2.5. Taxpayers’ opinion of the Tax Agency

Opinion surveys

The Tax Studies Institute of the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations conducted the demoscopic survey "Tax opinions and attitudes of Spanish citizens in 2013." This report is carried out annually and is also known as the “Tax Barometer.”

The study is carried out on a sample of 1,500 citizens, distributed in five segments (businessmen, farmers, professionals, salaried and inactive), selected by habitat, gender and age quotas and using the personal interview technique, with application of a structured questionnaire.

According to the latest data published (referring to 2013 and previous tax years), the evolution of the Spanish citizens' opinion on the Tax Agency's services shows a very positive view of their quality, reaching a qualification of 2.9 (out of 4).

This study also analyses the citizens' opinion with respect to the Tax Agency's staff, who are rated as being good technicians who are impartial and respectful in the performance of their duties.

Taxpayers' evaluation of the services in the Tax Return Campaign

In the "2013 Personal Income Tax Survey" carried out during the year 2014, the Tax Agency asks the opinion of those persons who have used the online filing service for Personal Income Tax returns: 70% of the taxpayers who have used this service say they are satisfied or very satisfied with it.

One more year, the five services which the users consider very useful are the following: the filing of returns, the communication of available data relating to Personal Income Tax, the request, rectification and confirmation of the Income Tax draft, the consultation of the status of refunds, and the downloading of the Assistance Program.

Suggestions and complaints. Taxpayer's Ombudsman

The Taxpayers' Defence Council, an advisory body of the Secretariat of State of the Treasury, monitors the effectiveness of tax rights and obligations, dealing with complaints received about the application of the tax system by the State bodies and presenting suggestion and proposals. Its competence, composition and functioning are established by its specific regulations.

The Tax Agency provides technical support and administrative assistance to the Board, in addition to training and analysis on the information deriving from complaints via the Operating Unit of the Taxpayers' Defence Council, which forms part of the Tax Agency's Internal Audit Service.

In 2014, 12,248 complaints and suggestions were presented to the Taxpayers' Defence Council with regard to the Tax Agency's activities, 47.62% more than in the previous year. The comparison of the data of the last two tax years provides the following conclusions:

• The subject with the greatest number of incidences is that of Information and attention; in 2014, 5,860 complaints and suggestions were presented (47.84% of the total) and in 2013 5,040 were presented (60.74% of the total).

• A notable increase has been seen in the number of complaints and suggestions referring to Application of rules; in 2014, 3,454 complaints and suggestions were presented (28.20% of the total) compared with 735 in 2013 (8.86% of the total).

The following table in the Annex shows these data and their classification by subjects, comparing the last two tax years. In addition, the detailed information can be consulted in the Annual Report of the Taxpayers' Defence Council: