Law 34/2015, of September 21, partially amending General Tax Law 58/2003, of December 17, incorporated article 95 bis, which enables the Administration to publish a list of defaulters due to debts or sanctions to the Spanish Public Treasury, and which is configured as an exception to the general principle of confidentiality of tax data.

The disclosure of this list of tax debtors arises from the need to enhance the efficiency of the tax system, reinforcing the mechanisms available to the Public Treasury in order to comply with the general duty to contribute to the support of public expenditure under article 31.1 of the Spanish Constitution.

In addition to fulfilling this duty of solidarity, publicizing situations of significant non-compliance contributes to the fight against tax fraud by disseminating conduct that is particularly harmful to the public treasury, while encouraging and incentivizing voluntary compliance with the payment of tax obligations . At the same time, the Tax Administration carries out an exercise in transparency of public activity.

Many countries in our environment also reveal, by publishing the corresponding lists, the identity of taxpayers who have failed to comply with their tax obligations. This is the case in Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Romania. 

In four recent judgments on appeals (86/2023, of January 25; 130/2017, of February 2, 58/2023, of January 20; and 131/2023, of February 2), deliberated on January 17, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled for the first time on the scope and interpretation of the so-called list of defaulters in article 95 bis of the LGT , establishing that lists of defaulters can only include firm debts. 

In addition to the reasons that serve to moderate the use of the aforementioned list in cases of definitive establishment of the debt, when it has become final, in two other cases it was a question of the so-called "liquidations linked to crime", that is, those that occur in cases in which the Administration appreciates indications of a crime against the Public Treasury. The TS declares that these settlements linked to crime are estimates for the purpose of being integrated into the criminal process and under the authority of the judge, and therefore do not generate tax debts suitable for those affected to appear on the list of defaulters in article 95 bis, since such inclusion, on the one hand, would collide head-on with the principle of presumption of innocence, which can only be destroyed by a final court judgment. 

Under the current legal configuration, the Tax Administration agrees to publish situations of relevant non-compliance with tax obligations, when the following circumstances occur, as of December 31 of the year prior to the corresponding publication agreement:

• The list will include all debtors of the Public Treasury, including those who have the status of debtors having been declared jointly liable for tax debts or penalties.
• The total amount of outstanding tax debts and penalties, including any that may have been imposed following the declaration of joint liability, exceeds the amount of 600,000 euros.
• That said debts or tax penalties have not been paid after the original deadline for payment in the voluntary period.
  In the case of debts included in liability declaration agreements, it will be necessary for the payment period in Article 62.2 of this Law to have elapsed after notification of the liability declaration agreement and, where applicable, the payment demand agreement.
• Tax debts and penalties that are deferred or suspended will not be included.
• It can only include firm debts and those on which a final court judgment has been issued.
• The advertising regulated in article 95 bis LGT , will refer exclusively to taxes owned by the State for which the application of the taxes, the exercise of the sanctioning power and the powers of review are exclusively attributed to the organs of the State Tax Administration, there having been no delegation of powers in these areas in favor of the Autonomous Communities or Local Entities.
• It applies to taxes that make up customs debt.

Once the affected debtors have been notified of its publication, if they make full payment of the outstanding debt within the period for objections, they will be excluded from it, constituting a further incentive from the Public Treasury towards voluntary compliance.

Therefore, in compliance with the mandate contained in the indicated provision, and for the sake of the general duty of supporting public expenditure, the corresponding list will be published next June 2024, to publicize relevant situations of non-compliance, where the legally established requirements have been met on December 31, 2023, and after strictly following the procedure provided for this purpose.