The BOE (Boletín Oficial de España – Official Gazette of Spain) published the Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan 2021 on February 1, 2021, approving the guidelines to be followed by taxpayers regarding these matters.
Thus, this article briefly describes the main aspects of the general guidelines of the control plan issued by the State Tax Administration Agency.
Potentially Aggressive Tax Planning
According to the guidelines outlined in 2021, multilateral control will be significantly increased in the European Union, reporting regarding potentially aggressive tax planning mechanisms since 2020 under Directive (EU) 2018/822. Thereby, any tax advisor participating in this will have to report it.
This type of information exchange will become effective in 2021, helping to bring fairness to taxation in the European Union.
Transfer Pricing
In 2021, the development of the risk analysis system will be completed based on all the information that the Tax Administration has on transactions with related parties regarding the exchange of information on several incomes by the BEPS project, unilateral agreements, and information under the Country-by-Country Report.
Likewise, the Tax Administration will consider the guidelines indicated by the OECD concerning the COVID-19 and Transfer Pricing implications.
Tax on Certain Digital Services
In 2021, this tax related to digital intermediation in different sectors came into force, whereby census and verification actions are foreseen for this year, which will ensure a higher level of information from the taxpayer.
Special Taxes
The Tax Administration will increase tax controls for the following excise taxes in 2021:
- Tax on Hydrocarbons: The control of the application of certain exemptions will be reinforced, and the control of the network of tax deposits will be strengthened.
- Special Tax on certain means of transport: Control of the correct tax base return and exemptions will be carried out.
- Greater control of products subject to Special Taxes to determine if there are undeclared sales.
Fraud Control in the Collection and Customs Phase
Concerning fraud control in the collection phase, actions related to deferment requests will be intensified when these are not guaranteed.
Concerning the control of customs fraud, the correct use of tax benefits for the import of merchandise to combat COVID-19 will be verified.
Use of technologies
Due to the pandemic situation in 2020, the General Taxation Law was modified to appear telematically. By 2021, it is planned to intensify the use of technology to verify.
