Madrid debuts taxpayer defense law and its own guarantees office

As of this Saturday, the Community of Madrid has its own legal framework for the defense of taxpayers. The Assembly of Madrid approved Law 7/2026, of November 3, on the Defense of the Taxpayer of the Community of Madrid, which President Isabel Díaz Ayuso promulgated on the same day and which is published in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid (BOCM) No. 267, of November 6, 2026, in section I.A of general provisions (official reference BOCM-20261106-1, pages 11 to 21).

The law enters into force the day following its publication, that is, November 7, 2026, and replaces the framework in effect since 1999. According to the preamble, the incorporation of electronic means, data protection, and the catalog of rights of Law 58/2003, of December 17, General Tax Law made it necessary to provide legal status to the matter. The regulation is structured into twenty-five articles distributed across five chapters, a single additional provision, a single repealing provision, and four final provisions.

An office with complaints resolved in three months

Chapter V creates the Taxpayer Defense Office of the Community of Madrid, a unit that will ensure the effectiveness of the rights and guarantees of citizens before the regional tax administration. Its functions include:

• Receiving and processing complaints and suggestions of a tax nature.
• Formulating improvement proposals to the affected bodies, which must respond within one month.
• Preparing an annual report of its activities and suggesting corrective measures.
• Proposing regulatory or procedural changes to the competent department in tax matters.
• Advising when requested by the department and preparing reports on the functioning of tax services.

The office must forward the complaint to the responsible body, which will report back within fifteen business days; the maximum period to notify the interested party of the response is three months. If there are correctable defects, the interested party will have ten business days. Complaints will not be considered administrative appeals nor will they suspend the deadlines of the procedures.

Tax folder, apology, and gratitude

Chapter III regulates information, assistance, and participation services. The Administration will provide a specific web portal for the taxpayer, a Virtual Tax Office, and a tax folder to track the processing of files in which they are a party, in addition to free in-person assistance offices. Among the novelties, the law obliges the Administration to apologize when a final court ruling has recognized a violation of rights, and to thank the cooperation of those obligated parties who collaborate in an inspection procedure closed without regularization or sanction. The good faith of citizens is also presumed, and the submission of written inquiries with binding responses is encouraged.

Clear language and universal accessibility

Chapter IV imposes the use of language that is “clear, direct, and as simple as possible” in documents, forms, and communications, with periodic reviews of templates and forms and strategic planning coordinated with the general directorate competent in Citizen Service and Transparency. The regulation also incorporates the principle of universal accessibility and the commitment to in-person assistance for those who have difficulties with electronic tools, with special attention to elderly people, people with disabilities, or those at risk of social and labor exclusion.

Repeal of the Taxpayer Ombudsman

The sole repealing provision eliminates Decree 22/1999, of February 11, which created the figure of the Taxpayer Ombudsman. The law also modifies Decree 21/2002, of January 24, on citizen service, so that complaints regarding delays or anomalies in tax services are immediately sent to the new office, which will have a representative on the Commission for the Coordination of Citizen Service. The Governing Council is authorized to issue the implementing regulations, and the additional provision sets a period of nine months from the entry into force to develop and implement the new services.

The impact is direct for any Madrid taxpayer: the law gathers all tax services into a single instrument with legal status, reduces formal burdens, and opens a specific complaints channel with fixed deadlines against the regional Administration.

Source: Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, no. 267, of November 6, 2026, section I.A (General Provisions), pp. 11-21 (official reference: BOCM-20261106-1).