2021 balance of tax control results

• 540 million euros have been settled, 23.6% more, to taxpayers with large assets in a total of 1,165 files (+57%)
• The tool based on 'big data' analysis for the detection of false non-residents with relevant assets has already led to the settlement of 24.5 million to 69 taxpayers who were artificially located in almost thirty countries
• 36,600 control actions have been carried out on large companies, assets, corporate abuses and the underground economy, 23.8% more
• In 2021, the Tax Agency has obtained 14,956 million in homogeneous terms (16,896 million in total) as a result of its control work, 17% more, and has reduced negative bases, deductions pending application and fees to be offset with an impact of 5,000 million, 56% of which corresponds to actions of the Central Delegation of Large Taxpayers

July 21, 2022 .- Last year, the Tax Agency regularized tax bases for an amount of 5,578 million euros in a total of 112 inspection verifications on the international taxation of large multinational companies that carried out by the Central Delegation of Large Taxpayers and the other delegations of the Agency with the support of the National Office of International Taxation (ONFI).

The amount of these regularized tax bases, 81.3% higher than in 2020, includes a large volume file that conditions the year-on-year comparison, although, even excluding it, the amount of regularizations would still be more than 35% higher as of fiscal year 2020. In turn, ONFI participated in 2021 in the management of 28 Prior Valuation Agreements (APA) with estimated results, which means guaranteeing future tax bases for an amount of more than 3,000 million euros.

Control actions above pre-pandemic levels

These results are part of all the control activity carried out by the Tax Agency in 2021, which concluded with 1,795,000 actions, 10.4% more than the previous year and 7.9% more than in 2019, exceeding also pre-pandemic levels in practically all major types of actions.

Of this total, the 36,599 control actions carried out in relation to large companies and assets, corporate abuses and the underground economy stand out, 23.8% more than last year. These are actions that consume a high amount of resources, also characterized by their high qualifications.

Specifically, 26,989 actions were carried out on large companies, multinationals and corporate groups, 24.2% more; 2,899 of asset and corporate analysis (+38.2%); 5,317 in relation to the concealment of activity and the abuse of corporate forms (+22.3%). The figure of 26,989 verifications is completed with 1,394 actions that have allowed hidden sales to emerge within the framework of the control of economic activities (the rest of the sales discovery actions are already included in the two previous headings).

Collection and reduction of bases

In global collection terms, and as a consequence of its work in preventing and fighting fraud, in 2021 the Agency obtained homogeneous results of 14,956 million euros (16,896 million in total), 17% more than the previous year. These results do not include the reduction files for installment payments (1,940 million euros in 2021 and 4,487 million in 2020), which will be difficult to repeat in the future and, therefore, prevent a homogeneous comparison of the series.

The control results break down into 9,037 million euros of direct income, 11.7% more than the previous year; 5,164 million due to a reduction in refunds (not counting fractional payment files), 28.4% more; and induced income (extemporaneous declarations without prior request) in the amount of 755 million euros, 11.5% more.

The Tax Agency also made reductions in negative tax bases, deductions in quotas pending to be applied and quotas to be offset, with an effect in terms of increasing tax quotas of almost 5,000 million euros, of which 56% correspond to actions of the Central Delegation of Large Taxpayers.

These are very relevant actions that, although they do not count in the control results, as they do not involve income or a reduction in returns, they are of great importance for widening future tax bases and increasing collection.

Large assets and false non-residents

Last year, the Tax Agency once again increased the number of control actions on the large assets of natural persons deployed by the different delegations, with a total of 1,165 actions in relation to large fortunes, 57% more than the previous year. , which led to debt settlement for an amount of 540 million, 23.6% more. From 2018 – the year of creation of the Central Coordination Unit for the Control of Relevant Assets – until 2021, more than 1,900 million have been settled in this area in more than 3,200 verification files.

But, in addition to supporting the settlements of large fortunes that are carried out in each territorial area of the Agency, the Unit has promoted various projects to continue strengthening and updating the control systems in this area. The most innovative of them, launched two years ago, is the incorporation of a tool based on 'big data' analysis for the detection of false non-residents with relevant assets.

In 2021, the verifications started have already been extended to 223 taxpayers (there were 126 in 2020), and of these actions have been completed for a total settled amount of 24.5 million euros on 69 taxpayers who were artificially located in almost thirty of countries and for which it has been determined that they actually had effective residence in Spain.

The relevance of information from abroad

In recent years, the Agency's various delegations have seen their capacity for action on undeclared income reinforced by successive European directives on the automatic exchange of information, standardized OECD mechanisms and other agreements.

Last year, the inspection control on taxpayers for whom information on financial accounts abroad has been received through the European 'DAC2' directive, the OECD CRS standard and the 'Fatca' agreement with the US allowed the settlement of 132 million of euros to 382 taxpayers, so that since 2017, the year in which this information began to be received, the Agency's Inspection area has already settled 762 million to 2,280 taxpayers.

At the same time, last year these inspection actions continued to be complemented with income controls communicated through a previous European directive, the so-called 'DAC1', information that the Agency has also been using to encourage voluntary compliance in the tax declaration campaign. Personal income tax through the 'notices' in tax data.

In this management verification phase, the actions carried out have generated settlements from the Tax Agency and untimely declarations from taxpayers for a combined amount of 51 million euros through more than 43,000 files, so that the figures accumulated in the 2019 triennium -2021 in which this information has been exploited in the extensive field already totals more than 150 million euros and more than 84,000 files.

Also in order to reveal hidden funds abroad, the information collected by the National Fraud Investigation Office, ONIF, on the use of cards issued abroad ('offshore cards') has allowed the different territorial units of the Agency liquidate debt amounting to 79 million euros last year, while files affecting 43 taxpayers with offshore cards were discharged and which will offer additional results in the future.

Submerged economy

In parallel with all the previous actions, last year the Agency continued to maintain its control activity to reveal hidden economic activity. Thus, in 2021 it carried out more than 2,200 inspection actions under different verification programs (the already mentioned 1,394 in the field of control of economic activities and the rest in other programs) in which it discovered hidden sales, regularizing fees for an amount of 400 million of euros.

Fees and penalties amounting to 173 million euros were also settled in almost 3,000 inspection reports for taxpayers who had previously been subject to entry and registration actions with the support of the Computer Audit Units (UAI). Last year, these units participated in more than 1,200 actions with computer dumps that facilitate the discovery of hidden income, improve the obtaining of evidence and reduce the duration of verifications.

Of special relevance, also, in the field of the fight against undeclared activity is the control of submerged rents, where the induced effect of the sending of notices of tax data to alleged landlords during the latest Tax on Rent campaigns continues to stand out. the rent.

Taking into account both the complete effect in the initial year of each notice, as well as the marginal impact in each year of previous campaigns, in the last six years these notices have involved the incorporation of more than one million declarations that include capital returns real estate, with a greater declared tax base of more than 7,100 million euros and a collection associated with these campaigns of more than 860 million euros.

Collection control

Already in the area of control necessary to ensure the collection of debts, the Agency's Collection Area has continued to promote the most qualified actions to achieve effective collection of settlements and fight against fraud in the collection phase. The new and intense growth (78.9%) recorded in the number of judicial actions (1,036) brought last year for the collection of debts stands out. These actions, which have already grown by almost 150% compared to 2019 figures, and especially criminal ones, judicialize the demand for collection in especially serious situations of apparent insolvencies, uprisings and, in general, complex concealment practices.

29,078 liability referrals have also been carried out, 8.7% more than the previous year and 23.5% more than in 2019; and 5,049 precautionary measures have been taken, among which the 1,208 agreements prohibiting the disposal of properties of companies whose participations or shares have been seized for belonging to a debtor stand out. These last actions, essential to avoid asset depletion, grow by 84.4% compared to 2020 and 240% in three years.

Asset investigation continued, in turn, to increase in 2021, with more than 88,500 investigation files on financial movements, 22.2% more than in 2021 and already four times more than the levels of the middle of the last decade. These actions pursue the use of various fraudulent figures, such as the interposition of companies or the use of front men. For its part, the information or embargo requirements requested from foreign authorities for debt collection grew by 15.4% compared to 2021, with a total of 1,964 requirements, and 152% in four years.

Fight against smuggling

During the past year, the usual control tasks of special and environmental taxes, customs control and in the field of smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering and other economic crimes were also carried out. In terms of smuggling, 31.3 tons of cocaine and 167 tons of hashish have been seized, and 2.8 million packs and 80 tons of cut tobacco and other tobacco products have been seized, while almost 2.2 million have been seized. of counterfeit products.

In turn, the Tax Agency has maintained the usual activity of collaboration with the justice system and with other administrations at the national and international level, and the prevention of fraud has been promoted through information and assistance tools and cooperative forums in which the Agency participates.