The Spanish Tax Agency takes a further step in promoting cooperative compliance

Ms. Ana Ortega's picture
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Establishment of the SMEs Forum and Self-Employed Entrepreneurs Forum
On 16th February 2022, based on the principles of transparency and mutual trust, two new fora have been established in order to enhance the cooperative relationships with SMEs and Self-Employed Entrepreneurs. The formal Fora constitution act was attended by Mr. Héctor Izquierdo, Secretary of State for Finance, and Mr. Jesús Gascón, Director General of the Tax Agency, as well as the main associations of SMEs and Self-Employed Entrepreneurs.

These Fora complement the existing ones (Large Taxpayers´ Forum, founded in 2009, and Tax Intermediaries' Forum, which has been in operation since 2011) and their primary objective is to improve the application of the tax system by reducing administrative burdens, providing information on the newest facilities and services offered by the Tax Agency and promoting the use of electronic administration. In addition, a collaborative approach in the prevention and fight against tax fraud will be followed.

On each Forum, two working groups will be created: one is dedicated to the digitalisation and a second is devoted to drafting a code of good tax practices.

Digitalisation Working Group
In this group, the Tax Agency and representatives of the SMEs and Self-Employed Entrepreneurs associations will work together to modernise the administrative management of these business segments in order to simplify the compliance with tax liabilities. One of the measures to implement will be the establishment of secure invoicing systems that contribute to tackle the fraud generated by the electronic sales suppression software.

Code of Good Tax Practices
As in the case of Large Taxpayers and Intermediaries, for whom Codes of Tax Practices were produced in 2010 and 2019 respectively, this working group will aim at drafting a document that allows to express the engagement of SMEs, Self-Employed Entrepreneurs and the Tax Administration with voluntary compliance in an atmosphere of reinforced legal certainty, transparency and trust.

Once the Codes are approved, the associations representing both collectives would sign them and SMEs and Self-Employed Entrepreneurs would embrace them individually on a voluntary basis.

With the creation of these two new Fora, all segments of the business community will benefit from the cooperative compliance approach in a tailored manner.