Digital certificates have been around for quite a few years now, and we have been using them for a long time at Asesoria Orihuela Costa.
It was during the pandemic that digital certificates really started to catch on.
The truth is that they make things much easier for us, especially for advisors, managers, lawyers, architects, etc., because we can carry out a multitude of tasks and procedures from our office without having to leave and without disturbing our clients.
Reminder what is a digital certificate
A digital certificate is an electronic identification for a person or company. It is like an online national identity card.
It allows you to identify yourself and access the online services or electronic office.
How many digital certificates are there in Spain?
There are two digital certificates in the Valencian Community:
- Digital certificate from the National Mint and Stamp Factory. This can be requested via the FNMT website
- The digital certificate for the Valencian Community, GVA, can be requested from local councils or at Suma office.
Did you know that you no longer need to go to a public office to identify yourself in order to obtain your personal digital certificate?
For the moment only for Spanish with DNI
You can do this via the website of the National Mint and Stamp Factory, where you will find a video.
Yes, if you have a National Identity Card, you can do everything from home. It costs €2.99 + VAT and you will be able to access your digital certificate in a few days.
This is the link where you can identify yourself to obtain the digital certificate from the National Mint and Stamp Factory.
identificarse para obtener el certificado digital de la fábrica nacional de moneda y timbre.
Video on how to obtain a employment history in Spain
With a digital certificate, you can carry out many procedures online on the Social Security website, such as requesting your employment history in Spain.
In this video, we show you how.
How long is a digital certificate valid for?
It is very important to know until what date it is valid and digitally effective, because otherwise it will not work.
- The FNMT personal digital certificate is valid for four years and can be renewed once.
- The FNMT legal entity certificate is valid for two years. It is renewable if the personal digital certificate has not yet been renewed.
- The Valencian Community personal digital certificate is valid for three years and renewable once.
What can you do with an electronic certificate?
The truth is that digital certificates are wonderful for advisors; we can do so many things in our office quickly and at low cost.
Digital certificates are mainly used for online procedures with public entities, especially the tax office, local council and Social Security.
Almost all public entities have an electronic office on their website that can be accessed with a digital certificate, where you can do a wide variety of things, saving us a lot of hassle, waiting, unnecessary trips, frustrating queues and endless appointments.
Without leaving your home, you can obtain an official document easily and quickly. It is just a matter of knowing how to navigate the websites of the official departments.
Of course, you have to know where to go, because if you are not used to it, it is like a maze.
Video on how to obtain a subcontractor certificate with a digital certificate
A very important document for real estate agencies that sell new-build homes from developers is the subcontractor certificate.
It is so essential that without this certificate, the developer will not pay them.
It is a document issued by the tax authorities stating that the taxpayer has no debts with the tax authorities, and all construction companies request it from real estate agencies when paying their commission invoices to avoid subsidiary liability.
Let’s see in this video how to obtain it with a certificate from your contractor.
Example of what you CAN do with a digital certificate
There are many things you can do on these lines, but we will tell you what we believe are the most important:
- Sign up for DEHU notifications
Nowadays, almost all Spanish public administrations send electronic notifications, which is why if you want to receive them in your email, you have to sign up on this website.
It’s very simple: log in with your digital certificate, enter your ID number and/or telephone number, and you’re registered. You will then receive any important notifications in your email.
In this article on our blog, we explain everything you need to know about the authorised email address.
- Submit your income tax return. At this link to the tax agency, you can access all the procedures related to your income tax. You will need to log in with your digital certificate.
For some time now, the tax agency has wanted us to do everything online, and one of the main tax returns is filed almost 25 million times a year, which is why it is very important to have access to all the information with a digital certificate.
- Obtain any type of tax or social security certificate.
- Operate through the electronic offices of town halls, Suma, Catastro, AEAT, Social Security, GVA, etc.
- Make an appointment (very important nowadays).
- Submit documentation online at the electronic office and follow the file.
- Obtain a simple note (Nota Simple) from the property registry.
- Operate and pay taxes at the virtual tax offices of the town hall and autonomous communities.
- And so on and so forth.
All companies must have a digital certificate.
Spanish companies are required to have a digital company certificate in order to interact with the public administration.
Companies must receive communications and notifications from the tax authorities and Social Security.
The digital certificate for a company can be obtained from the national factory website, using the administrator’s personal digital certificate.
It costs around €30 including VAT, because the FNMT has to request a certificate from the commercial register where the company has its registered office to confirm that the person requesting the company certificate is the administrator of that company.
What can't you do with a digital certificate?
Of course, current technology is not perfect and there are still things that cannot be done, even though they would be very useful.
Let’s look at some things that cannot be done with an electronic certificate:
- You cannot access bank accounts. For security reasons, banks do not have this system. Imagine if you gave someone a digital certificate and it fell into the wrong hands. Dangerous, right?
- You cannot make online purchases with a digital certificate, I imagine also for security reasons, but it would be great if you could register without having to enter a lot of data to see if you are registered on a website.
- If the digital certificate has expired, you cannot do anything. It will still be in your browser, but you cannot use it.
- You cannot pay for anything on any website with a digital certificate, EXCEPT on the tax agency’s website.
No Spanish bank allows you to access your account with your digital certificate. You cannot carry out transactions or pay anything.
The tax agency is the only one that allows you to pay payment letters or any debts owed by the certificate holder through its website.
In fact, the tax agency now has information from your bank, and if you have ever paid using this system before, when you pay again, it automatically indicates the last account you used to pay.
What is a mobile key?
The digital certificate is the primary means of accessing official public websites, but it is not the only one.
For example, the tax agency provides what they call a PIN code or mobile code, although we do not use this system.
The mobile key is more focused on private citizens and allows them to identify themselves with their mobile phone and by scanning a code without having to remember complex passwords.
You will need a mobile phone and to download the application.
