Anonymous memo claims Spanish tax system is a 'plundering structure'

Twenty-five points against the tax system that no one signs

An unsigned 25-point text describes the Spanish state as a 'plundering and expropriation structure targeting the middle classes', attributing it to a tax inspector. The striking element is not the thesis, which has circulated for years, but the lack of any name, position, or verifiable record backing it. The piece reappears periodically with new packaging but uses the same authority trick.

The content is a demolition by accumulation. It argues that Spain has no social democrats, conservatives, or liberals, but a revenue-extraction machine aimed at draining the productive sector. It claims the best teams are in the tax authority, while the rest of the administration is auxiliary; raised funds go to a ruling class and a clientelist network; and the PP, upon taking power, did not dismantle the apparatus but merely took over.

Who signs the text attributed to a tax inspector?

No one. This is the short and uncomfortable answer for those using it as an argument. Three hypotheses surround the text, none standing alone. Some claim it is old, dating back to 2009–2012. Others suspect artificial drafting to mimic an insider testimony. A third points to opinion pieces from ultra-liberal online media recycled as a confession by an active official.

None provide a signature. Moreover, labeling the author a tax inspector is an exercise in authority bias. If the text is true, it needs no uniform; if it needs the uniform, perhaps it cannot stand without it.

The numbers in the decalogue: from 800,000 to nearly 3.5 million

The text does not stop at metaphors but provides figures. It claims a rise from 800,000 civil servants to nearly 3.5 million, with Health and Education accounting for 1.2 million, alongside university inflation, poor educational quality, and low per capita health spending. Supporters add that there are three times more public employees than under Franco.

No one verifies them individually. They are accepted or rejected as a block. Another unverified figure cited is 12% unemployment despite record-breaking job headlines. Meanwhile, the text points to stagnant productivity for fifteen years.

The official denouncing the system from which he earns

The sharpest criticism targets the messenger, not the diagnosis. Some argue an active inspector is part of the mechanism he denounces, earning from the same structure he describes, thus lacking the right to lecture others. This circular logic discredits anyone working within the system.

The obvious counter-argument is that analyzing a mechanism does not approve it. Pointing out how a revenue structure works does not make the critic a defender of any tax haven. Yet, conversation rarely goes there.

Deceived voter or benefited voter?

The text falls short for many supporters. It depicts an average citizen as a politically ignorant individual whose money pays a corrupt web. The repeated objection is that this reading absolves voters: it is not deception, but calculation.

This reasoning relies on arithmetic: nine million pensioners, four million public employees and officials, eight million non-voting minors, and a remainder of 25 million adults, of whom only a minority are outside the distribution. The math is crude—assuming monolithic voting blocks—but supports an uncomfortable thesis: the system persists due to interest, not ignorance.

Somalia, Argentina, and Bukele: the mirrors thrown in our faces

International comparisons work as weapons in both directions. One side cites 'hyper-megaliberal' places like Somalia or Haiti with no state to maintain. The other counters with South Korea, Singapore, Andorra, Ireland, and Switzerland.

A third view argues this is not a Spanish phenomenon but exported across Europe, citing German deindustrialization. The original text mentions only Argentina, warning that without the euro, inflation would be galloping.

This enters monetary debate. As long as the ECB buys public debt, some argue the problem is postponed. Others note this financing relies on confidence in pieces of paper unbacked by tangible assets, citing a Latin American leader who summarized the mechanism: high taxes maintain the illusion of funding a government that actually finances itself by issuing debt.

An anonymous text with unsourced figures and a thesis each reader adapts. It has circulated for years and will continue. The interesting question is not whether the diagnosis is correct—many recognize it—but how many would share it if the end did not say 'tax inspector' but a neighbor's name.