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Central Coordination Unit for Crimes Against the Public Treasury

The Central Coordination Unit for Crimes Against the Public Treasury (UCCDHP), which reports directly to the Director of the Department, is part of the organisation chart of the Financial and Tax Inspection Department of the State Tax Administration Agency.

The competences of the Central Coordination Unit for Crimes Against the Public Treasury (UCCDHP) are detailed in section 3.1 of the Tax Agency's Ruling of 24 March 1992, on the organisation and assignment of duties for the inspection of taxes within the scope of the Department of Finance and Tax Inspection:

  • The integration and communication to the Inspection Unit of criteria on tax offences.
  • The establishment of criteria on processing possible offences against the Public Treasury.
  • Advice to the inspection services related to the files they process and where there is evidence of offences.

Therefore, the duties of the UCCDHP can be grouped into duties of dissemination of general criteria and of advice in specific cases.

With regard to the former, the Unit's duties focus on three aspects:

  1. Criteria on the background of the tax offence.
  2. Criteria on processing files.
  3. Criteria on judicial collaboration.

a. Criteria on the background of the tax offence.

The UCCDHP establishes and communicates the general criteria on tax offences that govern the Tax Inspection Unit's activity, for which:

  • The Inspection Teams' activity is studied in order to detect any behaviour that may evidence a tax offence, standardising the Tax Agency's activity with regard to the submission of these files to the criminal law system.
  • The various rulings on criminal matters are analysed.
  • The policy for internal dissemination and communication of criteria on tax offences is promoted.
  • The Inspection Teams' training is intensified.

b. Criteria on processing files.

The idea behind the UCCDHP's activity in this area is the compliance with the applicable legislation (articles 250 to 259 of General Tax Act 58/2003, of 17 December, introduced by Act 34/2015 of 21 September) and regulations within this scope, but with the aim of simplifying the processing of offences against the Public Treasury, in both their administrative and IT aspects.

c. Criteria on judicial collaboration.

The UCCDHP is responsible for processing the appointment of officials in the Inspection area as judicial assistance in cases where the appointment corresponds to the Tax Agency's General Director, within the framework of Instruction 2/2013 of the Directorate-General of the State Tax Administration Agency on the appointment of officials as experts or in other judicial assistance duties, as amended by Ruling 1/2018 of 17 July.

Based on the experience gained by the Unit in performing this duty, as well as on the support provided in the framework of judicial assistance, the corresponding criteria applicable to the appointment and performance of the judicial collaboration within the scope of Inspection will be drawn up. In addition, any matters of interest aimed at obtaining collaboration with the criminal jurisdiction and its actors as effectively as possible in each case will be disseminated within the internal and external scope.

As for the second group of duties —the advice of the inspection services—, the work performed by the UCCDHP focuses on acting as the central body for queries forwarded by the various Regional Inspection Units, the Central Delegation for Large Taxpayers (DCGC) and the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF), as well as on supporting the Regional Inspection Teams.

  • Advice to the Regional Inspection Units, the work of which is mainly focused on:

    • Responding to queries relating to tax offences, raised by the Regional Inspection Units.

    • Supporting the Regional Teams for Offences against the Public Treasury, which have been set up in some Units, and the Inspection Teams that process files where there is evidence of offences against the Public Treasury.

  • Advice to the Office of Tax and Customs Control of the DCGC: in this case, in addition to performing the same advisory duties as with the Regional Inspection Units, the UCCDHP acts as the Team for Offences against the Public Treasury of the Central Delegation for Large Taxpayers.

  • Advice to the National Fraud Investigation Office: the intense relationship that the ONIF maintains with the criminal jurisdiction in most of its actions makes it advisable to establish a special line of collaboration, which involves the following actions:

    • Advice on the files subject to early judicialisation, by being aware of the ONIF files submitted through the criminal system and of the UCCDHP's response to the queries raised.

    • Collaboration in the judicial assistance performed by the ONIF's officials.

    • Other areas of collaboration:

      • Support in the ONIF's activity before the various prosecutors' offices, aimed at promoting the awareness of its files, especially within the framework of fraud schemes.
      • Support in the intensification of the State Attorney's collaboration in the ONIF's judicial assistance, with actions aimed at its appearance at criminal proceedings, further communication with the court clerks or raising the awareness of the struggles in executing the sentences.
      • Monitoring the development of criminal proceedings arising from the ONIF's files.