The indiscriminate sanctions

Clarify your doubts by consulting your particular case

In section 3.9 of this Manual has made the connection of any possible administrative penalties for offenses committed by taxpayers.

As it was pointed out, the guilt of the taxpayer is inherent to the imposition of any sanction, so, the Administration should prove intent or spirit of the taxpayer defrauding.

In the absence of such intent, the reports prepared by the Inspectorate should be limited to "rectify" the settlement made by the taxpayer demanding, where appropriate, the payment of the amounts left to enter, including the corresponding interests on arrears, but without the imposition of an additional penalty.

However, the Inspectorate too often tends to apply automatic sanctions, even in situations that do not attend to defrauding.

It would be desirable that the work of the Inspectorate were unrelated to any repressive intention, at least automatically. This would gain legal certainty and a climate of greater trust generated between Treasury and taxpayers. Not to forget the courts workload would mean a drastic reduction in complaints and appeals, with obvious cost savings for everyone.

The Law of Partial Reform of the Tax Code includes as a novelty the exclusion of sanctions in cases where the taxpayer behaviour has as its foundation a reasonable legal interpretation of the rule (see section 3.9). The inclusion will be welcome, in a legal text, a criterion that have advocated ad nauseam by the courts. Nevertheless, we must wait for its practical application by the inspection bodies.