• Seven logistics warehouses and a factory of the group have been registered and the presence of subsidized diesel fuel has been verified in five vehicles.

• The company had storage and reception tanks for diesel fuel without installation certification or the mandatory authorizations and registrations.

• A generator with more than 100 kW of power was discovered at the manufacturing plant that was producing electricity in an irregular situation.

November 17, 2023 .- The Tax Agency and the Civil Guard, within the framework of a joint action, have detected a fraud of subsidized diesel fuel in three commercial companies of the same business group in Villanueva de la Serena (Badajoz) dedicated to the storage, distribution and sale of construction materials.

As part of this action, seven logistics warehouses and a factory of the group have been registered, and the presence of subsidized diesel fuel in five transport vehicles has been detected, as well as the existence of diesel tanks without the relevant certificates and authorizations, and a generator of more than 100 Kw of power that was producing electricity in a situation of administrative irregularity.

The operation, carried out by officials of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Regional Customs and Excise Department of Extremadura of the Tax Agency, Fiscal and Border Patrol of the Civil Guard Command of Badajoz and Citizen Security of Villanueva de la Serena, begins with the entry and registration of a set of facilities belonging to the group of companies inspected in the municipality of Villanueva de la Serena, in order to verify the use given to products subject to Special Manufacturing Taxes.

During the searches of these seven ships, diesel samples were taken from the tanks of several freight transport vehicles and two of them tested positive for the use of subsidised diesel (diesel at a reduced rate in the Special Tax on Hydrocarbons), a practice that constitutes an infringement provided for in the Special Tax Law for improper use of said product.

On the public access road to the facilities and in the town centre itself, inspections were carried out on two other trucks from the same group of companies, with the same positive result. Likewise, and in the area of the Montepozuelo Industrial Park of the same municipality, an inspection is carried out on another vehicle also using improperly subsidized diesel.

Irregular diesel tanks

In one of the warehouses inspected, four storage and reception tanks for diesel fuel were also discovered, lacking installation certification and the mandatory authorisations and registrations from the Industry, with the consequent violations of current regulations.

Following the inspection of the group of warehouses that make up the construction materials storage and distribution facility, officials from the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service, assisted by Civil Guard agents, went to the facilities of a concrete and gravel production plant owned by the inspected business group in the same town of Villanueva de la Serena.

Two other large-capacity diesel fuel storage and reception depots were discovered there, which also lacked the relevant certificates, authorisations and registrations.

At this plant, it was possible to verify the existence and use of an electricity production generator with a power greater than 100 kW, which did not have the required registration in the territorial registry of the Special Tax Management Office, thus violating the Special Tax regulations.

All the proceedings documenting the actions carried out and their results have been brought to the attention of the competent authorities of the State Agency for Tax Administration in Extremadura and the authorities of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, so that possible liquidations and administrative sanctions derived from these fraudulent practices that violate tax and industry regulations can be initiated.