Tax fraud amnesty target is “mission impossible”

With only two days before the government’s amnesty for tax dodgers is due to close, the controversial measure has only increased the state’s coffers by a fraction of what the government had targeted.

Tax Agency officials said Wednesday that up until the end of October, the state had only taken in an additional 149.6 million in taxes, a mere six percent of the government’s target of 2.5 billion, which they said was now an “almost impossible mission.”

The amnesty offers those coming clean on undisclosed assets the possibility of paying only 10 percent of the value of what they declare. That compares with the top personal income tax rate of 56 percent.

OECD sees unemployment at over six million this year and the next

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday presented a dismal picture of the ailing Spanish economy for this year and the next, with the jobless rate approaching 27 percent as an unprecedented six million people search for work.

In its latest Economic Outlook report, the Paris-based organization predicted the contraction in economic output next year would come in at 1.4 percent, almost triple the government’s forecast, with growth reappearing the following year, albeit at the anemic pace of 0.5 percent. The only encouraging point it sees is an ongoing expansion in exports, which are set to rise 2.5 percent next year and 1.4 percent in 2014.

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VAT included?

Often found products or services where the price is announced with the typical phrase, usually in small print, VAT not included or included. But there are times in which this is not specified and may cause doubt on future buyers, the question is, what should be considered in the event that nothing is said, that the VAT is included?

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The low corporate income tax revenue

The data is quite significant: 60% of Spanish companies have declared losses to the Treasury. These data related to the income tax of 2011, revealed that more than half a million companies presented a positive income statements, from a total of nearly 1.4 million companies in Spain. The figures have come to light following the issuance of a report by the Tax Office, which is extracted from another alarming fact: big companies in the country paid, in respect of income tax for the last year, a figure close to 5 % of its profits, on the other hand, SMEs paid an average 15% on their positive results.

Legal offices swamped as government brings back court fees

Lawyers in Spain on Wednesday rushed to file legal procedures ahead of the reintroduction of court filing fees for individuals the following day. Larger companies already had to pay small charges to lodge complaints with the courts.

The system of fees for individuals -- ranging from 100 to 1,200 euros -- was reinstalled by Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. A Socialist government had abolished such fees in 1986 to facilitate equal access to the law courts but left them in place for companies.

The legal profession is against the reintroduction of fees and is hoping the appeal against the move the main opposition Socialist Party plans to file with the Constitutional Court will be successful.

Spain may give residence permits to foreigners who buy homes

Spain is considering automatically granting residence cards to foreigners who buy homes valued at over 160,000 euros as part of efforts to reduce the vast stock of unsold housing built up during a property boom that has turned to bust, the secretary of state for trade, Jaime García-Legaz, said Monday.

The measure is aimed mainly at the Chinese and Russian markets, the official told reporters.

“We have proposed to other ministries that non-residents who acquire a home in Spain valued at over 160,000 euros should automatically be granted a residence permit,” García-Legaz said. “We are thinking of markets such as China and Russia, where there is growing demand for housing in Spain.

Limitation of the cash payment to 2,500 euros

The limitation of the cash payment to 2,500 euros from companies and professionals is effective from today, according to the new anti fraud law.

Failure to comply with this limitation, which rises to 15,000 euros when the payer is an individual not residing to avoid prejudicing the money spent by tourists visiting Spain, carries an administrative penalty for both the payer and the recipient, with a penalty of 25% of the total payments made.

In addition, the Tax Office has clarified that if an operation exceeds cash paid 2,500 euros but you pay in several times splitting the payment of amounts below the legal limit, is also breaking the limitation is effective now. That is, if an operation of 4,000 euros is payable in cash in two installments of $ 2,000 each, the penalty would be 25% above 4,000 euros and thus € 1,000 in total.

General Strike call on November 14th

Spain’s main labor unions, CCOO and UGT, plan to call a general strike for November 14 to protest the government’s austerity drive, just eight months after the last country-wide stoppage.


The stoppage will be formally called at a top level meeting on Friday. This will be the first time two general strikes have been held in the same year. A meeting will also be held of the so-called Social Summit, which groups together some 200 social organizations opposed to the government’s economic policies.

The decision to go ahead with the stoppage came just hours after the European Trade Union Confederation called for strikes and demonstrations against the belt-tightening movement in Europe on November 14.
The Portuguese union CGTP has called for a national strike on November 14, while stoppages are also expected in Cyprus and Greece.

CCOO and UGT sources said the proposal to hold a pan-European mobilization came from the Spanish labor unions which have been in talks on the issue with their Portuguese counterparts since a few months back.

The strike will coincide with campaigning for regional elections in Catalonia on November 25. CCOO and UGT have never previously called for a general strike during election periods.

Source: ElPais

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Tax inspectors believe collections will fall in the next few years

"How can my client square up two Picassos that he has abroad?" a tax expert asks, quite openly. This scene occurred last week in a meeting organized by the Spanish Association of Tax Advisors (AEDAF) with officials from the Tax Agency (AETA) to clear up doubts about an amnesty for tax dodgers introduced by the government.

The amnesty offers the holders of black-market money or assets to declare them without prosecution, paying only 10 percent of their value. The government is hoping to take in 2.5 billion euros from the measure, which is in place only until the end of November.

Tax advisors are asking AETA for more time because of what they claim are uncertainties in a process they describe as confusing. Some are having problems dismantling the complex business arrangements they designed to squirrel black-market money away from the prying eyes of the AETA to tax havens overseas. Others have doubts about what part of their clients' income comes under the umbrella of the statute of limitations and what might still be liable for tax.