The director of the Tax Agency, Soledad Fernández, has acknowledged before the Senate that the alert system failed to detect the absence of income tax declarations from a taxpayer linked to 39 companies for four years. Fernández denied any preferential treatment.
The director of the Tax Agency, Soledad Fernández, appeared this Wednesday before the Senate investigation committee to explain the deficiencies identified in the case of Julio Martínez, a businessman linked to former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Fernández admitted that the alert system did not detect that Martínez had not filed his income tax return for four years.
According to her testimony, the taxpayer, linked to 39 companies, remained off the Tax Agency's radar without the mechanisms in place to identify such non-compliance being activated. Fernández attributed what happened to a failure in the alerts but firmly denied that there had been any preferential treatment towards the businessman.
The controversy has generated discomfort within the committee, as several senators believe the explanation is insufficient. “How is it possible that a taxpayer linked to a significant business network went four years without paying income tax and the argument is that the system failed?” asked one of the deputies. Fernández's response did not dispel doubts about the impartiality of the Agency.
The case is particularly relevant due to Martínez's connection with the political circle of former president Zapatero. The Tax Agency has committed to reviewing its alert protocols to prevent similar situations from occurring again. Fernández insisted that the institution acts impartially and that the failure was technical, not deliberate.
For taxpayers, this case poses a challenge to trust in the tax system. The Tax Agency must now demonstrate with data that the principle of equality before the law applies without exceptions. The investigation committee will continue its work to clarify the details and propose improvements.
The Treasury has opened a tax inspection on Julio Martínez to determine the extent of his tax debt. The outcome of this inspection will be key to restoring the institution's credibility, according to sources from the Ministry of Treasury. The process is expected to conclude in the coming months.
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