How to obtain you digital signature in Spain and what it’s used for
While Spain is not exactly a forefront of global e-government public services, nevertheless it offers a wide range of digital services available to the public since 10-15 years ago. Although there’s no such thing as a one-stop window (the closest thing that resembles it is located here and is totally user-unfriendly), and various government administration agencies operate their own digital systems, the good news is that to access many of these, such as Social Security Services or Spanish Tax Agency, you only need one digital signature. Today we’re going to talk about digital signature certificate, its applications in Spain and the easiest way to obtain it.
Digital signature, or digital certificate (el certificado electrónico) is basically a file that contains your personal identification data and it is used to identify citizens in the process of administrative interactions and operations with e-government offices such as Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria), Social Security Services (Seguridad Social), or Business Registers (Registros Mercantiles), among others. With its help you can modify your personal data stored in each corresponding service database, request, present or sign different applications or forms, ranging from tax declarations to various certificates and reports. Certain tax forms or documents can only be presented or requested through digital office.