MADRID Jan. 7 () –
Fedea has warned this Tuesday of the costs that the fragmentation of the Tax Agency (AEAT) would have in the event of creating a new independent body for the management and collection of taxes in Catalonia, among which it has pointed out the loss of effectiveness in the fight against tax fraud and less efficient collection.
The investiture agreement of Salvador Illa as president of the Generalitat, in August 2024, included the “management, collection and settlement of all taxes” borne in Catalonia by the community itself, which would mean the creation of a new body that would carry out these tasks, that is, a Catalan Tax Agency.
An action that the author of the article published by Fedea, Alberto García Valera, considers that it does not fit within the Constitution, since only the State Treasury has this function.
In addition to its possible unconstitutionality, the author reports that it would mean “a step back” in the tax system, which instead of opting for this fragmentation, should tend towards greater integration “at the OECD or EU level.”
Among the problems described by the article, the lesser capacity to inform and assist the taxpayers themselves stands out, since the autonomy of this body would make it difficult for the Tax Agency to access the necessary information, preventing “offering draft declarations to citizens, provide complete tax data or aid programs and uniform criteria,” according to Fedea.
Some costs for citizens that, according to Fedea, have already been observed thanks to the operation of regional or concerted regimes such as the Basque Country or Navarra, which “are far” from desirable coordination with the Treasury.
MORE OBSTACLES TO THE FIGHT AGAINST FRAUD AND COLLECTION
This lack of coordination and the greater need for bureaucratic management would cause, according to the article, greater complications both to avoid fraud when paying taxes and to have efficient collection.
By not having taxpayers’ tax data easily and quickly, tax inspectors will have more difficulties and fewer means to know who has evaded their tax obligations.
“A system for controlling economic activities must be comprehensive to be efficient,” say the author, who affirms that there would be worse control by the AEAT both for companies that have their tax domicile in Catalonia and for multinationals.
Tax collection would also lose efficiency with the division of the AEAT, such as, for example, in the exercise of the executive powers of the enforcement procedure, which territorial administrations cannot adopt on assets located outside their territory.
Given these arguments, Fedea calls for “high-mindedness” and assures that citizens and companies would gain “nothing” with fragmentation, but rather “we would lose in the application of the best practices that allow economies of scale.”
Add Comment