4.7. Measures adopted by the Tax Agency in relation to COVID-19

The exceptional situation experienced during 2020 derived from the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has meant the need to adopt extraordinary measures and adapt the operation of the Tax Agency to the new situation.

In parallel with the declaration of the state of alarm throughout the national territory that limited the right of free movement of people and which was extended until June 7 of last year, the Director General, through Resolution of March 13, 2020, enabled to the different management centers of the Tax Agency to establish a protocol with the measures that were necessary to develop the cases of temporary suspension of activities and flexibility of the working day and implementation of teleworking in their areas of competence, which meant in practice the generalization of teleworking in all Departments and Delegations of the Agency, except for exceptions linked to the provision of essential public services incompatible with this figure during this entire period of time.

After the first weeks of the state of alarm, the gradual, homogeneous and progressive return to the face-to-face workplace of the Tax Agency staff began, which would guarantee both the safety of the employees and the provision of the service. More than a year later we still cannot speak of a complete return to normality.

To facilitate teleworking of the Tax Agency staff since the beginning of the state of alarm, the IT Department carried out different developments that allowed almost all of the staff to work from their homes, allowing access to the work environment on mobility and enabling not only the holding of internal videoconference meetings and with taxpayers (VIVI system) but also the attention to taxpayers, through new help and video assistance services.

The presentation of pre-declarations (PDF) was established during the state of alarm, or changes in the Authentication Systems, which would allow us to face, with the necessary guarantees, the situation generated by the closure of offices or changes in the notification systems. .

Likewise, during 2020 it has been necessary to carry out various actions by the Tax Agency in response to urgent and extraordinary measures adopted progressively to respond to the economic and social impact produced by the health crisis and which had repercussions on the tax area:

At the same time, a section was implemented on the Tax Agency website called “COVID-19 tax measures” in which an attempt was made to respond to all the doubts that the situation generated, both from a regulatory and procedural point of view, including a compilation constantly updated frequently asked questions.

In the field of Tax Management, after the approval through different royal decrees of exceptional measures that involved the suspension, extension or modification of the deadlines of the procedures, it was necessary to adopt changes in the applications. These deadlines were applied ex officio, unless expressly waived by the taxpayers, making it necessary to even allow the acceptance of said measures by those taxpayers of Personal Income Tax, VAT and Corporate Tax who submitted their self-assessments prior to the approval of the aforementioned measures and wished to benefit. to them, for which a system was implemented consisting of the interested party submitting a new self-assessment with content adjusted to the options they wished to avail of and, additionally, a simple form that identified the first self-assessment submitted, which It allowed to accelerate the process of rectification of the self-assessment initially presented by the Administration, with cancellation of its economic effects.

Other measures adopted were the modification of model 200 to incorporate the possibility of submitting a second declaration within the extraordinary period allowed for those entities that on the ordinary date of filing the tax had not been able to approve their annual accounts, or, within the framework of the Income campaign 2019, the strengthening of the “Le Llamamos” Plan (PLL), which allowed the replacement to a large extent of in-person attention in offices with telephone attention, guaranteeing an optimal level of service, as well as, starting in the month of June, the beginning of in-person attention in offices for in-person assistance for the presentation of returns, with compliance with strict protocols to guarantee the safety of officials and taxpayers.

In the field of Inspection, teleworking has allowed a certain normality in the development of actions, without prejudice to the difficulties of management and coordination of teams and units that the lack of presence has caused. In the context of the pandemic, the implementation of the VIVI (Virtual Visits) project has been promoted, a voluntary system for the taxpayer that allows, in the course of an inspection procedure, to provide documents, sign the act and provide continuity to the file, allowing existing spatial limitations.

In the collection field, the health crisis motivated the implementation of the REC@T project, the Collection Call Center, through a single national number. Through the REC@T service, assistance and information is provided on all aspects included in the collection matter, providing said service both in Spanish and in different co-official languages, giving citizens the possibility of paying their debts by telephone, requesting deferrals , installments and compensations, change direct debits for deferrals and installments, consult debts, proceed to lift embargoes, and in general, obtain all the information and assistance in collection matters, allowing processing with taxpayer identification through the Cl@vePin system, strongly secure system.

In the area of Customs and Excise Taxes, it was necessary to expedite authorizations for the use of alcohol for the manufacture of antiseptic hydrogels or surface disinfectants with application of exemption. In addition, during the state of alarm, the reception of alcohol by Firefighters, Civil Guard, Police, Army and Health Centers was authorized to use it in disinfection tasks with application of exemption.

In addition, the mobilization of fermented beverages (wine, beer, intermediate products and other fermented beverages) for the production of alcohol was facilitated, as well as the exit to an alcohol factory for the manufacture of alcohol, of the residual alcohol obtained in the dealcoholization operations carried out in factories producing beer, wine or other fermented beverages or intermediate products.

In terms of foreign trade, since the declaration of the State of Alarm, different measures were adopted to continue providing the service, guaranteeing the customs clearance of goods, with special attention to imports of health products, requiring the permanent coordination of the Customs Department. with the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products. Export. Regarding the requirement for an export license for certain products, close cooperation was also required with the General Directorate of Trade Policy of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the body responsible for granting said license.

It was in the area of Customs where the development of the VIVI project began to enable actions to be carried out through a digital videoconferencing system that allows bidirectional and simultaneous communication of image and sound, visual, auditory and verbal interaction between the obligated tax and the acting body, guaranteeing its secure transmission and reception, ensuring its authorship, authenticity and integrity.

In 2020, the international presence of the Tax Agency was also affected as a result of the serious health crisis. However, a rapid adaptation was possible, maintaining institutional participation through videoconferences with different institutions and international organizations, the provision of technical assistance virtually and the holding of online courses and seminars.

The different International Organizations have emphasized in their work program the response of the Tax Administrations to the COVID-19 crisis, both with regard to their relations with taxpayers and their internal organization (human resources, digitalization , computer security) and the future recovery process.

The IT Department had to carry out numerous developments in all areas of the Tax Agency to facilitate its actions in a new and different scenario, also influencing certain horizontal actions that affected various areas and that came to resolve the situation generated. due to the closure of offices, such as the strengthening of telephone service by increasing automatic voice response systems (VRU) or the expansion of the services provided by the CAT. Likewise, in terms of registration, the procedures enabled with Cl@ve were increased, and the presentation of pre-declarations was allowed.

Outside the strictly tax sphere, the Tax Agency, during the health crisis, has developed various actions to facilitate the implementation of the regulatory changes approved to minimize the impact of the pandemic in the economic and fiscal sphere, with deadlines for putting them into production. totally extraordinary.

Thus, important developments have been necessary to enable the transfer of information to the INSS for adequate management of the Minimum Living Income. In this area, other sets of information that until now were not subject to exchange have had to be added to the usual supplies.

We have also worked with the State Public Employment Service to facilitate the management of ERTE.