Fraud and tax
crime lawyer in Spain

Fraud (estafa) requires deceit, prior to the transfer of money and sufficient to mislead a reasonably careful person, that causes the victim to dispose of assets to their detriment. The basic offence carries six months to three years in prison; aggravated fraud —for example, over €50,000 or abusing a relationship of trust— carries one to six years.

Misappropriation (keeping money or assets received in deposit or on trust) and unfair management (exceeding powers to manage someone else's assets and causing loss) are common in company, inheritance and investment disputes. When the criminal courts are used to put pressure on what is really a civil dispute, the defence must say so from the outset and seek dismissal.

Tax evasion is a crime in Spain when the unpaid tax exceeds €120,000 per tax and per year. The sentence is one to five years in prison and a fine of up to six times the amount, rising to two to six years above €600,000 or when front companies or tax havens are used.

• The Tax Inspectorate's calculation does not bind the criminal judge and can be challenged with independent expert evidence.
• Paying the full debt before the tax audit or the criminal complaint is notified excludes criminal liability.
• Tax offences become time-barred after five years (ten for the aggravated form), counted year by year.

When is an unpaid debt a fraud?

Only when the deceit existed from the start: when the person already knew they would not perform and hid it to obtain the money. If the intention to perform was genuine and later failed, the dispute is civil.

Does repaying the money avoid a conviction?

It does not avoid it, but repairing the damage before trial is a mitigating circumstance that reduces the sentence and can make it easier to have it suspended.