Castile and León Court Orders Tax Agency to Refund Agricultural Diesel Tax

The Superior Court of Justice of Castile and León ruled that the Spanish Tax Agency must pay a refund of the Special Hydrocarbons Tax (IEH) on agricultural diesel to a farmer whose claim had been denied over alleged paperwork defects. The court held that administrative shortcomings in the fuel depot registration cannot override the farmer’s statutory right to a refund, and it ordered immediate payment while urging the precedent to be applied to similar cases.

The decision, noted by the regional farmers’ union UPA Castilla y León, challenges the tax authority’s previous practice of denying refunds on formal grounds, a practice that the union says has affected dozens of producers in the region. Although the ruling is not yet final and may be appealed to the Supreme Court, it represents a potential shift in how the IEH refund is administered for agricultural operators in Castile and León.