Exploring the possible legal consequences and how to protect yourself by not paying a fine.
In Spain, it is very common for any citizen to be subject to penalties for offences committed, the most frequent being those imposed in the area of traffic and road traffic, whether for speeding or for using a mobile phone while driving, among others.
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What happens if a fine is not paid?
This is the question that becomes relevant to a large extent about traffic fines, which constitute the largest number of offences committed and sanctions imposed in the country. In this specific case, the Royal Legislative Decree 6/2015, of 30 October, which approves the Revised Text of the Law on Traffic, Circulation of Motor Vehicles and Road Safety, (hereinafter the Revised Text of the Law on Traffic), establishes in its article 74.1, that: "Actions or omissions contrary to this law shall have the character of administrative offences and shall be punished in the terms provided for therein". These infringements are classified as minor, serious and very serious, and are sanctioned according to the magnitude of the infringement committed.
Fines are sanctions imposed for administrative or criminal offences, whose main characteristic lies in the fact that they are a pecuniary sanction, which originates from an action or conduct that infringes the Legal Order, and which, by virtue of its coercive nature, is materialised through the payment of an amount of money, which operates when a person violates some regulatory precept. The purpose of sanctions is, on the one hand, to punish the irregular conduct of the offender, and on the other hand, to persuade people not to violate the law and to remain in permanent compliance with the framework of legality.
The imposition of sanctions as a consequence of an infringement is materialised through a fine, which will be applied according to the classification given to it by the law. In this case, minor infringements will be sanctioned with a fine of up to 100 euros, serious infringements with a fine of 200 euros, and very serious infringements with a fine of 500 euros, except in specific cases provided for in article 80.2 of the Consolidated Text of the Traffic Act. These penalties shall be imposed following the substantiation of the sanctioning procedure, carried out in accordance with the aforementioned body of law and, supplementarily, with the provisions regulating common administrative procedure. However, once the fine has been imposed, what happens if the fine is not paid?
Time limit for payment of fines
We cannot determine what happens if a fine is not paid without first addressing the time limit for the offender to comply with the payment obligation. To this end, the rule contained in article 93.1 of the Texto Refundido de la Ley sobre Tráfico (Revised Text of the Traffic Law), establishes that:
once "the offender has been notified of the fine, either on the spot or at a later time, he/she will have a period of twenty calendar days to make voluntary payment with a reduction of the fine, or to make the allegations and propose or provide the evidence that he/she deems appropriate".
If payment of the fine is made within the aforementioned voluntary period, the abbreviated penalty procedure will be followed, and if not, what happens if the fine is not paid?
Procedures used for the recovery of a fine
A) Abbreviated sanctioning procedure.
The abbreviated sanctioning procedure is that which is processed when the offender has voluntarily paid the amount of the fine, reduced by 50 percent, within twenty calendar days following notification of the complaint. In this case, the aforementioned sanctioning procedure will be concluded, with the consequent waiver of the right to make allegations, without the need for the administration to issue an express resolution.
B) Ordinary sanctioning procedure.
Within the period of twenty calendar days following notification of the complaint, instead of paying the amount of the fine, the interested party may make such allegations as he/she deems appropriate and propose or provide such evidence as he/she deems appropriate. In this case, the investigating body shall conduct the procedure and then submit a proposal for a sanctioning decision to be adopted by the competent body.
However, if during the aforementioned period no allegations are made, nor is the fine paid, the complaint will produce the effect of an act of termination of the sanctioning procedure, applicable in the following cases:
a) Minor infringements, in all cases;
b) Serious infringements that do not entail the deduction of points and whose notification could not be made at the time of the complaint;
c) Serious and very serious infringements whose notification was made at the time of the complaint, whether or not they entail the deduction of points.
The termination of the procedure puts an end to administrative proceedings and the penalty may be enforced from the day following the expiry of thirty calendar days from the date of notification of the complaint.
Collection in the enforcement period
Once the aforementioned period has expired, what happens if the fine has not been paid? In this case, by virtue of the collection management of the Public Treasury, which consists of the exercise of the administrative function leading to the collection of debts derived from sanctions and taxes, it will proceed through the enforcement procedure, a stage that begins on the occasion of the amounts not paid in the voluntary period.
It is the responsibility of the State Tax Administration Agency to advance the collection of debts, in application of the enforcement procedure on the assets of the person liable to pay, which will be initiated through the notification of the respective enforcement order, in accordance with the provisions of Article 161.3 of Law 58/2003, of 17 December, General Tax Law (LGT) and Article 69 of Royal Decree 939/2005, of 29 July, which approves the General Collection Regulations.
On the basis of the above, we note then that one of the circumstances that must be taken into consideration when establishing what happens if a fine is not paid is precisely the course of the enforcement procedure on the assets of the offender obliged to pay.
Enforcement procedure
The enforcement procedure is regulated within the enforcement procedure and is applied when a fine is not paid voluntarily, within the corresponding period.
It should be noted that the order for enforcement will be sufficient to initiate this procedure and will have the same enforceable force as a court ruling to proceed against the assets and rights of the taxpayers.
This order will announce, among other things, the express requirement to pay the debt, including the surcharge, i.e. ten percent of the original amount, for which the taxpayer will have a new deadline for compliance, in accordance with the provisions of article 62.5 of the LGT. In addition, the order will inform, by way of warning, what happens if the fine is not paid within the established period, in which case, if it is not paid, the following will occur:
"...payment of the total amount of the outstanding debt within said period, including the reduced 10 percent surcharge, the seizure of your assets or the execution of existing guarantees for the collection of the debt will be carried out, including the 20 percent surcharge and late payment interest accrued until the date of cancellation of the debt".
Seizure of the offender's assets and rights
At this point, what happens if the fine is not paid, even when the legal deadlines have expired, after notification of the enforcement order, according to the conditions indicated above.
In this case, if the fine is not paid, in compliance with the mandate contained in the enforcement order, the assets and rights of the offender will be seized in an amount sufficient to cover the amount of the fine, any interest due, the surcharges for the enforcement period and the costs of the enforcement procedure, taking into account the principle of proportionality.
The seizure may be levied on the following category of goods or rights:
(i) Immovable, movable and immovable property;
(ii) Money in cash or in accounts opened in credit institutions;
(iii) Receivables, bills, securities or realisable rights;
(iv) Wages, salaries and pensions;
(v) Interest, income and profits of all kinds;
(vi) Commercial and industrial establishments;
(vii) Precious metals, fine stones, jewellery, goldsmiths' wares and antiques.
Conclusions
By way of summary, to answer specifically what happens if a fine is not paid, we can state that if the offender does not voluntarily pay the amount of an administrative fine within the period granted by the law, the tax administration will proceed to collect it by means of the enforcement procedure. This non-payment produces legal consequences of great relevance for the offender, consequences that not only increase the original amount of the penalty, but can also lead to the seizure of the goods or rights owned by the offender.
We hope you have found this information useful in trying to understand the possible consequences of not paying a traffic fine. If you liked our content, don't forget to 'like' it, comment and share it with your friends and family. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our team of highly trained lawyers who will be happy to help you. Thank you for reading!
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