According to the 2023 report on combating tax and customs fraud and evasion, 234 inspections were completed on taxpayers over the past year, in addition to procedures related to controlling VAT refunds and controlling individuals with high asset capacity, through the automatic information exchange mechanism with other countries, cites Executive Digest.

“Following the procedures carried out by the UGC inspection area, corrections were identified that amount to approximately 522 million euros of potentially missing tax”, the document reads.

In 2022, this type of procedure resulted in the detection and correction of around 700 million euros in unpaid taxes.

IRC, VAT, Stamp Duty, and IRS were the taxes that dominated the volume of corrections recorded, part of which were voluntary by taxpayers.

These corrections resulted, above all, from the regime of exclusion of capital losses from the transfer of equity instruments of entities based in 'tax havens' and also from the improper use of tax benefits.

These two situations account for, respectively, 155 million and 26 million euros of the recorded corrections.

The improper use of the general anti-abuse clause and the regime for imputing income from non-resident entities subject to a privileged tax regime (i.e. so-called 'tax havens') were other mechanisms that led to the detection and correction of the missing tax amounts.

The number of large taxpayers monitored by the UGC in 2023 rose to 5,053, up from the 4,818 recorded in 2022. The increase was solely due to the number of collective taxpayers, which increased from 3,216 to 3,451, as the number of individuals remained at 1,602.

Tax revenue from taxpayers monitored by the UGC exceeded 24 billion euros in 2023, and this figure does not include municipal taxes – such as IMI and IMT, for example.

For a company or entity to be subject to the scrutiny of this AT unit, it must meet at least one criterion from a list, namely being under the supervision of the banking, insurance, or markets regulator, having a turnover of more than 200 million euros or a total value of taxes paid of more than 20 million euros.

In addition to these, the UCG also monitors entities that enter into transfer pricing agreements or are related to reporting multinationals within the scope of the 'Country-by-Country Report'.

At the level of individuals, the scope of the UCG includes people with incomes above 750 thousand euros or with a patrimonial capacity above five million euros (directly or indirectly, in assets and direct assets), as well as people with manifestations of wealth consistent with this wealth or income.

The UGC also monitors individuals or companies that, even if they do not meet these criteria, may be considered relevant because they have a legal or economic relationship with other large taxpayers.