VAT fraud on fuel is already reaching worrying levels. This means not only more than 25% of sales of the fuel sector in Spain, but now also The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard arrested Victor de Aldamaappeal commissioner Koldo affair, for having been involved in this conspiracy and having committed fraud of more than 182 million euros.
The tentacles of this problem affect more than 10% of the country’s gas stations, the cost in 2023 alone for the Treasury has been to stop collecting around 2 billion euros, and it is also a loss of competitiveness for the sector and therefore for citizens, and a problem for the environment.
But where is the trick? It all starts at the moment of wholesale fuel purchase (petrol and diesel in particular). That is, when oil operators acquire the product.
As approved by law, a suspensive regime when purchasing this fuel either from a Spanish refinery or from a ship coming from a foreign refinery. The law says that when the product is purchased, there is no obligation to pay VAT nor the tax on hydrocarbons corresponding to this period. Both taxes are supposed to be paid when the fuel is sold to customers.
The Administration authorizes the purchase of petroleum product tankers from Exolum (Hydrocarbon Logistics Company) or in a port like Barcelona or Tarragona. No tax is paid there, except when sold to the distributor.
In this way, the possibility of participating in the market is not limited to large companies because They are the only ones who have enough muscle to take care of paying taxes before selling the goods..
The problem is that there are those who have taken advantage of this situation and do not pay any of the corresponding taxes when selling. And this is how fraud happens.
When the certification entity has verified whether the obligations have been fulfilled, it has closed the beach bar and after a while they open another one. And they pocketed large sums of money which disappeared from the treasury and the market.
For their part, they have the approval of gas stations that buy their goods at a lower price, because they do not have to pay the 21% VAT and, therefore, they sell gasoline and diesel at a lower price lower than that of their competitors.
Despite the implementation of Royal Decree-Law 8/2023, which suspended until last March the moratorium imposing restrictions on transactions between distributors and wholesalers, the problem persists, seriously affecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the sector.
