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Structure and functions

The Tax Agency was created by Article 103 of Law 31/1990 of 27 December 1990 on the General State Budget for 1991 and was effectively established on 1 January 1992.

It was set up as a public law organisation attached to the former Ministry of Economy and Treasury through the former State Secretariat for Finance and Budget.It has its own legal regime, distinct from that of the General State Administration, which gives it a certain degree of autonomy in budgetary and personnel management matters.

It is responsible for the effective application of the national tax and customs systems, and for those resources belonging to other State Public Administrations and the European Union which are entrusted to it for management by law or agreement;

It falls to it to apply the tax system in such a way that the constitutional principle is complied with by virtue of which everyone has to contribute to the maintenance of public expenditure according to his or her economic capacity.Yet, it does not have the competencies to draft and approve tax laws nor can it assign the public resources among the different aims.

The function of integral management of the state and customs tax system materialises in a wide ensemble of activities, among which there are the following:

  • The management, inspection and collection of the taxes that belong to the state (Personal Income Tax, Corporation Income Tax, Income Tax for Non-Residents, Value Added Tax and Excise Duties).
  • The performance of important functions in relation to the income of the Autonomous Communities and Autonomous Cities, not only concerning the management of the Income Tax, but also the collection of other income from these Communities, whether by legal regulation or by the relevant collaboration agreements.
  • The collection of revenue on behalf of the European Union.
  • The management of customs and the repression of smuggling.
  • The collection of taxes due to the State Public Sector in the voluntary payment period.
  • The collection, through enforcement, of public revenue due to the State General Administration and associated or dependent Public Bodies.
  • Participation in the persecution of certain offences, including offences against the Public Treasury and offences related to contraband goods.

It's mission is to encourage all citizens to comply with their tax duties.It performs two lines of action to achieve this:on the one hand, the provision of information and assistance services to any taxpayer in order to minimise the indirect costs associated with compliance with tax obligations and, on the other hand, the detection and regularisation of tax non-compliance through control actions.

The structure of the Tax Agency is set out in Order PRE/3581/2007, of 10 December, which establishes the departments of the Tax Agency and assigns them functions and powersNew window.