4.1.3. Collection phase

The Tax Agency carried out a wide range of activities cast leading to the collection of the tax debts and penalties deriving from the application of the state's tax and customs system, in addition to those deriving from the other public resources whose management it assumes pursuant to an Act or Agreement.

In these activities, in both the voluntary and enforcement periods, it is necessary to use all the mechanisms provided by the legal system for enforced collection.

In 2016, the Tax Agency has continued to intensify the most qualified operations for the fight against fraud in the tax collection phase.

Evolution of outstanding debt

The collection management of tax debts consists in the exercise of administrative functions leading to collection. This includes a series of activities such as wealth investigation, the adoption of precautionary measures, the execution of liability assignment agreements and all those provided for in the General Tax Collection Regulations, subject to the periods established in the tax legislation.

Until the tax debts are extinguished, by payment, compensation or the other legally provided means, they are considered “outstanding.” However, within the outstanding amounts it is necessary to distinguish between those in which there are cases of suspension, deferral or insolvency proceedings, which are not due and payable while they remain in that situation, from all the other outstanding amounts, with regard to which the collection organs deploy all the faculties provided for in the legal system.

The amount outstanding at the end of each year is the result of adding to the amount outstanding at the start of that year the outstanding debts originated in the current year, called “annual debit," and subtracting any cancellations made in the year, either for revenue obtained as a consequence of collection activities or for other legally established causes.

The outstanding amount at 31 December 2016 was 45,849 million euros, which represents a drop of 6.9 percent with respect to 31 December 2015.

The following tables in the Annex show, respectively, the evolution of the outstanding debt at the end of each of the years included in the period 1997-2016 and the breakdown of the outstanding debt:

In terms of executive debt, the total amount of the debt in the enforcement period in 2016 reached 38,311 million euros. The total amount of the debts subject to enforcement surcharge in 2016 came to 10,030.7 million euros, 3.5 percent less that in 2015.. Of this amount, the debts arising from the application of the taxes which are under the competence of the Tax Agency amounted to 7,161.3 million euros, and those of other entities to 2,869.4 million euros. In another aspect, debts were cancelled for a value of 12,221.5 million euros.

The principal magnitudes relating to the collection phase are shown in the tables listed below in the Annex:

Debts arising from the application of the taxes which are under the Tax Agency's remit

Of the debt subject to enforcement surcharge in 2016, 71 percent of the total, 7,161.3 million, comes from debts arising on application of taxes enforced by the Tax Agency. This debt comes both from settlements carried out by the Tax Agency and from self-assessments filed by the taxpayers without admission or with failed deferments. Debt has been settled for an amount of 9,159.4 million euros. 

Furthermore, in order to prevent and fight against equity stripping by debtors, the adoption of preventive seizure measures is being strengthened for cases in which there are rational indications that the debtor might impede or prevent the debts' payment, by derivations from responsibility as a mechanism to transfer the duty to payment from one taxpayer to another, when, in the face of the non-compliance of the first, the provisions established in the Law are applicable.

The following table of the Appendix shows the results obtained in 2015 and 2016 and their variation rate:

Management of debt of other entities

In 2016, the Tax Agency managed debts during the enforcement period from 168 external bodies, including 42 Autonomous Bodies, 16 Autonomous Communities, 25 Local Entities and 41 Public Entities, as well as the different Ministerial Departments that have included public funds in tax execution and other public debts whose income should be included in the State Budget. The Tax Agency has also managed collection of debts from other European Union Member States within the framework of Mutual Assistance, as well as from other countries based on international agreements undertaken (OECD).

The largest percentage of debt managed corresponds to Ministerial Departments (55.3%), followed by Autonomous Communities (26.0%) and Autonomous Bodies (16.7%).

In 2016, the total amount of the debts subject to surcharge was 2,869.38 million euros. Debt has been settled for an amount of 3,062.09 million euros.

By origin, the external entities with the highest debt managed by the Tax Agency during 2016 were the Traffic Authority (10%) and the hydrographical confederations (2%).

In terms of Autonomous Communities, Catalonia, Andalusia and Valencia lead the ranking for highest amounts of debt managed in 2016.