5.1. Forum on Large Companies and Code of Good Tax Practices

Following the conclusions of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Forum on Tax Administration in its meetings in Seoul (2006) and Cape Town (2008), the Spanish Tax Agency launched new types of cooperative relations with large companies by creating a discussion forum which, through joint or sectoral meetings, discusses the main problems arising in relations between large companies and the Tax Agency.

Hence, on 10 July 2009, the Large Corporations Forum was set up as the body responsible for co-operative relations between the Tax Agency and a group of 27 large Spanish companies selected based on factors such as turnover, tax debt collected, information supplied to the Tax Agency, number of workers, activity sector and geographical distribution.

Several working groups were set up within the Forum, one of which was devoted to drawing up a Code of Good Tax Practice.

This code was approved in the Forum 's plenarysession held on 20 July 2010 and has been publishedon-line on the Tax Agency website. All the companies that so wish can subscribe this code, whether or not they are members of the forum and they can freely disseminate said subscription.

The aim of this Code of Good Practice is to all together - companies and the authorities - improve the application of the tax system. The code contains a series of recommendations regarding best tax practice, both for companies and for the Tax Authorities.

Both the companies and the Administration assume as a fundamental aim of their relations that of preventing conflicts in the application of the tax regulations and therefore avoiding the high costs involved in settling these conflicts for both parties. For companies, the code will imply a higher security scenario in taxation matters which will facilitate business decision-making; for the Tax Agency, it will imply an increase in the effectiveness and efficiency of tax control.

At 31 December 2015, 104 companies and groups of companies were adhered to the Code of Good Tax Practices.

Furthermore, the Plenary Session of the Large Companies Tax Forum of 3 November 2015 has agreed to the introduction of an Appendix to the Code of Good Tax Practices to reinforce the cooperative relationship between the Tax Agency and the companies adhered to this instrument of good fiscal governance. This Appendix includes two essential sections, referring to the monitoring of compliance with the code and the reinforcement of good fiscal transparency practices.