When former Prime Minister José María Aznar was in office, his government created a tax office that existed independent of the executive, but it was suppressed because its leader, José Barea, took his job seriously and experienced continual problems with economic adviser Rodrigo Rato. Judging from what happened, we learned that the most fundamental characteristic of this kind of body is that it should remain independent.
That was the proposal that the EU sought when it required Spain to build its Independent Tax Authority (abbreviated AFI in Spanish) in order to guarantee that it meets tax cutback plans. The added controls will affect national, regional and local government administrations. It will not have executive power, but will carry out reports and make recommendations on tax measures. The new governance body will be welcomed if it operates with a high level of professionalism and autonomy.
