Economic offence
Tax fraud defence lawyer
Art. 305 Criminal Code
Tax fraud requires defrauding the public treasury by evading tax payments, wrongly obtaining refunds, or improperly benefiting from tax relief, for an amount exceeding €120,000 per tax and tax period. Below that threshold, the matter remains an administrative penalty rather than a criminal one.
Almost all of these proceedings originate in a prior tax inspection, and how the requests for information are answered and the administrative submissions drafted directly shapes the defence's position if — and when — the file is referred to the criminal courts.
A voluntary regularisation with bad timing can be the difference between resolving the matter administratively and dragging it, with no way back, into a criminal court.
Scope of work
- Defence in the criminal stage arising from a tax inspection
- Coordinating administrative submissions with their criminal implications
- Assessing voluntary tax regularisation as grounds for exclusion from criminal liability
- Assistance during searches and seizures at the Tax Agency's request
When to call
- You have received a request from the Tax Agency that could lead to criminal proceedings
- The inspection report exceeds, or comes close to, €120,000 in evaded tax
- You are considering a voluntary regularisation and want to know its criminal effect
Frequently asked questions
Does regularising my tax position avoid the offence?
Article 305.4 of the Criminal Code excludes criminal liability if the tax position is regularised before the start of verification proceedings is notified or, failing that, before the Public Prosecutor or an investigating judge directs proceedings against the person concerned. The timing of the regularisation is therefore decisive.
Is the €120,000 threshold calculated per year or per transaction?
It is calculated per tax and per tax or filing period; a fraud can be split across several periods without reaching the threshold in any one of them, which has a direct bearing on whether the matter is criminal or purely administrative.
What is the relationship between the administrative file and the criminal proceedings?
The Tax Agency can refer the file to the Public Prosecutor when it identifies indications of an offence; from that point, what was done in the administrative stage is incorporated into the criminal proceedings, so the strategy for any submissions should be considered from the very first request, not only once charges have been brought.