29TH IHE CONFERENCE ON THE CONTROL OF HIGH NET WORTH TAXPAYERS.

On 24 and 25 October, the 29^th State Tax Inspectors’ Conference on the “Control of High Net Worth Taxpayers” was held with presentations by the Acting Minister, Maria Jesús Montero, the Secretary of State, Inés Barrón and the Director of the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) Jesus Gascón among other participants.

In the first session, speakers, Natalia Garzón, Tax Inspector on leave of absence and partner at CORTÉS, ABOGADOS, and Marcos Álvarez, Deputy Director General of Legal Management of the AEAT, addressed the fundamental and conflicting aspects of domestic taxation in the context of tax control. Garzón, who focused her presentation from the point of view of tax advice, applauded the control measures to combat fraud, cautioning, however, that inappropriate controls could lead to undesired situations. In this regard, she stressed the importance of defending the principle of legality and respect for the constitutional principles governing our Legal System in the exercise of tax control, denouncing the abusive use of Royal Decrees and excessive reliance on Court judgments, including those of the CJEU, to the detriment of the Law and stressed the need to endow the tax system with greater legal certainty, built on the principle of legality, so leaving little room for potentially arbitrary actions by the agencies responsible for exercising control.

Finally, Garzón emphasised the desirability of protecting family businesses and avoiding inequalities based on territory and, after giving the attending inspectors a series of points to reflect upon, she concluded by noting that competitive taxation and legal certainty in the application of taxes were key to achieving a competitive country.