The government of Pedro Sanchezwhose brother, musician David Azagra, is accused of, among other things, alleged tax fraud, is considering awarding 9 million euros to the advertising of an institutional campaign of the Treasury so that the Spanish comply with their “tax obligations”This is what is indicated in the Institutional Plan of Publicity and Communication for the year 2024 prepared by the Ministry of the Presidency.
This campaign, the objective of which is “tax awareness” and information and assistance to citizens to fulfil their tax obligations and access the services or support measures provided by the Tax Administration”, has an expected cost of 9 nine million euros, covering advertisements in television, radio, press, magazines and Internet.
For now, Sánchez’s management has recently awarded the campaign’s creativity contract, worth 328,000 euros(taxes included), to the company Counterpoint BBDO SA. In the specifications of this file it is specified that “The distribution and purchase of media space will not be included in the subject of this contract, and will be carried out by the media agency mandated for this purpose by the Tax Agency (hereinafter, AEAT) within the framework of another contract. For this, the Government has reserved this item of 9 million.
The campaign aims to “fundamentally influence the population’s awareness of the social value of taxesfor our daily (individual) life and for our common (collective) progress”, as well as “showing that behind a redistributive taxation there are not only large numbers and abstract concepts; there are specific public services and very visible elements in the daily lives of citizens,” says the AEAT.
The Sánchez government states here that “thanks to taxes and the management carried out by the tax administration, it is possible for the State to allocate resources to construction of schools, hospitalsroads, in addition to hiring the necessary human resources. And he adds: “Each of us or those around us we have a family member who receives a public pension or unemployment benefit, who has been treated in a hospital, who has studied at a public university or who uses a motorway that allows him to reach his destination more easily and quickly.
In the case of the head of the Executive and Secretary General of the PSOE, he has a relative, his own and only brother, accused by the so-called commission of up to five corruption and tax offences: against the Public Administration, against the Public Treasury, embezzlement, prevarication and influence peddling. The musician David Azagra – as his brother is artistically called – is a senior official of the Socialist Provincial Council of Badajoz, but he has established his residence in Portugal and has not paid taxes in Spain in recent years.
Likewise, the AEAT, dependent on the Ministry of Finance, emphasizes that this campaign aims “to make people aware that nothing is free; and on the other hand, to influence the adoption of a much more supportive and responsible behavior, with the security that comes from knowing that we have a welfare state that responds to the common effort. “The contribution of the whole of society in the form of taxes is considered necessary to keep moving forward. All this with a positive and non-reactive approach,” specifies the Tax Agency.
In addition, the Sánchez government emphasizes that this campaign is aimed at “all citizens, both the group of people who believe (in the imagination of this group, and not because of their experiences) and Without taxes we would live betterand those who are convinced of this, are the beneficiaries of the action aimed at promoting voluntary compliance with tax obligations.
“It must attract attention in a positive and inclusive way, encouraging the target audience to voluntarily comply with their tax obligations, such as “another duty of citizenship”also says the Executive about this advertising campaign of the Tax Agency, which will be extended to the whole country, with the exception of the Basque Country and Navarre, with its own regime.
No inspection
At the request of the President of the Court of Instruction number 3 of Badajoz, Beatriz Biedmawho is investigating David Sanchez case, the AEAT, attached to the ministry headed by the first vice-president, Maria Jesus Monteropublished a report in which he tries to exonerate David Azagra from a possible crime against the Public Treasury (article 305 of the Penal Code) and sees no problem in the fact that the brother of the head of the Executive is a tax resident in Portugal and works in Badajoz. An exonerating argument (which is not the case in matters of administrative offences) where the Treasury nevertheless recognises that did not carry out any inspections in this management position of the Provincial Council of Badajoz, linked to the provincial institution since 2017.
According to this report and as published by OKDIARIO, Sánchez’s brother did not submit self-assessments of the remuneration received from the Provincial Council of Badajoz since 2021. Neither for the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) nor for the Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR). “There is no record of the submission of self-contributions for income from personal work and professional activities satisfied by the Excma. Provincial Council of Badajoz”, includes the document containing information from the National Agency for Tax Administration (AEAT).
This “failure to file income tax return “It would be an administrative offence,” he said. Ignacio Ruiz-Jarabotax specialist and former general director of the Tax Agency (1998-2001), in conversation with OKDIARIO. For Ruiz-Jarabo, when it comes to the remuneration of the Provincial Council of Badajoz of a Spanish incomePedro Sánchez’s brother had to pay taxes on this work income in recent years. However, he did not do so during the years 2021, 2022 and 2023, coinciding with his residences in Thailand and Portugal.
