Effects of the Catalan Government’s Tax Fraud Prevention and Reduction Plan

The Catalan Tax Agency brought to light 219 million euros in its fight against tax fraud during 2020.

The Catalan Administration has maintained its fight against fraud, through inspections and reviews of Inheritance and Gift Tax (ISD), Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty (ITPAJD), Wealth Tax (IP), control of fraudulent changes of residence and assets abroad, exceeding the collection with respect to previous years and expecting to increase it for the periods 2021 and 2022. In view of the above, it can only be expected that the actions carried out by the Catalan Tax Agency will continue to be the same in the coming months. The main measures of the plan are:

• Prevention of tax fraud: This group includes tax awareness and communication policy, management and minimisation of the risk of non-compliance, improvement of taxpayer services and transparency and communication policy.
• Tax control, detection and correction of tax fraud: Within this section, the measures carried out are the verification and investigation of own and assigned taxes, control of activities in specific sectors and control in the area of tax collection.

As a brief summary in relation to the actions and collection by taxes to point out that: for the ITPAJD 33,572 actions have been carried out for the period 2020 with a collection of 65 million euros, for the ISD 5,867 actions with a collection of close to 92 million euros, 3,415 actions for the Wealth Tax and a collection of 63 million euros. A total of 4,817 actions were carried out in other taxes, mainly in relation to taxation on gambling and the tax on stays in tourist establishments. It is worth noting that in relation to ISD and IP, the number of inspections linked to the verification of taxpayers’ changes of address to autonomous communities with low taxation has increased. In this regard, settlements of more than 14 million euros were made for fictitious changes of residence and 12 million euros for assets located abroad. As a result, the amount settled for these two items in the last two years exceeds 45 million euros.

• Social involvement in the prevention and reduction of tax fraud: This measure is based exclusively on strengthening the role of tax intermediaries and inter-administrative collaboration and coordination.
• Organisation and provision of resources and means: Selection processes have been completed and new public employment offers have been approved.

In summary, the Generalitat has carried out 47,671 actions, having collected some 219 million euros, of which 124.9 million euros come from the inspection area, 82.3 million euros from the management department and 11.8 million euros from the collection department. The aforementioned measures will continue to be maintained for the period 2021 and 2022, with the aim of reducing tax fraud. All of this will be reinforced by greater IT tools, both to assist taxpayers in better complying with information and return obligations, and for the Agency’s own information management.