Minutes of the meeting

MINUTES OF THE PLENARY MEETING OF THE FORUM OF ASSOCIATIONS AND COLLEGES OF TAX PROFESSIONALS

CELEBRATED ON NOVEMBER 30, 2023

President of the Forum of Associations and Colleges of Tax Professionals

Director General of the State Agency for Tax Administration

Ms. Soledad Fernandez Doctor

Members representing the Tax Agency

Director of the Tax Management Department

Mrs. Rosa Maria Prieto del Rey

Director of the Collection Department

Mrs. Virginia Muñoz Fernández

Director of Legal Services

Mr. Diego Loma-Osorio Lerena

Director of the Planning and Institutional Relations Service

Mr. Ignacio Fraisero Aranguren

Special Delegate of the Special Delegation of Catalonia

Mr. Isidoro Garcia Millan

Deputy Director General of Legal Management and Legal Assistance of the Department of Financial and Tax Inspection

Mr. Manuel Luis Martínez Cabeza

Deputy Director General of Applications of the Tax Information Technology Department

Mrs. Cristina Alvarez Zazo

Head of the National Customs and Foreign Trade Management Office. from the Customs and Excise Department

Mrs. Eva Pedruelo Sanchez

Members representing Associations and Colleges

Spanish Association of Tax Advisors

President

Ms. Stella Raventós Calvo

Member in charge of Studies and Research

Mr. Javier Gomez Taboada

Professional Association of Accounting and Tax Experts of Spain

Secretary of the Board of Directors

Mr. José Antonio Fernández García-Moreno

Member of the Board of Directors

Mr. José Antonio Ibarra López

General Council of the Spanish Bar Association

Deputy Director of Legal Services

Mr. José Ramón Álvarez Cañedo

General Council of Colleges of Customs Agents and Brokers

Secretary of the Board

Mr. Manuel Lopez Frias

General Council of Official Colleges of Social Graduates of Spain

Member of the Fiscal Affairs Committee

Mr. Jose Castaño Semitiel

Member of the Fiscal Affairs Committee

Mr. Jose Ruiz Sanchez

Spanish Federation of Professional Associations of Tax Technicians and Tax Advisors

Chairperson

Mr. Joan Torres Torres

Second Vice President

Mr. Adolfo Jimenez Ramirez

Office of Administrative Managers and Tax Advisors

Lawyer

Mrs. Raquel Cobos Casero

Registry of Tax Advisors Economists

Technical secretary

Mr. Luis del Amo Carbajo

Technical Secretariat of the Forum of Associations and Colleges of Tax Professionals

Deputy Director General of External Communications of the Planning and Institutional Relations Service

Mrs. Maria Dolores Carreno Beltran

The twenty-fourth plenary meeting of the Forum of Associations and Colleges of Tax Professionals will be held on November 30, 2023, with the attendance of the persons listed and in accordance with the following:

AGENDA

1. Opening of the session by the Director General of the State Tax Administration Agency.
2. Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on July 6, 2023.
3. Information on the topics discussed in the working groups.
4. Analysis of the proposals made at the Forum.
5. Next call.
6. Other considerations, requests and questions.

1. Opening of the session by the Director General of the State Tax Administration Agency

The session was opened by Ms. Soledad Fernández Doctor, Director General of the State Tax Administration Agency (hereinafter, the Tax Agency) and President of the Forum of Associations and Colleges of Tax Professionals, who, after greeting the attendees and thanking them for their presence, reiterated the Tax Agency's desire to advance the cooperative relationship model.

On the other hand, the Director appreciates the proposals submitted on the application of Law 11/2021, in relation to the report that Spain has to present in compliance with the commitments assumed in component 27 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The Director of the Tax Agency then points out that at the end of the session, those who wish to do so may participate in the photograph that will be taken, which will be uploaded to the internal magazine La Ventana de la Agencia Tributaria.

2. Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on July 6, 2023

Ms. Soledad Fernández Doctor, gives the floor to Ms. Mª Dolores Carreño Beltrán, Deputy Director General of External Communication of the Planning and Institutional Relations Service and Technical Secretary of this Forum, who states that the minutes of the twenty-third session of the plenary session were sent to the associations and colleges prior to this meeting.

Since no comments were received, the Deputy Director added that, if there were none at this time, it would be definitively approved. Since no objections were raised, the minutes of the 23rd plenary session, which took place on 6 July 2023, are hereby declared approved.

3. Information on the topics discussed in the working groups.

The Director General of the Tax Agency points out that the Forum's working groups met together on 26 October. He points out that the topics discussed will be addressed by the Director of the Tax Management Department, Ms. Rosa Prieto, and the Deputy Director General of Legal Management and Legal Assistance of the Financial and Tax Inspection Department, Mr. Manuel Martínez Cabeza.

Firstly, the Director of Management summarises the new developments that were discussed in the working group and which mainly affected models 345, 172, 173, 430, 165, 180, 184, 188, 189, 194, 196, 198, 296, 289 and 721. He also points out that forms 189, 720, 190 and 281 have already been published in the BOE.

Secondly, the Director of Management reports on the situation of the VAT exemption regime. Regarding the possibility of Spain approving the franchise regime, Ms. Rosa Prieto comments that a study group was created at the IEF to address technical issues and debate the existing possibilities, but the decision to approve the regime is a political decision.

On the other hand, the Director of Management adds that what will be approved is the possibility of applying for the franchise regime of other Member States for operations carried out in said State and in accordance with the regulations and conditions of that State.

Thirdly, Ms Rosa Prieto recalls that the amendment to corrective self-assessments is in no way intended to impose penalties and that penalties will only be imposed in cases of fraud. Finally, the Director of the Management Department announced that the Order approving the models will contain, among other data, the reasons for the correction.

Below, Mr. Manuel Martínez summarizes what was discussed in the working group in relation to the note that was published on July 28, on the taxation of mixed-use vehicles for employees.

The Deputy Director General of Legal Organization and Legal Assistance recalls that the purpose of the note is the transparency of the actions of the Administration and reiterates the structure of the note by summarizing again each of the five parts of the note: availability criterion for private use; consideration of the transfer of vehicles by the employer for VAT purposes as an onerous or free provision; deductibility by the businessman or professional of the VAT contributions incurred in the acquisition, leasing or transfer of use by another title of vehicles; self-consumption of services; and determination of the tax base for VAT and personal income tax purposes. He points out that a brief debate was opened in the working group mainly regarding the evidence, which is complex, and regarding the application of the criterion in certain specific cases.

Mr. Joan Torres, president of FETTAF, points out that the part in which there is private availability, but in respect of which the vehicle is not used, must be taken into account, adding Mr. José Antonio Ibarra, member of AECE, that, in his opinion, the note will increase litigation.

The Deputy Director of Legal Planning and Legal Assistance indicates that he is aware of the difficulty of proving the percentage of damage and recalls that the note applies only in cases of transfer of vehicles to employees.

The Director General of the Tax Agency concludes that although it is evident that the note raises some controversies, she has attempted to clarify the situation. He then gives the floor to Mr. Ignacio Fraisero, who discusses point four of the agenda.

4. Analysis of the proposals made at the Forum

The Director of the Planning and Institutional Relations Service reports that, at the request of the associations and colleges present, all the proposals formulated by the professionals during the different sessions and work groups have been collected and requests that if any proposal is missing, it be forwarded to the Forum Secretariat. He points out that a categorization of the proposals has been made: viable, on which work will be done; unviable; and proposals that are already being worked on. He noted that the proposals will be monitored by the working group.

Mr. Ignacio Fraisero then points out that not all the proposals can be commented on, but that he will develop some of them, without prejudice to the fact that those attending may ask about any other topic.

Regarding the proposal on the deadline for direct debiting of self-assessments and the need for the deadline to be closer to the last day of the deadline for filing the self-assessment, the Director of SEPRI comments that an analysis has been carried out with the financial institutions, without it being possible to make both deadlines coincide, since these entities need time to process the direct debit file. Mr. Ignacio Fraisero points out that a reduction in the deadline has been proposed, understanding that the deadline cannot be less than 3 working days, without prejudice to the fact that in Personal Income Tax, this year, there is a unique situation due to the way the dates fall.

The Director of the Collection Department adds that an extraordinary effort has been made to reduce the deadline, but this year, due to the pace of the days, it is technologically unfeasible, both due to the need for technological files and the purification actions carried out by the banking entities, so, as far as possible, the deadline will be reduced year by year, looking at specific due dates each year.

Regarding the proposal to improve the appointment application, the Director of SEPRI announced that the specialized appointment is already being implemented to be effective at the beginning of April, for some management queries, collection, management units of large companies, and customs and excise duties. Special emphasis is placed on the fact that the specialist appointment is exclusively intended for professionals adhering to the Code of Good Tax Practices and that it will extend not only to face-to-face assistance, but also to virtual assistance, in the majority of the services offered.

Likewise, Mr. Ignacio Fraisero announced that there will be a new access to the headquarters, pointing out the director that now there is an appointment for individuals, an appointment for social collaborators and that a third section will be added: the appointment for people or professionals adhering to the code of good tax practices.

In addition, among other issues, the statements made by the parties may be recorded in the proceedings and a survey will be prepared to assess the quality of the model, which will allow impressions on the functioning of the system to be conveyed in future meetings.

The Director General of the Tax Agency adds that the measure was already planned in the previous strategic plan and that it is now when it can be implemented, although the service will begin as a pilot test that will evolve and improve.

The Secretary of the General Council of Customs Agents explains the problems that exist in certain export goods, when the actuary requests a document that he does not understand, it is sent back to him, he does not reply, an appointment is requested and nothing more is obtained. The representative appreciates the installation of some machines, through which you can request an appointment without having a prior one, but regrets that this tool works exclusively for some procedures.

Ms. Eva Pedruelo, Head of the National Office of Customs and Foreign Trade Management. of the Customs and Excise Department, points out the importance that the Tax Agency places on the urgency required by electronic commerce. For this reason, he stressed that in urgent matters, Customs is excluded from certain aspects of the protocols for entering buildings and that the ATENEO machine has been set up for walk-in assistance.  However, he points out that there is a third block of issues, which do not respond to this urgent profile, and in which Customs has to follow the same policy that the entire Tax Agency has in matters of customer service.

Ms. Eva Pedruelo also explains that customs agents were indeed collaborators, but other types of customs representatives were not, and specifies that this complaint is not from the specialized CBPT, which is the third channel mentioned by the director of SEPRI, but that this complaint refers to the second channel, specifically to the form of access for social collaborators, stating that they hope to have this problem resolved much sooner.

Mr. Manuel López Frías responds that electronic commerce and emergencies are becoming more pressing every day and that an exporter cannot be told that his cargo has been left behind because he was unable to interact with the actuary and the ship has left.

Ms. Soledad Fernández adds that attending to these emergencies, as indicated in the protocol, is mandatory for all public offices open to the public of the Tax Agency. The Director General comments that she would like to know where this delay has occurred and that there should be no delay in any urgent operation.

Ms. Eva Pedruelo reports that she has not received any case in which this setback has occurred with respect to a foreign trade operation, the Department being very sensitive to this issue and always offering to resolve the problem with extreme agility.

Mr. Manuel López Frías agrees that the Customs Department is very sensitive when it comes to facilitating any procedure and that the problem falls on the official in each office.

The Director General of the Tax Agency takes note and indicates that it will be analyzed, since the solution must be found in the office, and it is not necessary to call the department to have these problems resolved.

D. Joan Torres suggests that a campaign should be launched to publicise the specialist event. Mr. José Castaño, from the General Council of Official Colleges of Social Graduates of Spain, believes that the achievements should also be included in the list, and comments that in the pilot test carried out in Murcia, there were very few requests for appointments. He also requests that the pilot test be extended and that personal income tax on economic activities be included.

Ms. Rosa Prieto clarifies that IRPF would not be available at the moment, which does not mean that its inclusion in the specialized appointment services will not be contemplated in the future.

Ms. Soledad Fernández agrees to the requested extension and to a future joint campaign, but, for reasons of prudence, considers it more appropriate for the campaign to take place after the trial period, in order to be able to provide the service in the best possible way.

Regarding another of the proposals, that of simplifying documents, Mr. Ignacio Fraisero reports that work is being done on this. The Tax Collection Department has simplified the process for seizure of credits and wages, the Management Department is working on simplifying the IRPF documents and, among other advances, the representation documents, which are used by all areas, have also been simplified.

Regarding the proposal to achieve greater participation of social collaborators in the preparation of regulatory projects, the Director reiterates that, through the Technical Secretariat of the Forum, progress is made and participation is provided in projects that are under public consultation or that are submitted to public information. In any case, the Director of SEPRI refers to the fact that the Tax Agency is always open to the transfer of proposals, adding the Director General of the Tax Agency that an example of this is the issue of rectifications, since in drafting the modification all the concerns expressed by the professionals have been addressed.

Regarding the proposal for the CBP logo, the Director of SEPRI clarified that the logo has already been created, but that the rules for its use are still pending.

Regarding the proposal regarding communication with Notaries and Registrars regarding the revocation of the NIF, Mr. Ignacio Fraisero indicates that communication has been reiterated to its central bodies, in order to ensure that the dissolution and deregistration of an entity with a revoked NIF is not hindered.

The proposal to include a note in the information provided in real estate auction procedures is now being considered as having been implemented. The Director of SEPRI comments that, where appropriate, the simple note anonymizing the personal data will be included.

Regarding the proposal to achieve greater coordination between the Tax Agency and the Autonomous Communities in relation to transferred taxes, Mr. Ignacio Fraisero refers to the work already being done within the Higher Councils, in the coordinated inspection actions and in the joint selection of some taxpayers, among other functions. In any case, please note that if there is a specific case that you wish to report or a suggestion for improvement, there is no impediment to this.

Mr. Ignacio Fraisero reports that the proposal to establish an obligation to provide a certificate of withholdings to the employee when he changes payer in the same fiscal year requires a modification of the regulatory norm and that, in addition, the measure will also be discussed with the representatives of large companies or SMEs as it implies an increase in indirect charges.

Mr. Adolfo Jiménez, representative of FETTAF, clarifies that it would be sufficient for the employee to sign that he does not wish the annual withholding that may correspond to him to be applied, without the new company needing to know the withholding certificate.

Regarding the proposal to transfer to Social Security the information necessary to apply the new contribution system for self-employed workers based on the income obtained, the Director of SEPRI reports that the information available has already been transferred, although it may not be sufficient for the needs at hand.

Mr. José Castaño explains that his intention was not to have to give all the data of the companies that are being requested, but rather that it was the Tax Agency that would give the Social Security all the data regarding the partners, percentages of participation, etc.

Both the Director of SEPRI and the Director General of the Tax Agency responded that, within the data that they have, only the data that can be given and that is reliable have been transferred, so it is not a transfer of all the data of the Tax Agency.

Mr. Ignacio Fraisero points out that the proposal to reduce the delay in obtaining the NIE is not within the jurisdiction of the Treasury, and that its processing is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior, and that this proposal is therefore not viable within the Tax Agency.

Finally, he refers to the proposal on rectifications, a topic that has been addressed previously.

The Director of SEPRI adds that the list will be updated and, in the opinion of Mr. Joan Torres, some issues should be included, such as objectivizing deductible expenses and the means of proof required by the Tax Agency.

On the other hand, Mr. Luis del Amo, representative of the Registry of Tax Advisors, requests that the Tax Agency carry out a preventive control on the companies that it considers to be becoming large companies, with Mr. Manuel Martínez responding that the start of the campaign to send information letters to companies that acquire the status of large companies would be planned for the month of December.

The Director General of the Tax Agency requests that this campaign be added to the list of successful proposals and that professionals continue to send any proposals they wish to the Forum Secretariat.

Thereafter, there being no further interventions, Ms. Soledad Fernández moved on to the next point on the agenda.

5. Next call

Ms. Soledad Fernández stated that the intention was to maintain the semi-annual frequency of the meetings, noting in this regard that the next meeting would likely be held in July.

6. Other considerations, requests and questions

The Special Delegate for Catalonia will then speak first.

Mr. Isidoro García refers to the professionals' proposal to improve the cases of self-assessments of the Wealth Tax, when these are incorrect and a corrective action is submitted, the processing of which corresponds to the Autonomous Community that does not yet have the data.

He points out that this issue was studied within the Territorial Council and it was noted that, out of 90,000 declarations, there were only 2 errors and that the Autonomous Community could initiate the procedure for rectification of self-assessments. The solution given was: First, revoke the direct debit; secondly, submit the rectification; Third, submit a request for deferral for the wrong amount; and finally, present the payment letter and pay the corrected fee. If the Autonomous Community verifies the error, it will estimate and archive the request for deferral.

The main problem is that these steps can only be taken if the error is detected before the end of the direct debit period, because if it is detected after that, the direct debit order cannot be revoked. In this case, the application for rectification of self-assessments must be submitted and the charge cannot be avoided, but the Autonomous Community will give priority to processing the rectification application as soon as possible and return the excess with late payment interest.

Mr. Javier Gómez, representative of AEDAF, asks about the status of the transposition of the Pillar II Directive, the national regulations for expatriates and the Government's report on the results of the first exercise of energy taxes and financial institutions.

The Director General of the Tax Agency answers that the approval of the regulations for expatriates is imminent but that everything depends on the Council of Ministers being held before the end of the year, and regarding the rest of the issues, the Directorate General of Taxes and the Institute of Fiscal Studies will be consulted.

Ms. Stella Raventós, president of AEDAF, announces that both she and Mr. Javier Gómez are ceasing their positions as representatives of their Association. Mr. Luís del Almo also announced his resignation, thanking the three representatives and the Director of the Tax Agency for the relationship between the parties and the progress achieved.

Mr José Castaño then asks, in relation to the list of proposals, whether the refunds of the tax on plastic can be expedited, because there are many companies waiting for the refund.

Ms. Eva Pedruelo replies that the General Subdirectorate of Special Taxes is going to promote processing with the managing offices and, in addition, a notice is to be posted at the Head Office so that refund requests are accompanied by documentation.

Mr. Antonio Ibarra raises the specific problem of a professional engineer, who has been denied one hundred percent of the VAT on fuel. The denial of the deduction is based on the fact that the license plates do not appear on the invoices and, with regard to the invoices that do include the license plates, there is no justification that the diesel is related to the vehicle. It has been alleged that he is an engineer who has works and work directions outside the town, all the work plans, clients and the distance at which each of the clients is located have been attached, but, nevertheless, he They have settled a VAT of about 700 euros, making it not worth appealing as the cost of appealing is greater than the VAT settled. He also comments that the Lorca Administration is quite strict and requests that certain steps in the inspection procedure can be carried out virtually.

Mr. Joan Torres intervenes to point out that in Ibiza they had an identical case regarding the deductible vehicle expenses of an industrial engineer who kept a schedule of visits to construction sites, detailing the work/client, the kilometers from his office to the work, the day of the visit, etc. and the deduction of tax was allowed, therefore, it is considered necessary to have a more objective catalogue of criteria for admission of deductible expenses, which provides greater legal certainty, with the deduction not depending on the criteria of each actuary.

Ms. Rosa Prieto replies that she cannot speak without knowing the case, that she would like to see it in order to actually analyze what has been contributed and what has been justified.

The Director General of the Agency reiterates that the specific file would have to be examined, that the issue of deductible expenses is complex and that it will be added to the list of pending tasks for study.

Finally, Mr. Joan Torres asks if there are refunds by check because he has been told that these refunds are lost.

The Director of the Tax Collection Department clarifies that refunds are not lost, but those sent abroad may take longer. The Director of the Management Department believes that this problem can be solved without adding it to the list.

Since there are no new interventions, the Director General of the State Tax Administration Agency thanks those who attended for their presence and participation and closes the twenty-fourth plenary session of the Forum of Associations and Colleges of Tax Professionals.