The Treasury has over €43 billion outstanding, an increase of 4.2%.

BarcelonaThe Treasury had a total of €43.797 billion outstanding in 2024, 4.2% more than the previous year. Although the total figure was €48.78 billion, a 16% increase, the adjustments carried out up to last June to eliminate falsified or incorrectly attributed tax returns reduced the amount to €43.797 billion, according to the Spanish Tax Agency.

Voluntary debt (within the corresponding tax settlement period and, therefore, without surcharges), after adjusting the data, amounts to €17.877 billion, 4.1% more than in 2023. The increase is mainly due to the increase in the deferred amount. The amount of debt in enforcement proceedings (once the voluntary deadline had passed and, therefore, with the corresponding surcharges) stood at €25.92 billion, 4.2% more than in the previous year, below the peak in 2019 (€29.389 billion). The increase is due to a higher inflow of debt, especially in December; and to the increase in liability derivations in 2024 (joint or subsidiary liabilities, i.e., when the debt is demanded not from the debtor but from third parties related to it).

The State Tax Agency obtained 18.928 billion euros last year, 13% more than in the previous year, from its tasks of preventing and combating fraud through 1,981,000 control actions, 4.4% more than in 2023. The increase in the sum, discounting the extraordinary files for fractional payments and the homogeneous comparison with 2023, according to the Agency.

This figure reveals the amounts that have come to light and escaped tax scrutiny, but it does not mean that they have been collected. Hence the large volume of outstanding debt, because not all the amounts that surface are actually collected after the corresponding procedures, and all this explains the difference between the amounts that surface and those owed to the Treasury.

Large taxpayers

Last year's actions included reductions in negative tax bases, outstanding deductions, and incorrect offsets, totaling €5.305 billion, 58% more than in 2023. Two-thirds of these actions allow for broadening future tax bases and increasing the tax base.

The Treasury carried out 46,407 audits related to large companies and assets, abuses of corporate forms, and the fight against the underground economy, 6.3% more than in 2023. Of this total, 36,918 audits affected multinationals, corporate groups, and other companies; 3,101 were asset and corporate analyses (-4.8%), 4,402 were related to corporate abuses and concealing activities (+5.9%), and 1,986 were related to hidden sales (+15.7%).

The public body highlights the 9.4% growth in direct revenue from audits, totaling €10.318 billion. Added to this figure are €7.554 billion from reduced refunds and €1.056 billion from revenue from late returns (outside the voluntary deadline, that is, beyond June 30 in the case of personal income tax).

Another relevant aspect is that €524 million in debt was settled through 1,264 audits carried out on large estates. Also included are €3.8 billion in guaranteed tax bases for prior valuation agreements regarding international taxation of multinationals, representing an increase of 6.1%.

Underground Economy

140 million euros in fees and penalties were also settled on 1,488 taxpayers (a 20.7% increase) who had previously been subject to entry and registration procedures supported by the IT Audit Units (UAIs). Inspections in the fight against the underground economy are complemented by the visit plan.

In 2024, the Agency carried out more than 31,500 in-person inspections (a 6.5% increase) aimed at controlling the illegal economy. in situ in sectors and areas of tax risk. These actions include more than 2,500 carried out within the framework of monitoring irregular invoicing to verify the existence or absence of an economic activity likely to generate a VAT refund request. In addition to suspending refunds in these cases, the case of more than 300 taxpayers with a particularly complex profile due to involvement in VAT schemes is being analyzed.

According to the Tax Agency, the inspection area liquidated 315 million euros, a 25.5% increase, to taxpayers from whom it obtained information about their accounts in other countries, and international collection requests to foreign authorities have also increased by 50%.