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Menéndez announces that the Tax Agency expects to close 2015 with 13,500 million euros in results of the fight against fraud

Appearance by the General Manager of the Tax Agency in the Senate

 

  • The Tax Agency would thus exceed by 1,200 million euros the results obtained last year, which were the highest in its history.
  • Menéndez recalled that from 2012 to June 2015, the Agency has collected more than 40,000 million euros for its control tasks.
  • The director of the Tax Agency highlights the importance of the assets abroad identified from model 720, more than 126,300 million euros, for the purposes of present and future verifications

 

September 25, 2015.- The general director of the Tax Agency, Santiago Menéndez, announced today in the Senate that the results of the fight against fraud will be achieved by the end of 2015 , the figure of 13.5 billion euros, which would mean exceeding by almost 1.2 billion the results obtained last year, which were, he recalled, “the largest in the history of the Agency.”

During his appearance before the Budget Committee of the Upper House, Menéndez highlighted that this forecast of results comes after, in the first half of the year, the Tax Agency has obtained 6,611 million euros for its control tasks, more than in throughout 2006, totaling since 2012 more than 40,000 million euros earned from the fight against fraud.

To obtain these results, Menéndez explained, the measures introduced in the 2012 anti-fraud law have been “very relevant”, among which the limitation on the use of cash and the new tax information available to the Administration thanks to the annual declaration stood out. on goods and rights abroad.


The effect of model 720

In this sense, the director of the Tax Agency recalled that the information from form 720 allows the Agency to identify taxpayers' assets abroad that exceed 126.3 billion euros. This is, Menéndez pointed out, information that “continues to feed” the Tax Agency's database, for the purposes of present and future verifications.

Thus, the director of the Agency pointed out that this information allows for “broadening” the tax bases of taxes, given that the presentation of model 720 also induces correct taxation of the Wealth Tax and Personal Income Tax. Likewise, it allows the collection of tax debts to be secured. Menéndez pointed out that the information in the Agency's databases, including the information obtained through model 720, has allowed more than 1,600 requests to be made to third countries from 2013 to the first half of 2015.


The fight against the underground economy

During his speech in the Senate, Menéndez also highlighted the “intensification” of the actions to combat the underground economy that the Tax Agency has been developing and, in particular, those interventions carried out by person at the headquarters where economic activity is carried out. of taxpayers. Thus, in the first half of 2015, the Agency has carried out more than 1,100 entry and registration actions, an “especially significant” figure, he noted, taking into account that 1,800 actions of these characteristics were carried out throughout last year.

In this type of actions it is observed that, in addition to the discovery of undeclared sales, there is greater dissemination of the work of the Inspection, stressed the director of the Agency, "inducing voluntary compliance" of companies that operate in the same or in other sectors of economic activity.


Collaboration with justice

Menéndez also highlighted the “exceptional and growing” collaboration of the Tax Agency with the judicial bodies. At the end of June, the Agency has more than 1,400 officials dedicated, at the request of judges, courts and bodies of the Public Prosecutor's Office, to judicial assistance and expertise tasks, compared to the 900 officials dedicated to these tasks in 2010. .

This highlights the progressive increase in the number of personnel that the Tax Agency dedicates to these works, which can last for long periods of time, indicated Menéndez, who also highlighted the relevance of the volume of information transferred by the Agency to the judicial bodies. . During last year, the Tax Agency processed more than 18,000 requests that affected more than 34,000 taxpayers in different tax periods.


Economic context and effectiveness of the Agency

The director of the Tax Agency also dedicated part of his speech to pointing out the economic context in which the General State Budgets for 2016 are presented. Menéndez pointed out that the evolution of the major macroeconomic indicators has been reflected in the recovery of public income, with a growth in collection of 5.2% until August, in homogeneous terms.

This recovery of income has made it possible, in turn, to approve the tax reform, which has already "put 3,000 million euros in the hands of taxpayers," recalled the director of the Agency, increasing the disposable income of families, promoting savings and investment and improving the competitiveness of companies; and thus giving an additional boost to economic growth.

In this scenario, Menéndez recalled, the Tax Agency will have 1.4 billion euros to carry out its activity in 2016. “I am convinced,” he stressed, that the Agency's budget for next year “will allow us to successfully fulfill the mission that the Tax Agency has been entrusted with,” following principles of action based on the optimization of human resources and available materials, and in the rationalization and improvement of the organization and work methods. All of this, stressed the director of the Agency, “will result in an improvement in its effectiveness and efficiency, contributing to boosting economic growth and improving competitiveness.”