4.2. Tax and customs fraud control

During 2022, the Tax Agency has developed prevention and control actions to ensure the correct application of the tax and customs system, the main characteristic of which is its planned and programmed nature. Thus, an Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan is approved each year, which is classified as reserved by the General Taxation Act without prejudice to the dissemination of the general directives which inspire it. The general guidelines of the 2022 Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan were approved by Resolution of the General Directorate of the Tax Agency of January 26, 2022 (BOE of January 31).

The efficiency of the fight against fraud is based to a certain extent on an adequate identification of tax risks and the selection of taxpayers who will be the subject to control. This efficient selection of taxpayers who have incurred tax risks is possible thanks to the Tax Agency's advanced information system on taxpayers' assets, rights, incomes and activities; these data are obtained not only from their own tax returns or those submitted by third parties, but also from the agreements for the transfer or exchange of information signed with other national and international Public Administrations and from the selective compiling of information on certain taxpayers, sectors or activities.

The control actions carried out may be selective in nature or may be directed at the generality of taxpayers. The differentiation will be established by the fiscal risk that is appreciated.

Selective control actions, both in the field of internal taxes and in customs, special and environmental taxes, normally culminate in the corresponding administrative settlements that regularize the tax situation of the taxpayer.

The main magnitudes resulting from selective control activities are reflected in Table 31. Control of tax and customs fraud: main magnitudes (Annex).

Likewise, these actions can also end with the presentation of a complaint to the Public Prosecutor's Office when, in the course of the actions, signs of a crime against the Public Treasury, money laundering or smuggling are observed.

Thus, in 2022, 184 tax crime reports have been sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office, with the global amount of defrauded contributions being 612.33 million euros. These data are shown in Table nº 32. Tax crimes reported by the areas of Financial and Tax Inspection and Customs and II.EE . (Annex). This year, results have been generated in several Special Delegations that can be classified as extraordinary due to the exceptionally high amounts, when compared to previous years. All this without prejudice to the actions of Customs Surveillance in crimes of tax fraud, which have involved the submission of 5 reports for a value of 10.46 million euros, as well as the actions in 83 crimes of money laundering, for a value of 216.37 million euros. Likewise, 12 early reports of crimes have been made, produced without the prior instruction of verification procedures (judicialized operations that have the participation of the Inspection services as complainant and/or judicial assistance).

Among the quality actions carried out by the Collection Department, in recent years, due to its strategic nature within the fight against fraud, the prosecution in criminal proceedings of qualified conduct of obstruction of executive action or , directly, of conduct of concealment and fraudulent transmission of assets.

The executive action itself carried out by the Collection bodies of the Tax Agency is the one that, de facto , reveals facts that may constitute a crime of frustration of execution or punishable insolvency , what are commonly known as asset seizures, criminal actions that seriously harm the interests of the Public Treasury and that deserve the greatest possible reproach: The criminal reproach.

Thus, in 2022, 82 crime reports of frustration of execution or punishable insolvency have been prepared by the collection area. The global amount of debt pursued is 81 million euros. These data are shown in Table 33. Crimes of frustration of execution or punishable insolvency processed by the Collection area (Annex).

Below are the most notable prevention and control actions carried out in execution of the 2022 Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan.