Criteria change
Treasure must return €48 million to large companies such as Pascual, Heineken, or Panini after a change in how the corporate tax deduction is calculated. This was confirmed through forensic documents accessed by El Periódico de España from the Prensa Ibérica group, documents that not only confirmed the outcome but also opened the door to new claims. For example, the company owning the Asturian Dairy Center is pursuing an 8.1 million euro appeal after seeing a 10.3 million euro settlement cancelled.
What began as an irregularity for Justice became a clarified interpretation after the criterion change. The Supreme Court now treats the modified approach as the correct reading of the law. In essence, the debate that had persisted in the courts for years over how to compute the 15 percent corporate tax deduction on advertising and promotional expenses has, in principle, reached a resolution. The ruling covers campaigns tied to events of exceptional public interest. Financial incentives may apply to companies that incorporate such events into their business strategies, as Mahou did in 2007 and 2008.
In the case involving Mahou San Miguel, the parent company of the brewery, the Treasury is expected to reimburse almost €1.1 million for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. In December last year, the Supreme Court sided with the company in its dispute with the Treasury and canceled a €1 million penalty. To date, however, neither the initial appeal nor the higher amount has materialized.
15.5 million €
The documents obtained by El Periódico de España indicate that the company likely to recover the most under this new framework is Casbega, the Castellana company that bottles Coca Cola in Spain. Casbega, which held a single concession for Spain, Portugal, and Andorra in 2013, is expected to reclaim roughly €15.5 million from 2004 to 2007. By comparison, Refrescos Envasados del Sur, another member of the same concession and a sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, anticipates a recovery of €247,000.
The Supreme Court’s criterion shift sparked a cascade of favorable decisions for several companies in the second half of 2022. For instance, Heineken’s parent company Hesa, S.A. initially received a negative ruling in 2021, but a subsequent appeal yielded a positive outcome and a provision of about €8.5 million for 2010–2012. The Danone division, which contains brands such as Danone SA, Font Vella, Evian, and Lanjarón, also moved toward resolution, with a near win and a €2.6 million adjustment following a year ago when an appeal was denied.
CAPSA, the parent company of Peñasanta Foods and brands like the Asturian Dairy Center, saw nearly the same magnitude of change. In mid-2022, the Supreme Court unanimously annulled a €10.3 million settlement imposed by the Central Economic Administrative Court for corporate tax from 2007 to 2009. Easter, a key competitor in the dairy sector, benefited from this criterion shift as well, with a nearly canceled Treasury claim of €2.6 million in November 2022. On similar dates, Ebro Foods, whose brands include SOS, Brillante, and La Fallera, managed to cancel €5.8 million in liabilities.
The decision is connected to a broader rationale: there is insufficient incentive for companies to incur extra spending solely to secure a 15 percent deduction on such expenses. Sponsorships and promotional events are now judged through a lens that weighs exceptional public interest against the likelihood of a direct tax benefit. Companies mentioned in this report, consulted by El Periódico de España, chose not to comment publicly on the issue.
In sum, the criterion change marks a pivot in how businesses can leverage promotional activity for tax relief, aligning incentive structures with events deemed to hold significant public interest and ensuring that deductions reflect genuine promotional impact rather than broad, untargeted spending. The evolving legal landscape continues to shape the tax planning strategies of major beverage and consumer goods groups operating across Spain. Citations: El Periódico de España, Prensa Ibérica.