The enforcement procedure is a tax procedure and enforcement, whose responsible and resolving body is the State Agency for Tax Administration , and is intended to collect debts due and not paid in the voluntary payment period.
The enforcement procedure allows the Tax Agency to collect the debts that are held against it without having to go to court, and may even reach coercion, in case the debtors object.
This procedure is requested ex officio by the Administration itself for a public entity and does not require going to court.
In the case of Spain, the basic regulations to which the enforcement procedure is subject correspond to the General Tax Law 58/2003, of December 17. Articles 163 et seq. (BOE December 18, 2003); and by Royal Decree 939/2005, of July 29, the General Collection Regulation (BOE 2-September-2005) is approved. In this way, each country will stipulate this procedure based on its own legal idiosyncrasy.
Phases of the pressing procedure
Depending on the country, the phases may vary, but are usually very similar. We are going to see the phases of the enforcement procedure as stipulated by the Spanish State:
The enforcement procedure begins with the notification of the enforcement order. In it the surcharges of the competent period are settled and a payment term is granted. Throughout this, if the amount of the debt and the penalty surcharge is paid, with a reduction of 10%, the procedure is terminated. In this case there would be no delay payment.
In the event that the debt has not been settled within the expected period, the Administration can execute the guarantees. This involves seizing and executing the debtor’s assets by public auction, by direct award or bankruptcy. Unlike the previous case, interest will be required, as well as the costs of going to this collection procedure by the Administration. In this case, three possible outcomes coexist: the payment of the debt and interest, extinguishing the debt through an agreement between the parties or because all or part of the credit is uncollectible. Although, if the last assumption occurs, the enforcement procedure “will be resumed within the statute of limitations, when the solvency of someone liable for payment is known.
