According to article 183 of General Tax Law 58/2003 (LGT), developed by Royal Decree 2063/2004, intentional or culpable actions or omissions with any degree of negligence that are classified and sanctioned as such in this u another law.
From article 191 of the LGT we can find the different types of tax infractions, among which are infractions such as failing to pay the tax debt that should result from a self-assessment or failing to comply with the obligation to present complete and correct declarations or documents. necessary to carry out settlements.
Furthermore, both actions and omissions are punished regardless of whether the offender did not act intentionally, it being sufficient that he or she committed negligence.
The difference with the tax crime is based on the amount defrauded from the Public Treasury. Thus, the law establishes that a taxpayer who defrauds more than 120,000 euros from the Public Treasury or 50,000 euros in the case in which the fraud occurs from Social Security is committing a tax crime.
From article 305 to 310 of the Penal Code, the definitions, characteristics, specifications and penalties that are applicable to this type of crimes are included.
To set the penalty for the tax crime, some factors are taken into account, such as:
- The active subject of the crime, the taxpayer.
- The passive subject of the crime, that is, the state, regional, provincial or local Public Treasury. So is the Treasury of the European Union.
- The amount involved in the crime, insofar as the defrauding of the Public Treasury, must exceed 120,000 euros. In the event that the evasion of paying taxes, withheld amounts or improperly obtaining refunds is less than said amount, it will not be considered a tax crime, although it will be considered an administrative offense.
To all this we must add that those who are found guilty of this crime, during the period of three to six years, will not be able to obtain subsidies or public aid, nor benefits or tax incentives from Social Security.
As can be seen, tax crimes and tax violations cover a wide range of cases. This is why companies must incorporate tax compliance as part of the general system of good governance and regulatory compliance.
