The State Agency of Tax Administration (AEAT) is investigating a tax fraud of 163 million euros in the purchase of masks during the pandemic. As explained by its director, Soledad Fernández, before the Senate investigation committee on the ‘Koldo case’, irregularities have been detected in public contracts in which the awarded companies applied undue VAT, despite the fact that the products were exempt from this tax.
Although the Tax Agency has opened files and continues to investigate, its director acknowledged that she cannot guarantee that the money will be recovered in full.
Errors in the application of VAT on masks
The AEAT detected that some companies applied VAT at 21% on masks when it had already been reduced to 4% or zero-rated. This problem was generated in a context of regulatory confusion in the first months of the pandemic.
Some companies corrected the error by adjusting their tax returns, while others did not, forcing the tax inspectorate to intervene.
Fernandez explained that in 2021 a control program was implemented to analyze the taxation of mask contracts and determine possible tax non-compliance.
Will it be possible to recover the money?
The Popular Party denounced that the tax fraud would reach 163 million Euros. However, the director of the AEAT stressed that the figure is still in the process of verification and that the case cannot be time-barred while the investigation is ongoing.
“I can’t guarantee that we will recover it, I wish we could,” he told the Senate.
Fernandez rejected accusations of government laziness and defended that both the Treasury and the Tax Agency are still actively investigating.
New scandal linked to the purchase of face masks
This case is in addition to other irregularities in public contracts related to the purchase of face masks, a matter that remains under judicial and political scrutiny. The AEAT investigation will be key to determine the extent of the fraud and the possibility of recovering the public funds affected.
