That “we are all the Treasury” and that, therefore, we are obliged to pay taxes that do not correspond is a reality that no one escapes… even if in some cases, and as strange as it may seem , it is possible that the State will forgive us our tax debts.
This is not a measure of clemency on the part of the State, far from it: it is simply a practical question. The implementation of government mechanisms for recovering tax debts from citizens has a certain cost which makes the recovery of certain small debts ineffective.
For this reason, The Treasury “forgives” certain debts whose amount is so small that they are not profitable for the Statewhich probably spends resources greater than the value of the debts to be collected.
The orOrdinance HAC/2816/2002, which is now 22 years old (you can view it at this link), established procedures for ““avoid certain recovery actions which imply no benefit for the public treasury or for the achievement of the purposes entrusted to the public authorities and which at the same time generate a cost greater than the income which could result from it.”
Under this order, and focusing on this criterion of effectiveness for the State, said order explains that “debts managed by the State Tax Administration Agency which meet these conditions will be canceled and amortized :
- That these are public law resources of the Public Treasury of the State.
- That these are debts during the executive period.
- That the initial payment amount does not exceed 6 euros.
Thus, and generally speaking, This ceiling of six euros is determined as the “amount deemed insufficient to cover the collection and recovery costs” by the State. This is the reason why Debts of less than six euros are canceled: In practice, it is not worth it for the Treasury to recover these debts.
However, another circumstance may arise: the same ordinance that sets this limit of six euros envisages a mechanism to lower said limit and cancel only debts below three euros. However, for this to happen, a new order must be published with effect only for a specific year.
This is determined by the only additional provision of the ordinance, which recognizes that on an annual basis “the cancellation and derecognition of all payments corresponding to public law resources of the Public Treasury which give rise to a debt awaiting recovery of an amount less than three eurosprovided that they meet the requirements previously determined in the above-mentioned Resolution.”
