1.1. Mission of the Tax Agency

The State Agency for Tax Administration (hereinafter, the Tax Agency) is a public law institution appointed to the Public Treasury and Public Administrations through the State Secretariat for the Treasury. It was created by the State Budget Law for 1991 and it was effectively constituted on the 1st of January 1992. The Tax Agency has its own legal regime that grants it a certain autonomy on the subject of personnel and budgetary management.

The Tax Agency is responsible for the effective application of the national tax and customs systems, and for those resources belonging to other State Public Administrations and the European Union which are entrusted to it for management by law or agreement; however, it has no authority for the preparation and interpretation of tax regulations.

The main indicator of its activity is tax collection. In net terms, that is, once the appropriate returns are carried out, in 2013 collection reached 168,847 million euros, 0.2 per cent more than the previous year. The collection obtained by activities of tax and customs fraud prevention and control has risen to 10,950 million.

^{(*) As of 2013 the refund reductions derived from requests to rectify self-assessed tax returns are included in the results from the activities of prevention and control of fraud.}

Part of this collection is given to the Autonomous Communities under joint government. Law 22/2009, of 18 December, which governs the finance system for the Autonomous Communities under joint government and Cities with Autonomy Statutes, and which amended a series of tax regulations, gives to the Autonomous Communities under joint government the total or partial income produced in their territory of a series of tributes managed by the Tax Agency. Particularly, as of 31 December 2013, the following collection percentages were obtained:

• Personal Income Tax: 50 per cent⁽¹⁾
• Value Added Tax: 50 per cent
• Special Taxes:
• Special Manufacturing Taxes:
  • Beer Tax: 58 per cent
  • Wine and Fermented Drinks Tax: 58 per cent
  • Tax on Intermediate Products: 58 per cent
  • Tax on alcohol and alcoholic beverages: 58 per cent
  • Tax on Hydrocarbons: 58 per cent general / 100 per cent special state rate
  • Tax on Tobacco Products: 58 per cent
  • Electricity Tax: 100 per cent

Additionally, article 48.11 and the sixth transitional provision of Law 13/2011, of 27 May, regulating gambling, include giving to the Autonomous Communities 100 per cent of the collection of the Tax on Gambling Activities corresponding to specific electronic, computer or on line gambling modalities proportionally to the quantities gambled by the residents of each Community. However, this Tax, as well as the Special Tax on Specific Means of Transport and the autonomous fee for the Special Tax on Hydrocarbons are ceded taxes whose distribution is done by the Tax Agency individually, according to the assessments and self-assessed tax returns carried out. In accordance with the foregoing, in the State tax collection figures, the revenue from said taxes does not appear.

^{(1) In Personal Income Tax, the net regional tax and other items are transferred in the conditions stated in article 26.2 of Law 22/2009. It could be approximately indicated that at present 50 per cent is given, a percentage that could vary depending the regulatory capacity of the Autonomous Communities.}