2.5. Taxpayers’ opinion of the Tax Agency

Opinion surveys

The Institute of Tax Studies of the Ministry of Finance and Civil Service carried out an opinion poll "Tax opinions and attitudes of Spanish citizens in 2015". This report is drawn up annually and is also known as the "Tax Barometer".

The survey is carried out on a sample of three thousand citizens, spread over five segments (business owners, farmers, professionals, salaried workers and the unemployed), selected by quotas of residence, gender and age, and using personal interview techniques, applying a structured questionnaire.

According to the last data published (from the year 2015 and previous years), Spanish citizens' assessment of the Tax Agency's services shows a very positive view of their quality, reaching a score of 2.9 (out of 4), the same as in previous years.

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

During 2016, using its "Survey on 2015 Personal Income Tax", polled the opinions of users, 56.72 percent of whom claimed to be satisfied or very satisfied to have used this webpage.

The five services which the users consider most useful are the following: filing tax returns; the draft/return processing service (Renta WEB); enquiring about the status of refunds; communication of Personal Income Tax details held by the Tax Agency and, lastly, the appointment booking service.

Suggestions and complaints. Taxpayer's Ombudsman

The Council for the Defence of the Taxpayer, the ombudsman attached to the Secretary of State for Tax, monitors the effectiveness of tax rights and obligations, deals with complaints received about the application of the tax system by the State bodies, and provides relevant suggestion and proposals in the regulatory manner determined. Its scope of power, composition and operation are established by specific regulations. 

The Council is therefore a guardian for the rights of citizens in the tax relations, taking in all social sectors related with the tax realm, with the aim of guaranteeing the Administration is more approachable to citizens.

The Tax Agency provides technical support and administrative assistance to the Council, 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 2016, 12,311 complaints and suggestions were presented to the Taxpayers' Defence Council with regard to the Tax Agency's activities, 13.10% more than in the previous year. However, in 2015 complaints and suggestions dropped off by 11%, to rates similar to 2014 (12,249). 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 customer care; in 2016, 8,331 complaints and suggestions were made (67.67% of the total) and in 2015 7,615 were presented (69.95% of the total).

•  There has been a significant decrease in the number of complaints and suggestions referring to application of rules; in 2016, 245 complaints and suggestions were presented (1.99% of the total) compared with 348 in 2015 (3.20% 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, which includes the final figures approved at the Council's Plenary Session.