4.1.2. Taxpayer Assistance

Help and forms for preparing declarations

In 2013, hard-copy tax return forms were almost fully eradicated, so the majority of returns made after this date were filed online, using help programs in some cases, which can be provided by the Tax Agency or external sources.

The help programs for filing tax returns through forms on the Tax Agency website have been progressively replaced. The service for processing the draft/declaration (WEB Income) for self-assessment of Personal Income Tax stands out. Access to it can be made with any of the following identification and/or authentication systems: certificate or DNI electronic, Cl@ve PIN or reference number.

Also for the declaration of the Wealth Tax and the quarterly installment payments of the Personal Income Tax in the objective estimation regime, the web form is made available.

Conducting procedures by phone

The Tax Agency has a Call Center, CAT (901 20 03 45) operating from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (until 9 p.m. from April to June and until 3 p.m. in August). Some of the tax assistance services it provides include: management of the draft of the personal income tax return , maternity deduction, deduction for large families and people with disabilities, collection (recording of requests for deferral, division and compensation, telephone payment, as well as subscription of Tax Agency services, among others), change of address, non-resident information, DIT Informative support and ARES requirements.

Furthermore, during the months of the Income campaign, the personal resources of CAT are reinforced through the hiring of an external company, since it would not be possible to provide such assistance with the company's own resources. that the Tax Agency has. This is OTAC , Telephone Taxpayer Assistance Office.

During 2018, the following actions took place, among others:

The total number of calls answered by the Taxpayer Service Telephone Office (OTAC) and the Telephone Service Center (CAT) was 1,431,366.

Regarding the deduction for large families and people with disabilities (DAFAS), a total of 131,015 procedures have been carried out (this service began operating on January 7, 2015).

The information requests service (ARES) was put into operation on July 1, 2015 and in 2018 1,311 requests were answered.

On the other hand, through automatic voice recognition telephone units, the following services were provided during 2018: direct calls, Renta WEB service, RENØ service Personal Income Tax Campaign and prior appointment Personal Income Tax Campaign. The total number of calls received in these voice recognition units has been 5,577,644, which represents an increase of more than 150% compared to the previous year. The reason for this increase is due to the fact that in 2018 automated telephone services have been used as a discriminator for the WEB Rent service, as well as to request an appointment, both in person and by telephone, throughout the duration of the campaign. of Income.

Appointments

Taxpayers can request an appointment to be assisted at the offices of the Tax Agency, both for the preparation of tax returns, especially of the Personal Income Tax, and to file any information that may have been requested from them in a verification procedure.

In 2015, the prior appointment was introduced in the Tax Agency for all services.

The general scheduled appointment system allows taxpayers to arrange a day and time to receive assistance at Tax Agency offices regarding collection services (payment and information about debts, freezings, deferments, collection resources and other collection procedures) and management services (information, census management, certificates and modules).

Appointments may be scheduled in person, online or by phone. If scheduled online or by phone, the system sends an email or SMS reminder, if the taxpayer wants one.

During 2018, 6,984,592 live appointments were made in management (0.05 percent more than the previous year), of which 2,396,639 correspond to live Income campaign appointments (1.76 percent less than past year). These data have excluded those canceled and those modified.

In-person assistance at Tax Agency administrations: ATHENAEUM.

The ATENEO program allows a record to be kept of the information services provided to taxpayers in person in all the Tax Agency's Special Offices. During 2018, the number of taxpayers who went to the Tax Agency offices to obtain information in person was 13,386,481.

Register of authorisations, successions and legal representations

Through this service, taxpayers can carry out any procedure with the Tax Agency through a representative (tax agent) over the internet. As of December 31, 2018, 7,105,434 powers of attorney for online procedures were active, 25 percent more than the previous year.

Obtaining certificates

In accordance with current regulations, there are many cases in which citizens are obliged to prove to Public Administrations or to organisations and agencies attached to them that they are up to date on meeting their tax obligations and any other tax-related circumstances, like their income level, for example.

In order to manage this service more efficiently and to provide citizens with this certification - without them having to travel to our offices -, the Tax Agency can directly supply the information in the certificates to the Public Administrations requesting it, being equally valid as the certificates themselves.

The number of certificates requested directly by citizens at the Agency's offices during 2018 was 943,052, which represents a decrease of 3.2 percent compared to the data in 2017.