out before the first day for the calendar semester in question plus eight percentage points.

To facilitate the calculation of the interest rate, the Spanish government publish the interest rate, usually at intervals of six months.

The following table transcribe these rates since 2006.

Year	period	%
2006	First semester	9.25 %
2006	Second semester	9.83 %
2007	First semester	10.58 %
2007	Second semester	11.07 %
2008	First semester	11.20 %
2008	Second semester	11.07 %
2009	First semester	9.50 %
2009	Second semester	8.0 %
2010	First semester	8.0 %
2010	Second semester	8.0 %
2011	First semester	8.0 %
2011	Second semester	8.25 %
2012	First semester	8.0 %
2013	a) From Jaunuary the 1st until February the 23rd b) From February the 24th until 30 june.	7,75 % 8,75 %
2013	Second semester	8,50 %
2014	First semester	8,25 %
2014	Second semester	8,15 %
2015	First semester	8,05 %

Therefore, any company can agree any interest rate for delay payments with their customers. Only  in absence of agreement the statutory rate indicated would be mandatory.

 

About specific administrative fee for recovery.

Spanish law sets an amount of €40 for recovery costs. This amount will be added in all cases and without specific request to the principal debt.

Of course, if damages were above €40 (and if it were any evidence) the company could get the higher amount at Court.

For further information do not hesitate in contact us.

Jaume Pich
Advocat / Solicitor
Riera, Trullàs & Pich, economistes i Advocats