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 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) will be 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 effectively 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).

To promote the use of the electronic registry the presentation of documentation with Cl@ve PIN has been facilitated for all registration procedures, in the case of natural persons. This facilitates access for those procedures that had been requiring 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, filings 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. Entries through the electronic registry with electronic certificate or Cl@ve PIN have remained stable in 2019, reaching the figure of 4,683,555.

In accordance with current regulations, there are numerous cases in which citizens are forced to prove to the Public Administrations or to the organizations and entities dependent on them, circumstances of a tax nature, such as their situation regarding compliance with tax obligations or income level.

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

In any case, it is notable that during 2019, 98.42% of the certifications have been carried out without physical travel of citizens to the Tax Agency offices. This means that more than nine out of ten certificates have been requested through telematic 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 improves taxpayer information and assists them in complying with their tax obligations must be promoted and used, ultimately promoting better compliance.

In 2019, 7,327,041 taxpayers have communicated their electronic contact information, whether 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 undoubted advantages, among which the reduction of indirect tax pressure, the reduction of the workload of the Tax Agency manager, the reduction of processing times for procedures and the reduction of time necessary to process information and to detect the evolution of economic variables.

One of the basic aspects of the assistance provided through electronic channels is the ease with which a taxpayer can present their documentation electronically. During 2019, a percentage of 74.82% of non-standardized documents presented by electronic registration by taxpayers has been reached with respect to the total number of documents presented through in-person and electronic registration.

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