4.2.3. 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 2020, the Tax Agency has continued to focus on intensifying the most qualified actions to combat fraud in the 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 debt, as of December 31, 2020, was €41.911 billion, which represents a decrease of 2 percent compared to December 31, 2019.

Table No. 39 New window represents the Evolution of the outstanding debt at the end of each of the years included in the period 2001-2020 (Annex).

In Table No. 40. Breakdown of outstanding debt New window (Annex) details the data relating to this concept.

Outstanding debts in the payment period

Regarding executive debt, during 2020, the total amount of debt to be managed in the executive period amounted to 32,205.3 million euros. This amount includes the outstanding debt in enforcement at the beginning of 2019 and the charge or debts in enforcement charged during the year. The total amount of debts subject to enforcement surcharge in 2020 amounted to 8,293.93 million euros, 15 percent less than in 2019. Of this amount, debts arising from the application of taxes under the jurisdiction of the Tax Agency amounted to 5,957 million and those of other entities to 2,337 million euros. On the other hand, debt amounting to 8,282.9 million was cancelled.

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

Table No. 41. Data relating to executive debts during 2020 New window

Chart No. 42. Evolution of the position in the executive period (2006-2020) New window

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

Of the debt subject to the enforcement surcharge in 2020, 72 percent of the total, 5,957.2 million, comes from debts originated by the application of taxes under the jurisdiction of 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. The debt arising from the application of taxes under the jurisdiction of the Tax Agency amounting to 5,192.9 million has been cancelled.

Furthermore, to prevent and combat asset stripping of debtors, cautionary measures have been developed in recent years (when there are indications that the debt payment could be unfulfilled or severely impeded), along with derivations of responsibility (as a mechanism to transfer the payment obligation from one taxpayer to another), under the circumstances established by Law.

In Table No. 43. Precautionary measures and derivations of liability New window (Annex) shows the results obtained in 2019 and 2020 and their rate of variation.

Management of debt of other entities

In 2020, collection was carried out during the executive period for a group of 173 external entities, including 45 Autonomous Organizations, 16 Autonomous Communities, 50 Local Entities and 46 Public Entities, in addition to the different Ministerial Departments that have incorporated public law resources to the enforcement procedure and other public law debts whose income must increase 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).

In 2020, the amount of debt subject to enforcement surcharge amounted to 2,336.75 million euros. Debt amounting to 3,090.01 million euros has been cancelled.

By origin, the external entities with the highest amount of debt to be managed by the Tax Agency during 2020 have been the Ministerial Departments (31.4 percent), the Autonomous Communities (11.2 percent) and the Autonomous Traffic Headquarters Agency (7.5 percent).

As regards the Autonomous Communities, with the highest amount of debt managed in 2020, Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia stand out.

Other actions related to control during the collection phase

Within the framework of mutual assistance between member countries of the European Union, the Tax Agency in 2020 has received various requests for collection, notification, information and adoption of precautionary measures, reaching 1,711 requests, which has represented a decrease of 7.96% (in 2019 there were 1,859 requests).

Regarding requests for mutual assistance sent by Spain to other member countries of the European Union, there has been a slight decrease in the number of requests sent in 2020, from 1,614 requests sent in 2019 to 1,579 requests in 2020 (2.2% less).