Treasury accelerates in its fight against tax fraud in electronic commerce and he wants to do it hand in hand with the marketplaces that operate in Spain, after virtual stores have skyrocketed their growth in recent years (especially in the last two due to the pandemic) and already represent an important part of the Spanish economy. The Tax Agency and Amazon have just sealed a collaboration agreement to combat VAT fraud and other indirect taxes. It is the first to sign the Treasury with an e-commerce company that operates a marketplacealthough they are negotiating with other companies.
The text of the agreement, to which he has had access Five daysrecognizes the important role played by platforms such as Amazon, eBay or AliExpress, that allow Spanish vendors to market their products throughout the world and that Spanish consumers and companies benefit from the possibility of buying products from companies around the world, but warns that the growth of this type of trade “has also created opportunities abuse of the tax system, mainly in the field of indirect taxation”.
The agreement sealed with Amazon is in line with what is established in the guidelines of the 2022 Tax and Customs Control Plan (approved by resolution of January 26), of the Tax Agency, which grants relevance to obtaining information related to the new models of economic activity, especially those derived from electronic commerce. And it is that, according to Treasury sources, this information “will allow ensure tax compliance” of those who use these platforms.
In addition, the pact also fits with the purpose of the Tax Agency to promote, for this purpose, “voluntary compliance instruments”, increasing “the cooperative relationship” between the Administration and online businesses.
As part of the agreement, Amazon agrees to share information quarterly with the Tax Agency through a secure transmission, and for this, it will enable a communication channel through its electronic headquarters, which will require the use of a valid means of identification. The agreement makes it clear that the transfer of information made by Amazon will have the exclusive purpose of fulfilling the functions attributed to the Tax Agency by mandatory regulations.
legal limits
It also states that all the information provided “within the legal limits” will be treated confidentially, respecting the regulations on professional secrecy, the protection of personal data and business secrecy and the General Tax Law.
Among the data that Amazon will make available to the Tax Agency are the legal name of the seller; the VAT registration number in Spain or, failing that, the identification number in the EU, or any other tax identification number provided by the seller; the registered office; the registered email address; the total number of units sent to customers residing or established in Spain through Amazon.es; percentage of units delivered from warehouses located in Spain (when this information is available); average sales price per unit in euros, and identification of the place from which the sale takes place (warehouse located in Spain, the EU or third countries).
Amazon also undertakes in this collaboration, “which is voluntary and not legally binding”, to inform its customers (sellers) about tax obligations, and to notify the Tax Agency (if known) of possible breaches of the sellers who make use of its platform and communicate if any has been penalized or prohibited in its stores for this reason.
The intention of the Treasury is “to advance in the complete fiscal identification of companies that sell online and that, even though they are not domiciled in Spain, do have to pay VAT here, for their sales to final consumers located in our country.”
To execute the agreement, which will last for one year (although it will be tacitly extended for periods of equal duration), The Tax Agency and Amazon will constitute a mixed commission made up of four members representing each one.
To understand the impact that this type of agreement can have, from the Tax Agency they point out that as a consequence of the activity they launched in 2019 to identify and duly register for VAT purposes merchants who sell their products through marketplace7,693 foreign taxpayers have been registered, mostly legal entities (7,466).
And as a result of this campaign, these taxpayers have presented complementary self-assessments for previous years, which have resulted in 398 million euros of taxable bases arising for internal VAT operations. The total amount entered until 2020 and directly derived from this campaign, is more than 78 million euros.
online with UK
The agreement between Amazon and the Tax Agency is similar to the one sealed by HM Revenue & Customs (the British Tax Agency) in 2018. In this case, seven marketplaces signed: Amazon, eBay, Fruugo.com, Worf & Badger, Etsy Ireland, Asos and Flubit. China’s AliExpress, owned by Alibaba, was left out. The objective of the Spanish Tax Agency is for other platforms to join and recognizes that it is negotiating with more, but does not give names. It is logical to think that they will be trying with eBay and the aforementioned AliExpress.
The general director of Amazon Spain, Mariangela Marseglia, explains that the agreement will help the Tax Agency to promote the collection of indirect taxes and encourages other companies to sign it. “Amazon requires all sellers to comply with their VAT obligations and we have introduced simple and inexpensive tools for third-party sellers to register, declare and remit their VAT,” he says. And he adds that since January 1, 2021, Amazon also collects Spanish VAT on transactions involving foreign sellers. “This VAT is calculated by Amazon and collected from the customer at checkout.”
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