tax system. The development and maintenance of such capacity involves human resources, financial resources, and physical resources.
A third important issue is system organization. To generate public support for Spain's voluntary, direct income tax system, the taxation administration must be organized in a way that persuades the public that the system is accessible, relevant, and free of external pressures to accommodate special interests.
A fourth important issue is the criminalization of tax evasion. The issue involves the compatibility of criminal enforcement with the concept of a voluntary tax system. While criminalization might well promote compliance with tax laws, it also destroys the concept of voluntariness, thereby creating a potential for alienating the public.
There are many stakeholder groups associated with developing and maintaining widespread public support for the voluntary, direct income tax system in Spain. First, there are the members of the various economic sectors in the country who benefited from the Franco-era system of direct taxation. Second, there are many people in the wider Spanish public who, because they were not taxed directly, may not recognize that they were in fact paying taxes indirectly under the Franco-era system. Third, there are the members of the bureaucratic elite in Spain's taxation administration. Changing policies initially generated bureaucratic opposition among this group. Changing organizational structures and priorities threaten to decimate the ranks of this cadre, an outcome that could compromise the future effectiveness of the country's taxation administration. Lastly, there are politicians of all stripes who desire to influence the focus of the tax administration in Spain to support their own priorities.
The issue of fairness of critical to the development of widespread public support for the voluntary, direct income tax system in Spain. To tax reform advocates i...