2.4. Electronic Tax Agency

Since its creation, the Tax Agency has been a pioneer in the field of the electronic administration, and the intensive use of new information and communication technologies has been a constant, which has led to it today being an authentic “electronic Tax Agency”.

Over the last years, the digital channel has become the most used channel for relations with taxpayers.

In relation to the notifications , the entry into force in 2016 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, meant that legal entities (including Public Administrations) were integrated into the Mandatory Electronic Notification (NEO) system, which has meant a potential increase in the group included in NEO and the number of those actually included in the NEO system since its creation; Currently, the total census of those included in NEO is 3,228,433 legal entities, 24.08% more than in 2018.

In 2019, 11.62 million electronic notifications and communications were issued, of which 11.12 million correspond to holders included in Mandatory Electronic Notification (NEO).

In order to promote the use of the electronic registry for all registration procedures, in the case of natural persons, the submission of documentation with Cl@ve PIN has been facilitated. This facilitates access for those procedures that previously required an electronic certificate and for which it was not sufficient to provide the Secure Verification Code (CSV) of the communication received from the Tax Agency.

In this context, submissions without the need for identification or with non-reinforced identification, with CSV or reference, have continued to grow in 2019, reaching 1,156,468 registry entries. The number of entries made through electronic registration with an electronic certificate or Cl@ve PIN has remained stable in 2019, reaching 4,683,555.

According to current regulations, there are numerous cases in which citizens are obliged to provide proof to the Public Administrations or to the agencies and entities dependent on them, of tax circumstances, such as their situation regarding compliance with tax obligations or their level of income.

During 2019, 6,818,975 certificates were requested electronically, which represents 89.35% of the total number of certificates requested.

In any case, it is noteworthy that during 2019, 98.42% of certifications were carried out without citizens having to physically go to the offices of the Tax Agency. This means that more than nine out of ten certificates have been requested through electronic means, either by the citizen themselves or by direct supply to the Public Administration that requires the information.

There is no doubt that communication with taxpayers has changed and any means that allow improving taxpayer information and assisting them in fulfilling their tax obligations must be promoted and used, ultimately promoting better compliance with them.

In 2019, 7,327,041 taxpayers have communicated their electronic contact information, either a mobile phone number, an email address or both, in order to use the systems to send information to the taxpayer or a notice about the existence of a notification.

The use of electronic administration offers unquestionable advantages, including a reduction in indirect tax pressure, a reduction in the workload of the Tax Agency's management, a reduction in the processing times of procedures and a reduction in the time needed to process information and to detect the evolution of economic variables.

One of the basic aspects of assistance provided through electronic channels is the ease with which a taxpayer can submit his or her documentation electronically. During 2019, a percentage of 74.82% of non-standard documents submitted by taxpayers via electronic registry was reached with respect to the total number of documents submitted through in-person and electronic registry.

For further information, go to section 4.3. of this Report describes the services provided online.