Spain's tax agency 'never investigates' those who don't pay taxes

The company that billed 13.3 million euros without going through the tax authorities

A company linked to the partner of a Socialist Party official has gone five years without filing taxes, according to the report published by El Confidencial and spread on social media. The figure that stings in this case: 13.3 million euros earned from rentals since her partner climbed the ranks within the PSOE. The question hanging over every after-dinner conversation is the usual one. Why does the AEAT (Spain's tax agency) come down on some with the full weight of the law while others don't even get a certified letter?

What the published report actually says

The tweet that sparked the controversy is specific: the company through which Montse Mínguez's partner has enriched himself with rentals has gone five years without paying taxes. In total, that businessman would have earned 13.3 million euros since Sánchez came to power and she rose within the PSOE. Those are the only two hard facts supporting the accusation. No case file, no inspection, no ruling: just the confirmation that a company bills and doesn't pay taxes.

From there, the story takes off. Some demand to see the paperwork before accepting any headline as fact. Others point out that a company's failure to pay doesn't automatically equal a crime: it could be a pending settlement, a special tax regime, or simple accounting inactivity. The presumption of innocence is not a decoration.

The self-employed who pay upfront and those who never pay

The real grievance isn't this specific case. It's the contrast. A seasonal or cyclical business pays taxes every quarter on estimated profits, and when the slump comes, it finds it owes as much as if it had billed in the best quarter of its history. That system, imposed under a PP (Popular Party) government and never repealed by any successor, is what turns complaint into fury.

Against that, there's the feeling that large, well-connected companies play by different rules. Some argue that unfair competition isn't an accident but the goal: if the small owner competes against structures with access to privileged financing, subsidies and connections, the result is that the pie gets divided among a few. According to this reading, the digitalization of the administration left hundreds of small businesses out in the cold years ago and blessed a handful with well-known surnames.

The whitelist and the Christmas gift

At the bottom of the matter appears a name almost nobody mentions: the AEAT's whitelist. Who manages it and by what criteria it decides who gets inspected is the question no government answers. If the agency can cross-check data on a twelve-euro Bizum transfer, the excuse of lacking resources to look at the big players falls apart on its own.

The final irony comes from the calendar. While the Christmas gift for the kids is pursued, there are companies that have gone half a decade without declaring and continue operating as normal. The unsettling fact isn't the fraud: it's the certainty that, if tomorrow it's your turn, the letter will arrive before Christmas.