The Tax Agency investigates the existence of hidden incomes

By: Josep Navarro

The Tax Agency investigates the existence of hidden incomes related to filing the Special Tax Return

The Tax Agency has begun taxpayer inspections in the framework of an investigation process into hidden incomes related to the extraordinary regularisation opened in the year 2012 through the Special Tax Return (DTE). The general director of the Tax Agency, Santiago Menéndez, has announced today that he will request to appear in Congress to explain the activities carried out.

During the closure of the annual Organisation of Treasury Inspectors Congress, Menéndez showed his satisfaction for the performance of the Tax Agency civil servants, who he thanked for their "determined" work in the fight against fraud, of which these activities related to the DTE are "a good example".

When the period of extraordinary regularisation expired, the Tax Agency in 2013 began a series of inspection activities related to the information obtained in the DTE. That year's Annual Tax Monitoring Plan established that, "the Tax Agency will analyse if the taxpayers that have taken part in processes to voluntarily regularise their tax situation, whether they be ordinary or extraordinary, have adjusted to the purpose set out in the regulations for such processes".

"The Special Tax Return does not serve to protect fraudulent or irregular behaviours," highlighted the director of the Agency. "These verification activities prove it, and additionally, if as a consequence of these verifications, other irregular behaviours, not related to taxes, are discovered, then of course the Tax Agency will refer the case to the corresponding legal or administrative body", he underlined.

At first, Menéndez explained, the Agency's Inspection Department developed a series of "massive data analysis processes" with the aim of detecting risk profiles corresponding to taxpayers "that had tried to use the system in an improper way" to perform the regularisation allowed by form 750 for filing the Special Tax Return.

First debt settlements

The director of the Tax Agency explained that, after that initial analysis, the Tax Agency's Inspection Department established a series of specific risk profiles in order to perform a subsequent taxpayer inspection.

From that moment, the Tax Agency carried out different requests for information, reports and investigations that have led to some charges against taxpayers and in the first debt settlements on the part of the Agency. The activities affect both the possible existence of income not reported in the DTE, as well as the concealment of real ownership of the declared goods.

"Our effort is paying off", noted Menéndez, who mentioned the more than 5,500 million euro collected thanks to the Agency's monitoring activities in the first semester of the year. "These results are not a coincidence. They are the result of the Tax Agency's actions and, especially, of the work of its civil servants," to whom he expressed his "complete recognition".

Tax Agency