These look-alike Spanish tax law expressions have sometimes been confused in translation but are not synonymous. Pagos a cuenta denotes “advance tax payments” made quarterly during the tax year, for example, by the self-employed (trabajadores autónomos; trabajadores por cuenta propia). In US tax terminology these are known as “estimated tax payments.”

In contrast, pagos fraccionados refers to tax payments made in installments. Spanish tax law (Ley General Tributaria) provides for splitting tax debts into installments known as fraccionamiento del pago. In the case of Spanish individual income tax (impuesto sobre la renta de personas físicas—IRPF), June 30 is the deadline for filing tax returns (presentación de la declaración de la renta). Any taxes owed may be paid in two installments, with 60% due when filing, and the remainder to be paid in November.