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V2468-20 20 July 2020 · SG de Impuestos sobre las Personas Jurídicas Criterion in force
IS · scrip dividend

Script dividends are classified as dividends regardless of the option chosen

The tax treatment under Corporate Income Tax and IRNR of a script dividend with three options—receiving shares, selling rights on the market, or selling them to the company—is examined. The DGT confirms that in all cases, the income is of dividend nature.

The question raised

Question posed: Tax treatment for the purposes of Corporate Income Tax and Non-Resident Income Tax regarding the capital increase charged against reserves, in the sense of the mandatory requirement in all cases to apply withholding tax on the delivery of free allocation rights, as well as the taxation resulting from the different options that may be exercised by the shareholder with said rights, all of which is conditioned by the type of shareholder, i.e., whether it is a natural or legal person, resident or non-resident, with or without a permanent establishment.

The DGT's ruling

For Corporate Income Tax purposes, the income derived from the scrip dividend has the nature of a dividend, whether the shareholder receives bonus shares, disposes of the rights on the market, or sells the rights to the company. If the distribution is charged against profit reserves, there is no withholding tax on the delivery of shares or disposal on the market, but there is withholding tax on the sale of rights to the company. If it is charged against share premium, the amount received reduces the value of the holding and there is no obligation to withhold.

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