Sardinero Business Center: 15 years of tax evasion and AEAT looks the other way

Sardinero Business Center: 15 years of losses and zero taxes

In Santander, a company known as Centro de Negocios Sardinero S. L. has accumulated 15 years of declaring losses without the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) lifting a finger. According to data filed with the Commercial Registry, its net equity is negative by more than 200,000 euros, with share capital of only 36,000 euros and accumulated losses exceeding 337,000 euros. The company, dedicated to renting rooms and offices, has reported negative results every year except one, when it made a profit of about 20,000 euros. Since 2010, it has not paid a single cent in Corporate Tax.

What is extraordinary is not that a loss-making company does not pay tax – that is normal – but that the AEAT, having public access to those accounts year after year, has not peine an inspection. In a context where freelancers and SMEs are required to pay every last euro, this company continues to operate without the Treasury questioning how a bankrupt activity can sustain itself for a decade and a half. The company's administrator, Pablo Arenas Álvarez, is allegedly linked, according to sources in the environment, to regional politicians such as the mayor of Santander, Íñigo de la Serna, or former president Revilla, although there are no formal accusations.

The mystery of the company that never goes bankrupt

A risk analyst with two decades of experience said he had never seen a similar case: "It has been technically bankrupt for 15 years. With those accounts, no entity would grant it a credit." In fact, the company presents a financial situation that, according to accounting criteria, would force its dissolution. However, it continues to invoice, albeit always at a loss. The question is: how is it financed? A recurring hypothesis suggests that it could be an instrument for money laundering or for diverting funds from other companies in the same group, although it is not known to belong to any holding.

The AEAT in Cantabria, for its part, remains silent. An agency official in Galicia, familiar with the case, commented that "it is possible that the Planning and Selection Unit (UPS) did not flag it due to low turnover." But if the accounts are filed every year with losses, the system should have generated an alert. The suspicion of collusion is inevitable.

The Irún precedent and tolerance with the powerful

This is not the first time doubts have arisen about the AEAT's actions. In 2005, the case of the Irún Tax Office, where the director and a group of officials extorted taxpayers while accumulating real estate assets, ended with sentences of up to eleven years in prison. But the convicted man returned to business a few years later. The feeling of impunity persists.

In this case, the company, allegedly well-connected, would have enjoyed favorable treatment. The losses declared year after year, instead of closing the business, allow deductions that could offset gains from other linked companies. But the absence of investigation fuels skepticism.

The shocking fact: with a negative net equity of -202,125 euros and share capital of 36,000 euros, the company should have been in dissolution since the first year of losses. However, it continues to operate fifteen years later. The AEAT, which should ensure legality, has not acted. Meanwhile, the average taxpayer continues to pay their taxes on time.