Operation Chopin

• More than 500 AEAT officials, with the support of police officers, search 87 premises belonging to 110 companies that own nightclubs and pubs in 11 autonomous communities 

• The records, carried out between yesterday and today at the closing time of the premises, imply the beginning of inspections on all the companies and on 14 related natural persons

• The previous investigation had made it possible to detect an abnormally high volume of card charges declared to the Treasury for a sector where cash payment prevails, which alerted to the existence of a large parallel circuit of completely black cash.

• The analysis of the capacity of the premises and the price of tickets and drinks led to confirming serious inconsistencies between the real activity and that declared by the companies investigated.

 

July 8, 2016.- The Tax Agency has launched a major operation against tax fraud in the nightlife sector nationwide which, due to its size and human resources allocated, It is considered the largest carried out to date by the Agency against the underground economy. The operation, called 'Chopin', involves the initiation of inspection actions through entry and registration in 87 premises in 11 autonomous communities belonging to 110 companies, and also the opening of inspections on 14 natural persons linked to these companies.

The entry and search device in the nightclubs, pubs and intervened offices has required the deployment of more than 500 officials from the Tax Agency, including inspectors and personnel from the Computer Audit Units and Customs Surveillance, with the support of police officers. The searches, mostly carried out early in the morning, at the closing of the premises, began yesterday and conclude today, now giving way to the subsequent inspection phase.

The actions have been initiated by the appearance of the Tax Inspection at the headquarters of the taxpayers in order to directly access the documentation and real accounting or auxiliary information, including the computer information processing systems, as well as the study of the collection of the day and the ordinary operation of the computer systems for issuing tickets, billing and cash. As this is an administrative action, entry and registration actions do not imply arrests.

'Cash' business

The investigation prior to the launch of the 'Chopin' operation began at the beginning of this year with the detection of a volume of card charges declared to the Treasury by the companies now inspected that was abnormally high – up to more than 76% in some of cases – for a sector in which, due to its own characteristics, cash payment clearly prevails and the use of credit cards is scarce.

After this first assessment of fiscal risks, the Inspection Department detected that all of the companies affected by the operation were declaring a volume of credit card charges that doubled the cash movements in bank accounts known to the Tax Agency.

Disappearance of tickets

This situation already warned about the possible existence of a large parallel circuit of cash that was not being declared to the Treasury, but the researchers also observed substantial differences between the declared activity and what was revealed from a detailed analysis of the usual capacity of the venues, the price of tickets and drinks.

Furthermore, prior observation of the premises allowed in several cases to detect a very widespread formal irregularity, which involved the prior sale of tickets for drinks that were subsequently eliminated at the bar. The ticket was sold to the customer by various means not susceptible to control and the consumption was subsequently left undocumented, taking advantage of the fact that in the leisure sector the recipients of the service are always final consumers.

The weight of the companies inspected

Following this analysis, and coinciding with the start of the high season for nightclubs in the main coastal areas, the entry and registration device was launched, which has affected 87 nightclubs, pubs and offices of the companies inspected in 11 communities. autonomous: Andalusia (10), Aragon (4), Asturias (1), Balearic Islands (4), Canary Islands (4), Castilla y León (3), Catalonia (16), Extremadura (2), Galicia (16), Madrid (7 ) and Valencian Community (20).

Due to the size of the operation, the resources allocated and the logistical and organizational complexity, it is the largest coordinated operation at a national level against tax fraud and the underground economy carried out to date by the Tax Agency. Together, the inspected companies represent more than 20% of the turnover of the nightlife sector in Spain.

Along with the detection and consequent regularization of tax fraud that finally emerges, both this and previous sectoral actions developed in recent years by the Tax Agency also aim to transmit a dissuasive message to the sectors involved in these practices, so that, where appropriate, , redirect them towards the correct payment of their tax obligations.

Additionally, these macro-operations allow the sector's functioning to be contrasted with facts and evidence, capturing information, among other concepts, on real ratios of various economic magnitudes, cost structure, cash management, supply channels and payments to professionals and workers.

Operation 'Chopin' has been coordinated by the Financial and Tax Inspection Department of the Tax Agency and is part of the Control Plan for the Underground Economy developed by the Agency. In the entry and registration operation of these last two days, 386 officials from the AEAT Inspection have participated, including the Computer Audit Units, as well as 135 Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency, also counting on the collaboration of Mossos de Esquadra in Catalonia, and National Police in the rest of the national territory.