– In 646 (43,3%) cases, the invoked illegality or unfairness was remedied; – 625 (41,9%) cases were dismissed due to lack of substance; – In 121 (8,1%) cases, resolving the matter by other means turned out to be essential or more suitable, and therefore the complainants have been directed to the appropriate means; – In 42 (2,8%) of them, new facts found during the investigation showed they were outside the scope of the Ombudsman’s competence; – 37 (2,5%) cases were closed due to complainants’ withdrawal; – In 19 (1,3%) cases, a remark to the body or competent service was made; – Only 2 cases (0,1%) were closed without remedying the invoked illegality or unfairness and only in 1 case it was decided a summary dismissal. Beside these 1493 decisions, with communications to the complainants of the respective foundations, this thematic unit also elucidated 423 citizens whose communications did not gave rise to cases. They were instead classified as non-admissible or dismissed complaints, without further investigation. Comparing with the previous year, it should be outlined: i) a very sharp rise in the individual income tax cases; ii) a relevant increase on tax enforcements cases; iii) a sharp fall on toll fees cases. Moreover, apart from an increase on the cases concerning real estate tax – which in 2016 ranked 3rd – the matters are distributed in a manner similar to that of the previous year. These matters are analyzed below in more depth. Individual Income Tax The amendments resulting from the reform of the Individual Income Tax (IRS), in force since 1 January 2015, generated an increase of complaints during that year, as outlined in the Report to the Parliament 2015. This increase not only remained, but became far more marked in 2016. Of the 478 IRS cases opened, more than a half (around 56%) related to the slowness in reimbursements (146) and to the impossibility of opting for the joint taxation regime in returns delivered after the time limit (123). Following the initial phase of the IRS Code, which gave rise to the intervention of the Ombudsman on delays in reimbursements in the early 1990s and although such problems did not fully disappear, they became without a quantitative expression. This led this State body to focus not only in ensuring that reimbursements were made in time but also on the automatic interest payments on delays. In 2016, the problem of slowness of IRS refunds related not only to the delay itself but also to the difficulty in obtaining, by the Tax and Customs Authority (AT), a diagnosis as to the motives at the origin of these delays. | 37