Yes. The income declaration can be presented in Basque, both in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country and in Nafarroa Garaia, as the UEMA (Commonwealth of Basque Municipalities) reminds us annually along with various public institutions and municipalities. In addition, it can be performed in Basque in environments not included in UEMA. Many campaigns remind us that the citizens have the possibility to use Euskera in relations with the administrations, encourage us to make the first and subsequent words in Basque, in order to promote the relationship with the administrations in Basque. In this case, it is also a question of choosing the Basque Country, since although the number of citizens who make the declaration of income in Basque year after year is growing, the data do not match those of knowledge and use. They are significantly lower, as the number of taxpayers submitting their declaration in Basque is still low.

Regarding data from the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, in Gipuzkoa 19.23% of the statements presented in 2023 were in Basque, 77,738 in total. In Bizkaia, there were 4.8% in Basque, with a total of 31,634. And in Álava, about 0.7 percent do so in Basque. I was unable to obtain data on Navarra. In the light of the data, there is much room for improvement and strategies should be worked out to reverse the situation, so that the percentage increases every year, because I am convinced that many more of the data have the capacity to file a declaration in Basque.

Surely many Euskaldunes will be strangers to “withholding”, “deductions”, “general liquidity bases” or “bonuses”, which will give them uncertainty when deciding to make the declaration in Euskera, especially when each has to do the process, without the help of another person, when he only has the screen of the computer. Surely with the money bills they want to go in Spanish. A little pedagogy and support will be needed to empower the Basques along this path.

The UEMA itself has offered us a series of guidelines to present in Basque the declaration of income through the Internet, by telephone, in financial institutions or in consultancies, and to indicate that we want to relate to Hacienda in Basque.

The institutions responsible for revenue and revenue should also facilitate the process, but there are significant differences between them. To do so, it would be helpful if the haciendas explained that the declaration can be presented in Basque. They should encourage, help and reward. In the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, for example, the “Con Hacienda en Euskera” campaign is under way. They say that one of the main contributions of Hacienda to social development is the quality in the provision of its public services, which should include facilitating the use of services in Basque. The practice and model of the Hacienda de Gipuzkoa can serve to extend it to the other territories. Public administrations must show a clear policy and a commitment to promote the use of Euskera, so that citizens do.

The deadline for the declaration of income began the week of April 8 in Hego Euskal Herria and will remain open until the end of June. The declaration of income will not be one of the most tender, but one of the most effective in extending the possibilities of using Euskera in all areas. To see if year after year we are able to substantially improve the data on the use of Euskera, even in this area.

Rober Gutiérrez, Euskera professor