Operation "Ampere"

• More than 330 Agency officials visited 75 locations after discovering the use of software to conceal sales in companies in the electrical installation sector.

• The operation involves the start of inspections in relation to 67 companies and 14 related individuals, including partners, directors and people from the family environment.

• The actions stem from previous complaints that have made it possible to understand the fraud mechanisms used by certain taxpayers.

July 16, 2025.- The Tax Agency today launched a coordinated operation across 15 autonomous communities against tax fraud by companies in the installation and assembly sector, primarily electrical companies, that use "dual-use software." The operation, dubbed "Amperio," entails the initiation of inspections of 67 companies and 14 related individuals (partners, directors, and family members), with the presence of more than 330 Agency officials at 75 locations.

The deployed device reaches premises located in Andalusia (10), Aragon (2), Asturias (2), Balearic Islands (1), Canary Islands (6), Cantabria (1), Castilla-La Mancha (1), Castilla y León (2), Catalonia (17), Extremadura (4), Galicia (12) Madrid (5), Murcia (2), La Rioja (1), and the Valencian Community (9).

Operation "Amperio" was coordinated by the Tax Agency's Inspection Department, with the participation of more than 300 officials from the Inspection Area, including personnel from the Computer Audit Units, and 30 officials from the Customs Surveillance Service.

The total turnover of companies in the installation and assembly sector maintained the upward trend seen since 2022 in 2024. The sector's business structure is dominated by companies specializing in a single type of installation and operating within a narrow geographic area.

The use of sales concealment programs

Tax investigations have revealed the possible use of "dual-use software" to evade income taxation in various companies in the sector, primarily in electrical installation companies, which are the target of this transaction.

Within the selected group of companies, a study was also conducted of partners who may show external signs of wealth not justified by their declared activities. This could be due to an emergence of hidden sales by the entity that were materializing in increases in the equity of the partners.

After analyzing the information received, the Tax Agency detected that certain taxpayers in the electrical installation and assembly sector could be using this software to conceal sales transactions.

Through the actions carried out simultaneously today at the selected locations, the Agency has been able to access information of vital importance for the inspection work (documentation and accounting or auxiliary information, whether existing on paper or including computerized information processing systems).

The inspections, which will continue to be carried out in the coming months following the initial collection of evidence, will allow the documentation obtained to be analysed in order to regularise all the non-compliances detected.

Since the publication of Law 11/2021, of July 9, on measures to prevent and combat tax fraud, the Tax Agency has set as its objective the fight against dual-use accounting software that allows fraud in a company's accounting.

In turn, the Guidelines of the AEAT Control Plan for 2025 emphasize the need to maintain an inspector presence in those sectors and business models where there is a high risk of the existence of an underground economy, paying special attention to the possible use of computer tools ("dual-use software") that could be used to conceal sales. In this context, Operation "Ampere" was developed.

"Verifactu", a regulation against unfair competition and fraud

In addition to the above, Royal Decree 1007/2023, of December 5 (known as the "Verifactu Regulation"), which establishes the requirements that must be adopted by computer or electronic systems and programs that support the invoicing processes of entrepreneurs and professionals, and the standardization of billing record formats, has entered into force.

By using computerized billing systems adapted to the regulations (the deadline for companies to comply is January 1, 2026, and for individuals, July 1 of the same year), the aim is to prevent fraudulent practices in this process, such as the omission of invoices or the alteration of sales invoices once they have been issued.

This will have two major consequences. On the one hand, it will have a direct impact on a reduction in the amount of fraud committed; On the other hand, it will prevent or significantly reduce unfair competition, which is exploited by those who defraud those who comply with their tax obligations.

The regulation creating "Verifactu" establishes a system of sanctions for those who manufacture, distribute, or use "dual-use software," including a fine of €150,000 per year for manufacturers and marketers, and €50,000 for users who violate the regulations.

Sectoral macro-operations

With Operation Ampere, the Agency has now deployed 26 coordinated sectoral macro-operations in just over a decade. These actions, in addition to facilitating the detection and regularisation of tax fraud, make it possible to convey a dissuasive message to the groups involved in these practices, which have an impact on public coffers and seriously distort competition in the affected sector itself.

During on-site investigations into several of these transactions, the Tax Agency confirmed the existence of "sales concealment software" at the premises of the inspected taxpayers. This is the case, for example, of the recent operations "Columba" (2022) on courier service franchisees and "Empaque" (2025) on the packaging and packing sector.

In some cases, in this type of operation, and as proof of the degree of sophistication sometimes reached by these frauds to conceal income, an automatic power cut-off system had been set up that was activated when trying to access the part of the computer system containing the "b" accounting, a power cut-off with which the fraudsters intended to erase any trace of these undeclared incomes. These complex and premeditated concealment actions doubly justify the presence of the Agency's specialized computer audit units, the UAI, in these operations.