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 this area, the implementation of the new electronic headquarters of the Tax Agency in 2021 has been essential: https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es . This website unifies the information portal and the electronic office, so that all services are now accessible under a thematic content structure – regardless of whether it is information or procedures – which makes navigation more comfortable and agile for the taxpayer, thus improving the user experience.

Its modern design facilitates navigation and a user-oriented vision and language, with explanations and descriptions prior to accessing the different procedures, reinforcing the Agency's website as a basic tool to minimize the indirect costs of tax compliance for the taxpayer.

Also in the field of electronic administration, and 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. The total number of persons included in NEO as of December 31, 2022 was 2,673,987 individuals and legal entities.

According to the aforementioned law, the obligation of electronic notification referred to in article 40.4 will be deemed to be fulfilled by making the notification available at the electronic headquarters of the acting Administration or Agency or at the single enabled electronic address. In addition, interested parties must be able to access all notifications from the Administration's electronic General Access Point, which will function as an access portal.

In the Electronic Registry of the Tax Agency, the submission of documentation with Cl@vePIN has been facilitated for all registration procedures and for individuals. This is an added facility for those procedures that required a certificate and it was not enough to provide the CSV of the communication received from the Tax Agency, promoting the use of the electronic registry.

As a result, the number of submissions without the need for identification or with non-reinforced identification, with CSV or reference, are much lower than the number of submissions with identification, remaining at 626,146 registry entries. However, the entries made through electronic registration with an electronic certificate or Cl@vePIN in 2022 were 5,386,905 entries.

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 2022, 9,478,951 certificates were requested electronically, which represents 95.24% of the total number of certificates requested. 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.

It is also worth noting that a pilot project was launched in December 2022 to provide telephone assistance with prior appointment for requesting tax certificates.

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 2022, 1,907,966 more 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. As of December 31, 2022, the total number of taxpayers subscribed to the information and notification system reached 13,743,270.

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.

An example of the growing importance of new communication with taxpayers, taking advantage of the benefits provided by electronic administration, is the creation of Comprehensive Digital Assistance Administrations (ADI), administrations in which attention and assistance to taxpayers is carried out exclusively by electronic and telephone means, and which facilitate accessibility to the entire population and during extended hours, reduce costs for taxpayers by avoiding travel, promote the unification of criteria in the application of the law, and allow greater specialization of the officials who work in them, thus improving assistance to taxpayers.

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