Directives of the Annual Tax Control Plan

• Interventions will be reinforced through personal appearances with computer audit units in companies in economic sectors that are intensive in cash handling
• The investigation of assets and income hidden abroad will be supported by new tools that improve the treatment of available information on financial movements and operations of non-residents
• Specific risk analyses will be carried out on e-commerce operators and additional information will be available on their positioning in the sector.
• The AEAT will carry out immediate verification and analysis actions on the information provided by companies within the framework of the Code of Good Tax Practices

 

February 22, 2016.- Strengthening the fight against the underground economy and investigating assets and income that may be hidden abroad will be the basic pillars of the 2016 Tax Control Plan, the guidelines of which will be published tomorrow in the Official State Gazette.

Control actions in the field of international tax planning and e-commerce will also be key areas of the plan, areas in which the Tax Agency will have reinforced tools for selecting and controlling taxpayers. Likewise, the fight against fraud in the area of Collection will also be reinforced with a strategy focused on extending debt collection management actions to a greater number of taxpayers by detecting cases of liability and ensuring effective debt collection.

Control over the shadow economy

In 2016, the Tax Agency will continue to implement a coordinated strategy to combat the black economy by promoting the presence of personnel from the computer audit units (UAI) in the offices where economic activity is carried out. Last year, the losses discovered following operations with the UAI amounted to 289 million euros, 51% more than the previous year and 8.5 times more than in 2012.

Specifically, coordinated selective actions at a national level will be strengthened to detect hidden activity using so-called “concealment software” or “dual-use software”, especially in cash-intensive companies, both for making sales to end consumers and for being part of the distribution chain to other companies that sell to the public.

Likewise, face-to-face actions will be maintained aimed at analyzing billing and payment methods in order to verify the effectiveness of compliance with the limitation on cash payments established in the Anti-Fraud Law of 2012. Actions will also continue against individuals who secretly sell properties online or otherwise, as well as against regular tourist companies that do not properly comply with their tax obligations and in the area of importing goods.

Investigation of assets abroad intensifies

The 2016 Control Plan dedicates a specific section to the control of assets and income that may be hidden abroad. The information for these purposes provided by Form 720 for the declaration of assets and rights abroad will continue to be a basic pillar for the search for offshore assets, but from this year onwards the information that the Agency begins to receive through the US FATCA initiative on foreign accounts, already in operation, and subsequently from third countries (CRS agreement on the exchange of information on financial accounts signed by Spain and 78 tax jurisdictions, and working groups within the European Union for the automatic exchange of information - AEOI) will also be added.

In anticipation of this information relevant to control that will become available, the Tax Agency has created new IT tools that will allow for a reorganisation and better treatment and exploitation of information on financial accounts, currency movements and also on operations related to non-residents.

In this context, one of the actions of special relevance will be the exploitation of the information received spontaneously from other EU Member States in relation to taxpayers residing in Spain, for the execution of verifications of the worldwide income of the taxpayers. .

At the same time, inspections related to Form 720 remain open, both for non-submission and the existence of indications of concealment of assets, as well as for the lack of consistency of the assets and rights included in the declaration with the rest of the available information regarding its tax or patrimonial situation.

International taxation schemes

In turn, and in the field of international taxation, traditional basic lines of action are maintained, such as, for example, the use of 'hybrid' instruments (with different tax treatment in Spain and in a third country), the detection of permanent establishments or the analysis of transfer prices.

The information provided by companies within the framework of the Code of Good Tax Practices will also take on special importance in aspects such as their degree of presence in tax havens or the degree of congruence of their tax decisions with the principles of the BEPS package (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) of the OECD.

In relation to this and other matters included in the Conclusions on the development and monitoring of the application of the Code of Good Practices approved at the Plenary Session of the Forum of Large Companies last November, once the information has been received from the companies, the Inspection area of the Agency will carry out immediate verification and analysis actions to carry out the control activities that are appropriate.

The search for fraud on the Internet

In relation to the digital economy, action protocols will be implemented both for companies that carry out electronic commerce and for those that host their data in the cloud, and checks will be made on the taxation of businesses that operate through the network, as well as on the profits obtained by companies that advertise goods and services on the Internet.

Among other actions, an analysis of specific risks for e-commerce operators will be established and additional information will be obtained on their positioning in the sector in aspects such as the degree of connection between companies or their position as intermediaries. Information on operators considered to be at risk will also be systematised, such as their domain names and indicators of their status as advertisers.

On the other hand, the improper use of companies to channel income and reduce taxation of natural persons, professional activities, external signs of wealth for the purposes of detecting undeclared income, the issuance of irregular invoices and organized VAT fraud schemes. Likewise, control of declared exempt income that represents a tax-deductible expense for payers is reinforced.

Extension of the collection management

In the area of Collection, management of outstanding debts from a larger number of taxpayers will be carried out, promoting the derivation of liability and, where appropriate, the appropriate legal actions to combat particularly serious asset stripping operations and cases of punishable insolvency.

In addition, the collection process will be streamlined in cases where there are indications of tax crimes and smuggling, in accordance with the possibilities offered by the reform of the General Tax Law, and precautionary measures will be strengthened to ensure the collection of debts, investigations into financial transactions and management of both debts in the seizure phase and those affected by bankruptcy proceedings, while at the same time promoting the viability of companies.

In terms of Customs and Excise control, actions to detect tobacco smuggling will continue to be of particular importance, highlighting the repression of new production and introduction techniques in Spain, controls in customs areas for travellers and goods from lower tax areas will be reinforced, and tools will be developed to facilitate investigations into large criminal organisations in the area of money laundering.