MADRID: Spanish car wreckers failed to declare spare parts sales, over 45 vehicle breakers yards all over Spain are under investigation by Hacienda this week on suspicion of having taken part in tax frauds which are estimated to amount to a total of approximately €70 million.
Over the course of two days 250 Hacienda officials have been carrying out inspections at 60 yards belonging to the 45 companies concerned, investigating suspicions that the breakers yards failed to declare revenue from around half of the spare parts sales they have made to both individual customers and established car mechanics workshops. In this way both VAT and Company Tax were avoided.
So few sales have been declared by these companies that in some cases profit margins are officially reported to be negative, and in others no economic activity at all of this kind is reported to have been declared. Instead, the only revenue stated in official accounts is the proceeds from sales of scrap metal, whereas in many cases more is earned from spare parts sales than from this source of income.
The establishments which are under investigation are all authorized to deal with motor vehicles which have reached the end of their useful lives, and are located in the regions of Andalucía, Aragón, Baleares, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalunya, Galicia and Madrid.
