Call centers without commercial activity shall be taxed under heading 849.9 of the IAE

Correct classification in the Economic Activities Tax (IAE) is a fundamental aspect of complying with a company's tax obligations. Recently, the Dirección General de Tributos (DGT) has clarified the treatment of a specific activity that causes doubt in the registration of economic activities.

What the DGT has resolved

The inquiry focuses on determining the applicable IAE heading for call centers operating under code CNAE 8220, but which do not carry out their own commercial activity, but are instead limited to centralized and omnichannel customer service management.

After analyzing the regulations, the binding body points out that this activity is not expressly listed in the IAE Tariffs. In the absence of such a listing, the 8th rule of the IAE Instruction applies, which establishes that unspecified activities must be provisionally classified under the heading to which they most closely resemble by nature.

Consequently, the DGT rules that the company must register under heading 849.9, "Other independent services n.e.c.", belonging to the first section of the tax.

What this means for you

If your company manages call centers for third parties and your business model is limited to providing customer service without performing direct sales or commercial activities, the assigned heading must be 849.9.

This criterion is relevant to avoid errors in the registration of the economic activity and to ensure that the classification is consistent with the real nature of the services provided, thereby avoiding possible discrepancies with the Tax Administration in future inspections.

What should be done

Companies operating with this business model should verify their current situation in the IAE. It is necessary to confirm whether the declared heading matches the nature of the activity and what is established in this resolution. If a different classification is detected, the adequacy of the activity to the heading for other independent services should be assessed to comply with current regulations.