The initiative, which is pioneering, is part of the recent recommendations of the OECD to promote cooperation and coordination between companies and the Tax Administration. Adherence to the code is open to all companies that wish to do so, whether or not they participate in the Forum. It promotes transparency and cooperation in corporate tax practices and increases legal certainty in the interpretation of tax regulations. It will reduce tax litigation. In parallel, work is being carried out to reduce administrative burdens on companies.

This morning, the Forum for Large Enterprises approved the Code of Good Tax Practices. The meeting was chaired by the Second Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Elena Salgado, and attended by the Secretary of State for Finance and Budgets, Carlos Ocaña and the Director General of the National Tax Administration Agency (AEAT), Juan Manuel López Carbajo, in addition to representatives from the Boards of the twenty-seven participating companies.

This code, which all companies are free to sign up to, whether or not they are represented at the Forum for Large Companies, is the first of its kind in the world and is the result of cooperation between a wide variety of members of the country’s corporate fabric, based on the principles of transparency and mutual trust. The OECD recommends the development of these relations and the assumption of good corporate governance commitments in tax matters. From today, Spain will be the first country to have this type of code, drawn up and expressly accepted by both parties.

For the companies that participate, it signifies a formal commitment to best practices in corporate governance, encompassing transparency and cooperation in tax practices as well as collaboration with the Tax Agency in the detection of fraudulent practices.

For its part, the Tax Agency undertakes to provide greater legal security in the implementation and interpretation of tax regulations, advertising the generally applicable criteria and enabling the prior consultations and establishing criteria for the way in which certain particularly complex transactions are handled, necessarily involving the restructuring of certain areas of the Tax Agency.

This increase in legal security will make it possible to reduce lawsuits considerably, which in the case of large tax proceedings can sometimes take fifteen years.

FORUM FOR LARGE ENTERPRISES

The Forum for Large Enterprises Forum, constituted on 10 July 2009, seeks to increase transparency and trust in the relationship between the Tax Administration and companies with a view to cooperating in the best management of the tax system. Along these lines, contact was made with a series of companies affiliated to the Large Taxpayers Central Office and that were particularly noteworthy on account of their volume, taxable revenue, information provided, number of workers and geographical distribution. Logically, the results achieved and agreements to be adopted at the Forum for Large Enterprises are open to all affected taxpayers.

In this regard work is already underway to implement a reduction in the administrative burdens that companies bear in their tax management, which will lead to a simplification of the same and significant savings for all companies, which will thus benefit from the work of the Forum.

The Forum is chaired by the President of the Tax Agency and the Secretary of State for Finance and Budgets, Carlos Ocaña, and its members include the Director General of the Tax Agency, as well as the heads of the Management, Audit, Collection and Customs Departments and the Large Taxpayers Office. Companies are represented by a member of their corresponding Boards of Directors, who may delegate attendance to a representative.

Companies participating in the Large Business Tax Forum :

ACERINOX
ACS
AMADEUS IT HOLDING
BANCO SANTANDER
BBVA
CAJA MADRID
CEPSA
COFARES
EL CORTE INGLÉS
ENDESA
FCC
GAS NATURAL FENOSA
GENERALI SPAIN
IBERDROLA
IBERIA
INDITEX
LA CAIXA
MAPFRE
MERCADONA
MICHELIN SPAIN PORTUGAL
NORFIN HOLDER
RENAULT ESPAÑA
REPSOL YPF
SEAT
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