Modelo 720

Longer you leave it the worse the situation gets.

As Ribeira says, if you do not make the return when required you could  be in big trouble, however, if you submit without being found out I am fairly sure you will be a LOT better off.

Yes. You will still have to pay the huge fines for lateness (and of course, the interest on and  the penalties for late declarations of any income involved). But you MIGHT escape the accusation that your cash is black and therefore you deserve a fine of 150% of it. Imagine paying that on a house in London that you bought 40 years ago!!

The value to be declared on the 720 on a property outside Spain is the price paid, whenever that was, even 40 years ago.

Just in passing:   For the 210  (residents in Spain) the value for a 'second home'  outside Spain is 50% of the price paid.

True. But now imagine you bought it 3 years ago . . . . And sold shares to buy it. And can't prove where you got the money to buy the shares from many years ago.

Don.  When one declares what they have, example I declared a house in Philippines, there was, and is no requirement to show where the funds came from to buy it.  That may of course change in the future.

I know a lot of folk who are resident who believe they do not need to declare other properties in Spain or worldwide, for the imputed tax (second homes tax).  There are also many who think they need not declare worldwide assets. 

I remember reading about a Spaniard who ‘forgot for three years’ to mention 350,000 euros he had in a Swiss bank from earning as a north sea gas worker. He has appealed against the 450,000 euro fine he received.

Yes, his is the only bit of 'case-law' in 5 years. I paid a small fortune to have international consultants tell me "On the one hand, but on the other . . . Best case/Worst Case". And "No, we can't get an interpretation from the Hacienda because each Inspector willl give a different interpretation of the law from all others. We have to wait for the courts to decide what it all means". So, 20 years. And I won't get back the 1,500 fines I've paid.

Nonethless, you are right that coming clean SHOULD reduce how hard you are hit.