The Tax and Competitiveness Foundation’s interest in international legislative developments in taxation and their effects on the economic competitiveness of Spain and the European Union is well known. It is hard to find a matter that fits more fully the study and research purpose voluntarily established by the Foundation’s trustees than State aid. The relationship between tax legislation and State aid is doubtless complex, partly because the laws have different purposes. Tax law seeks to regulate the duty to contribute... Read more →
International work on BEPS and the related OECD Action Plan have several years of history behind them already. The Tax and Competitiveness Foundation has also been prioritising these developments for a long time now. A trail has been left in this website through the publication of papers analysing each of the plan actions and the EU’s anti-abuse directives (from September 2016 to May 2017); and the promotion of and free access to the book “Plan de acción BEPS: una reflexión... Read more →
In the research activity carried out by the Tax and Competitiveness Foundation (Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad), it is usual for the importance of the rules comprising the tax system as well as their actual application to be emphasized. With regard to the latter, where the conduct of taxpayers and the Tax Administration acquires special relevance – both subjects involved in the application of the Tax System – the invocation of “governance” or “good governance” has emerged with growing force. The... Read more →
Following almost 9 years of research sponsored by Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad since its formation, it was time that attention be turned to Personal Income Tax. It was therefore unsurprising that the Foundation’s Plan of Action for 2019 should include a project relating to this tax. The specific project in question is based on a partial analysis – very partial one might even say – since it focuses on the treatment given to Earned Income and does so from a... Read more →
Following eight years of research, the Board of Trustees of Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad has resolved to promote a study focused on Corporate Income Tax, there being many reasons supporting this decision. The recent comprehensive regulation of this tax by means of Law 27/2014 could be seen as a sufficient motive, but the research is also encouraged by other factors. As an example, the habitual controversies surrounding trends in tax revenue since the crisis that began in 2007-2008 and the... Read more →
When presenting this work we should remember that, as defined in its by-laws, the Tax and Competitivity Foundation is committed to research on taxation with the ultimate aim of improving the Spanish tax system and the processes or procedures for the application of taxes. It is clearly assumed that the Spanish tax system is not only identified with the set of rules that make up the tax system, but also includes the practice of applying the different taxes that make... Read more →
The interest that the environment and environmental protection measures are currently generating from the scientific, social and political angles is clear; focusing on the non-fiscal aim of environmental taxes, they should be looked upon as a tool designed to reduce or eradicate polluting behaviour. The key international institutions – the IMF, the OECD and the EU – take the view that the extent to which these taxes have been developed is insufficient, since the revenues they generate fall well short... Read more →
Despite the latest legislative reforms affecting the tax treatment of patronage, Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad considers this to be the appropriate time to reflect on the status of the special scheme for non-profit entities, including the provisions on sponsorship and patronage. The Foundation, after forming an “internal” work group, has invited a number of experts from varied backgrounds to take part in an open debate on matters pending in the scheme’s regulations and application, and its position from a comparative... Read more →
There can be no denying the importance of the real estate sector for the Spanish economy. According to Sofía Borgia Sorrosal, the real estate sector in Spain has not just covered the need for housing – it has actually, for a great many years, been the driving force behind the economy. It is a sector which generates a lot of employment directly but which at the same time involves a great many related activities, and for this reason, the effects... Read more →
OVERVIEW The Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad is of the view that close monitoring is required of the measures proposed in the various documents published within the framework of the OECD’s Action Plan on BEPS, aimed at combating so-called “Aggressive Tax Planning” (hereinafter ATP”). The Action Plan on BEPS, as we all know, is made up of 15 actions intended to address different aspects which the OECD considers important in combating Aggressive Tax Planning (ATP), which is understood to refer primarily... Read more →
OVERVIEW The Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad is of the view that close monitoring is required of the measures proposed in the various documents published within the framework of the OECD’s Action Plan on BEPS, aimed at combating so-called “Aggressive Tax Planning” (hereinafter ATP”). The Action Plan on BEPS, as we all know, is made up of 15 actions intended to address different aspects which the OECD considers important in combating Aggressive Tax Planning (ATP), which is understood to refer primarily... Read more →
The objective of the Taxes and Competition Foundation (Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad) is to study and investigate the tax system with a view to improving and perfecting it, with a particular emphasis on aspects which impact the competitiveness of the Spanish economy. It may appear that an analysis of fiscal decentralization which focuses in particular on the situation at regional or autonomous community level falls outside the scope of this objective, is related more to public financing issues. The fact... Read more →
Spanish Value Added Tax’s 30-year anniversary is in 2016, having been first applied when Spain joined the then European Economic Community. This celebration is in itself an argument and an opportunity to review Value Added Tax, which has been the subject matter of only two laws in its 30-year life, the primitive Law 30/1985 and the current Law 37/1992, in force for over 23 years. A long time has passed, endorsing the suitability of the review process addressed here. We... Read more →
The tax reform of 2014, for various reasons, did not address the review of wealth tax and inheritance tax despite the heavy criticism of the current regime from both a revenue and a technical viewpoint. The need to revise these taxes in depth was already mentioned in the Report by the Expert Committee for the Reform of the Spanish Tax System published in February 2014 and is on the priority list of almost all the political parties. It is to... Read more →
Anti-abuse clauses are the mechanism typically used by different jurisdictions to avoid “abuse of tax rules” in a business environment characterised by the growing numbers of cross-border transactions taking place. Clauses of this kind are gaining increasing importance internationally, triggering their implementation by countries which have traditionally been reluctant to impose them, their recasting by other countries, the issue by supra-national organisations such as the European Commission of recommendations for their adaption, and their interpretation by tax authorities in highly... Read more →
The general aim of the Tax and Competitiveness Foundation is already known: to contribute to the improvement of the tax system and its practical application. In this last area one of the issues most clearly identified as negative is doubtlessly the existence of a wide-range of tax-related disputes, which, furthermore leads to lengthy lawsuits very often lasting more than 10 years, and which are excessive and contrary to the requirements of an advanced tax system that is compatible with legal... Read more →
Madrid, October 3, 2014 On October 2, the Tax and Competitiveness Foundation held the third of conferences on “Analyzing the tax reform from the company perspective and the aim of competitiveness” at the Madrid headquarters of the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations (“CEOE”). The conference, titled “Tax Reform Assessment,” enabled the foundation to give its assessment of the different tax reform projects under way, acting with its usual moderation while being firm in its social commitment to contributing to the... Read more →
Within the general focus of the Tax and Competitiveness Foundation, centred on finding solutions for the Spanish tax system that enable the Spanish and European economies to achieve maximum competitiveness, it is not surprising that the Foundation has launched a study on International Taxation and Competitiveness. The study addresses the main controversial issues raised by the tax treatment of cross-border relationships. This is a highly topical issue given the unusual attention that numerous international courts have been giving to tax... Read more →
Madrid, 12 March 2014.- The quality of tax systems is increasingly measured by the degree of legal certainty they offer. It serves little purpose to enact tax measures addressed to favouring productive activity and the creation of employment if their capacity to generate real results is reduced due to the lack of confidence of the economic operators regarding the subsequent interpretation and effective application of those measures by the authorities and regarding their stable maintenance over time. Legal certainty has a... Read more →
Economic progress and legal certainty are two concepts that are indissolubly linked. The legal rules have to be clear and precise, particularly when it is a question of defining scopes of coactive action by the public authorities. Only in this way does the legal system become the fertile field where the generation of collective wealth can germinate. In recent months we have witnessed a cascade of legislative innovations which have a direct impact on the economic world. Many of them... Read more →
Today the Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad held the second conference of its cycle on “The reform of the tax system: its analysis from the perspective of the company and the goal of competitiveness.” In organising it, it had the support the Wolters Kluwer publishing group and the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA), at whose head offices the event was held. Madrid, 27 November 2013.- Today the Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad brought together some of the most highly-reputed experts in... Read more →
Madrid, October 2013.- In October 2013 the Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad brought together several experts in Tax Law at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICAI-ICADE to discuss the different aspects considered by the current reform of Spanish Tax System. This conference formed part of the cycle on “The reform of the tax system: its analysis from the perspective of the company and the goal of competitiveness,” organised by the Foundation. The event was opened by Mr. Iñigo Navarro Mendizábal, in representation of... Read more →
The real estate sector has played a key role in sustaining economic growth in Spain over the last years. However, the current economic situation has created the need to consider new measures that will help revitalise Spain’s real estate activity and ensure that the sector keeps its leading role in the new economic model that will eventually emerge. With this aim in mind, the publishing house e-Praxis has published the Fundación Impuestos y Competitividad’s (Tax and Competiveness Foundation) first book... Read more →
Gravámenes sobre el sector financiero In recognition of a matter of undoubted current interest, the Foundation has promoted a study on New taxes on the financial sector, which has been prepared by KPMG – one of the entities that have the status of Board Member of the Foundation- , under the direction of D: Victor Mendoza Díaz Aguado tax partner of that firm. That study examines in depth the proposals from European Commission for the introduction of a tax on... Read more →
July 5 2012 saw the publication of the executive summary of the study “Large enterprises’ perception of the Spanish tax system”, investigative work on the Spanish tax system, carried out by Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICAI-ICADE), under the auspices of the Tax and Competitiveness Foundation. After the ending of the work, the final report which analyze in depth the conclusions of this survey, targeted to enterprises established in Spain, which turnover during 2010 ran over 50 million euros, was also presented. This is... Read more →
