Tax advisors propose that the Treasury take a holiday in August

BarcelonaIn August, holidays. The Spanish Federation of Professional Associations of Tax Technicians and Tax Advisors (Fettaf) has asked the Ministry of Finance to declare this "month an inoperative period for tax and administrative deadlines". This organization, made up of 12 associations from across the country, has written to the ministry, but also to the Secretary of State for Finance and to the different parliamentary groups in the Congress of Deputies, to request several matters. These include, in addition to requesting a break in August, also adjusting the IRPF tariff to inflation (indexation) – which has only been approved on two occasions in the last 20 years – or extending the objection period from 10 to 25 days.

Tax advisors state that the current calendar forces them to maintain "full activity" during the month of August, a period during which most citizens are on holiday. Declaring the month an inoperative period would facilitate work-life balance and protect mental health because it would eliminate "the uncertainty of receiving a notification that could expire in the middle of a holiday period". The request would involve applying the same criteria as to the courts, which consider August an inoperative month and suspend deadlines and hearings.

Considering August as a non-working month in the tax field would prevent the issuance and notification of information, verification, or sanctioning requests. Currently, there is a "courtesy days" system, which is little known and is "discretionary and limited," according to Fettaf. Furthermore, it is the taxpayer who must request it, recalls the president of Fettaf, Joan Torres.

This procedure, regulated by Order EHA/3552/2011 of December 19, is aimed at users included in the mandatory electronic notification system (NEO) or companies, commercial entities, and legal persons registered in the Single Enabled Electronic Address (DEHú) system.

A maximum of 30 days can be requested each calendar year during which the Agency will not be able to send notifications. Courtesy days must be requested at least 7 calendar days in advance of the desired period. During these days, the Tax Agency will not send any notification or request to the assigned electronic mailbox. This means that these days will be paused and it will not be necessary to keep track of the tax calendar.

To prevent a measure like the one requested from causing, for example, a statute of limitations, this group proposes changes to the general tax law. One idea would be to include in Article 104 of this regulation "the month of August will be considered a non-working month for the purpose of calculating deadlines in tax proceedings, without prejudice to urgent actions determined by regulation." They also propose modifications to Royal Decree 1065/2007, of July 27, approving the general regulation of tax management and inspection actions and procedures and the development of common rules for tax application procedures, among others.