Juan Antonio Civico

Juan Antonio's practice covers the full range of tax proceedings before all administrative and judicial bodies at the local, regional and national levels. He has extensive experience handling tax inspections before all public authorities, including tax audits, tax raids, voluntary regularization procedures and appeals before tax courts, such as the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. He advises Spanish and multinational companies, as well as individuals, on tax disputes, controversy matters, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and mutual assistance procedures. His background as a former tax inspector and his long-standing practice in litigation enable him to provide highly specialized strategic advice across complex tax matters.

• Advised on a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the deductibility of director remuneration for corporate tax purposes, where the Court held that such payments are deductible even without a formal shareholder resolution, provided they are linked to the company’s income‑generating activity.
• Advised on tax litigation concerning the attempted imposition of personal liability for penalties arising from corporate tax offenses. The Tax Court ruled that such penalties are not tax debts and therefore cannot be recovered from third parties, including relatives of the company’s administrator.
• Advised on complex corporate income tax litigation involving the denial of the fiscal neutrality regime in a spin‑off. We obtained a partially favorable first‑stage ruling that annulled penalties, and the substantive EU‑law arguments are now under appeal before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has acknowledged the relevance of the matter for national doctrine and admitted the case, while the European Commission has simultaneously initiated infringement proceedings before the CJEU on the same issue.
• Advised two financial institutions in administrative VAT claims challenging the Spanish tax authorities’ position that head‑office services to Spanish branches constitute taxable supplies. Our defense focused on demonstrating that the branches lack sufficient autonomy to be treated as separate VAT taxpayers.
• Advised a client in long‑running VAT litigation in which the authorities denied input VAT on land received by a developer. By relying on Supreme Court case law easing formal requirements, we demonstrated that the approved reparcelling project was sufficient evidence, leading the State Attorney’s Office to drop any cassation appeal.
• Advised in a long‑running VAT refund case for a non‑resident taxpayer, where the enforcement court departed from a 2018 Supreme Court ruling. Our cassation appeal has been admitted, and the Supreme Court will now address judicial powers in enforcing judgments and whether evidence may be submitted after the administrative verification stage.
• Advised two investment vehicles of a prominent Spanish business executive on ongoing tax matters, including tax governance relating to inheritance and net worth taxes, the structuring of family expatriations, and tax litigation concerning net worth and withholding taxes.

• Madrid Bar Association

Juan Antonio is an active member of the the Sustainability Committee of the Madrid office that has 3 pillars: Pro Bono, Community Service and Environment. He engages with Firm‑wide ESG and DEI local initiatives.