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

 

• The Tax Agency would thus exceed by 1.2 billion 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 billion euros for its control work.
• The director of the Tax Agency underlines the importance of the assets abroad identified using Form 720, more than 126.3 billion euros, for the purposes of current and future audits

 

September 25, 2015.- The Director General of the Tax Agency, Santiago Menéndez, announced today in the Senate that the results of the fight against fraud could reach, 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 highest in the history of the Agency."

During his appearance before the Senate's Budget Committee, Menéndez stressed that this forecast of results comes after the Tax Agency obtained 6.611 billion euros in the first half of the year for its control work, more than in the whole of 2006, totalling more than 40 billion euros since 2012 in revenue from the fight against fraud.

To achieve these results, Menéndez explained, the measures introduced in the 2012 anti-fraud law have been "very relevant", among which he highlighted the limitation on the use of cash and the new tax information available to the Administration thanks to the annual declaration on assets and rights abroad.


The effect of the 720 model

In this regard, the director of the Tax Agency recalled that the information in Form 720 allows the Agency to identify taxpayers' assets abroad that exceed 126.3 billion euros. According to Menéndez, this is information that "continues to feed" the database of the Tax Agency, for the purposes of current and future audits.

The director of the Agency pointed out that this information allows the tax bases to be "widened", since the presentation of Form 720 also leads to correct taxation in the Wealth Tax and Personal Income Tax. It also 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 Form 720, has allowed for the issuance of more than 1,600 requests 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 black economy that the Tax Agency has been carrying out and, in particular, those interventions carried out in person at the offices where the economic activity of taxpayers is carried out. In the first half of 2015, the Agency carried out more than 1,100 search and seizure operations, a figure that is "particularly significant," he said, taking into account that 1,800 such operations were carried out throughout the past year.

In this type of action, it is observed that, in addition to the discovery of undeclared sales, there is a 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 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 had more than 1,400 employees dedicated to judicial assistance and expert witness work at the request of judges, courts and bodies of the Public Prosecutor's Office, compared to the 900 employees it dedicated to these tasks in 2010.

This highlights the progressive increase in the number of staff that the Tax Agency is dedicating to these tasks, which can last for long periods of time, said Menéndez, who also highlighted the importance of the volume of information provided by the Agency to the judicial bodies. Last year, the Tax Agency processed more than 18,000 applications affecting more than 34,000 taxpayers in different tax periods.


Economic context and effectiveness of the Agency

The head of the Tax Agency also devoted part of his speech to highlighting the economic context in which the General State Budget for 2016 is being presented. Menéndez pointed out that the evolution of the main macroeconomic indicators has been reflected in the recovery of public revenues, with a 5.2% increase in revenue collection until August, in homogeneous terms.

This recovery in revenue has also enabled the approval of the tax reform, which has already “put 3 billion euros in the hands of taxpayers”, recalled the director of the Agency, increasing the disposable income of families, encouraging 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 enable it to successfully fulfil the mission entrusted to the Tax Agency," following principles of action based on the optimisation of available human and material resources, and on the rationalisation and improvement of the organisation and working methods. All of this, the director of the Agency stressed, "will result in an improvement in its effectiveness and efficiency, contributing to boosting economic growth and improving competitiveness."