The former head of Spain’s tax authority has accused the organisation of “robbery” by targeting wealthy foreigners, such as British citizens. Ignacio Ruiz-Jarabo, who ran the State Agency for Tax Administration (AEAT) from 1998 to 2001, recently attacked the Spanish state body over its treatment of foreign wealth, including rich Brits, calling the system “abusive, broken, and dangerously authoritarian”.
In an article written for Spanish publication Vozpópuli, he called on the Ministry of Finance to deal with the “perverse effects” of tax collection, which he labelled as “robbery” of wealthy British expats and Spaniards. He said: “We’ve reached a point where the tax agency no longer sees Spaniards as citizens. It sees them as prey. The AEAT has become a modern-day feudal power – and the Ministry [of Finance] is letting it happen.”
He continued: “What we’re seeing is not just abuse of power—it’s a collapse of accountability. If the Ministry doesn’t act now, it’s complicit.”
A campaign titled Spanish Tax Pickpockets was run by Amsterdam & Partners, a top international law firm, which released a report called Hacienda vs. the People: an initial report on Spain and the Beckham Law. This report claimed that the Spanish tax agency was breaking the rules set out in the Beckham Law.
This piece of legislation was named after footballer David Beckham after he moved to Real Madrid in 2003. It established a tax break for qualifying foreigners who pay a flat 24.75% tax rate on Spanish income up to €600,000, much lower than Spaniards. But the recent report claims that hundreds of expats have had their tax unexpectedly reassessed or have been subject to “unfair” audits.
Ruiz-Jarabo said that these tax inspections often lead to people paying as much as three times more than their alleged unpaid tax bill. He told The Telegraph: “There isn’t a special focus on foreigners, [but] there is more of a focus on high earners and business people because they are bound to have more assets.
“Many of the people who have been certified have a few years later received a tax inspection denying their position as expatriates. This situation produces legal insecurity.
He also pointed out a bonus scheme that rewards tax collectors who collect the most revenue, calling it “perverse”. Meanwhile, Robert Amsterdam, founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners, told The Olive Press: “They have to reinstate the presumption of innocence, they have to retrain their auditors, and they need to get rid of administrative tribunals that aren’t functioning as courts, but are delaying people’s ability to appeal by years.”
“The inventive scheme has to be modified or ended immediately. The white paper expresses what the Spanish people have long suffered: repression at the hands of a government agency operating outside legal limits.”
The review also calls for a complete, independent review of Spain’s tax authority. Additionally, a report from the Institute of Economic Studies (IEE) revealed that 20 % of the total tax value assessed by the AEAT is legally challenged, with 60 per cent of those challenges being successful.