Royal Decree 117/2024, of January 30 (BOE January 31, 2024), in point three of its Second Final Provision, has modified article 9 of the General Collection Regulations, making it possible for both payment institutions and electronic money institutions to access the status of collaborators in state collection management and, even, to an eventual provision of the cash service in the Delegations of the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT) and in customs, which until now was reserved for credit institutions (Banks, Savings Banks and Credit Cooperatives).

This regulatory modification is a direct consequence of the approval of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 25, 2015 on payment services in the internal market, which aims, among other purposes, to increase the competition and innovation in the sector, reinforce security in the payment market and promote the emergence of new forms of payment, as well as electronic commerce.

This Directive has provided a definitive boost in terms of the presence and relevance of payment and electronic money institutions in the European financial market, a process from which the State Tax Administration, in the exercise of its tax collection powers, could not remain on the sidelines.

The incorporation of these new payment service providers as collaborating entities of the Tax Agency represents a significant step forward in facilitating compliance with the payment obligation to the state Tax Administration, an issue that constitutes one of the permanent objectives of the latter. The approved amendment will thus increase the number of payment providers through which debts collected by the Tax Agency can be paid and, more importantly, will make available to taxpayers the electronic payment methods and channels that the new entities provide to their clients and which, logically, are based on the use of the most recent and up-to-date technologies.

This regulatory change, together with other initiatives currently underway in the area of income, will allow the AEAT to be at the forefront in terms of taking advantage of the channels and procedures that the financial system currently offers its clients to carry out payment transactions.

In addition, the authorization of payment and electronic money entities to act as collaborators will have a positive and direct effect on the compliance of these types of entities with their tax obligations, especially the information obligations referred to in article 93 of Law 58/2003, of December 17, General Tax Law.

In this regard, it must be considered that the status of collaborating entity is not limited to the mere collection of debts and their subsequent payment to the Public Treasury since, as can be seen from the provisions of article 17.6 of the General Collection Regulations, the provision of the collaboration service is absolutely incompatible with non-compliance with tax regulations, obligations to provide information of tax significance or seizure orders.

Finally, the fact that these types of payment service providers are incorporated into the service of collaboration in collection will mean their immediate participation in a series of procedures aimed at simplifying certain procedures before the AEAT for citizens and companies.