Spain: New Tax Law Targets Fraud and Cryptocurrencies

The Congress of Deputies in Madrid. Image: La Moncloa

A tough new Spanish tax law designed to beat fraudsters has taken a step closer to being ratified. The Congress of Deputies approved the Draft Law on Prevention and Fight Against Tax Fraud on May 25 and now it moves to the Senate.

The bill includes measures to combat tax fraud linked to new technologies and cryptocurrencies and will allow for the prosecution of “inappropriate behaviour” by large companies and will target “abusive tax planning”.

The bill, if approved, will contain measures to end tax amnesties as these discriminate against taxpayers who comply with their tax obligations. “Tax amnesties make it possible to regularize undeclared assets under more advantageous conditions than if they had been taxed regularly and normally,” the government said in a statement released on May 25.

Companies or individuals who owe the treasury more than 600,000 euros will be publicly listed as debtors, previously debts of 1 million euros needed to be accumulated before the name of the debtor was made public.

The bill also targets companies that use sophisticated software and accounting methods to hide their true income and the limit for cash payments between businesses will be reduced from 2,500 euros to 1,000 euros so that “fraudulent practices will be made more difficult”.

Anyone owning cryptocurrencies whether in Spain or abroad will be obliged to declare them, if the law is passed. “Due to its proliferation and popularity among investors and savers, it is necessary to have greater control over cryptocurrencies,” the government said.

This bill was approved by the Council of Ministers in October 2020, and is part of the Recovery Plan that the Government sent to the European Commission which included a section on “Measures and Actions to Prevent and Combat Tax Fraud”.


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Deirdre Tynan

Deirdre Tynan is an award-winning journalist who enjoys bringing the best in news reporting to Spain’s largest English-language newspaper, Euro Weekly News. She has previously worked at The Mirror, Ireland on Sunday and for news agencies, media outlets and international organisations in America, Europe and Asia. A huge fan of British politics and newspapers, Deirdre is equally fascinated by the political scene in Madrid and Sevilla. She moved to Spain in 2018 and is based in Jaen.

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