SPANIARDS have been expressing their delight after the Financial Times ran a full-page advertisement against their own tax agency.
The advert, by Amsterdam & Partners LLP and published across the FT’s weekend edition, accuses Spain’s tax authority of operating a ‘perverse’ and ‘unfair’ system that deliberately punishes ordinary citizens.
The wide reach of the publication sparked an immediate reaction inside Spain – but not one of defensiveness. Instead, it found widespread agreement.
The advertising campaign points out that Spain’s inspectors are awarded bonuses tied to how much money they extract from taxpayers regardless of whether courts later overturn the assessments.
It describes the tax agency, known as the Hacienda in Spanish, as having a structure virtually unknown among advanced economies and claims it encourages aggressive revenue collection over accuracy or fairness.
Spanish economist Marc Vidal said the advert simply laid out what many in the country had been saying for years.
He summarised its central message as a system with ‘perverse logic’, one that incentivises inspectors to collect money first and justify it later.
He said this model has created conflicts of interest, rushed investigations and a ‘devastating impact’ on families, freelancers and businesses who spend years trying to clear their names.
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Vidal noted the ad’s criticism that taxpayers must pay a tax bill even if it is manifestly wrong before they can appeal, often facing embargoes, interest charges and years of legal uncertainty.
He pointed out that more than half of appeals against the Hacienda succeed in court, exposing what the advert calls a system that not only makes significant errors but penalises anyone who attempts to challenge them.
Reaction spread quickly across social media, with many Spaniards treating the advert as a long-overdue public reckoning.
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One account wrote that it was ‘muy bueno’ to see international lawyers taking aim at the Hacienda, adding that this was now part of Spain’s ‘global brand’.
Another commentator said the campaign was ‘well deserved but still not enough’, arguing that Spain’s tax practices needed international scrutiny to force change.
Others highlighted how unusual it was to encounter a full-page criticism of the Hacienda in a British financial newspaper, describing it as a striking moment for Spain’s international reputation.
Several people praised the advert for telling ‘home truths’ to an audience of global investors.
Spain’s tax authority has not commented publicly on the ad, which is part of a wider series by Amsterdam & Partners examining what it describes as structural injustices within the Spanish system.
The firm claims Spain combines one of Europe’s highest litigation rates with some of its longest resolution times, forcing taxpayers into years of uncertainty even when they ultimately win in court.
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The episode has now opened a rare window into Spain’s domestic frustrations with its own bureaucracy.
Rather than rallying around the Hacienda, Spanish commentators have so far sided with the Financial Times — an unusual moment in which a British publication’s criticism of a Spanish institution has been met with approval rather than indignation.
For Spain’s expat community, the advert and its claims will not come as a surprise – but the fact that ordinary Spaniards side with it may do.
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I have a language academy. I used to have all my supplies, books etc delivered to where my dad lived because they had a 7 day a week manned reception. This summer the hacienda investigated me and wanted me to pay back taxes on all my deliveries despite the account being in my name and the money coming from my business account. I had to fight it while my dad was dying. I won but if I hadn’t it would have ruined my small business. People don’t realise that they charge you 40% interest for late payment as well as what they say you owe.
i agree 100%, the rules are as transparent as mud, often favoring corporations and, in Alicante large bars and restaurants and penalises small businesses. Property taxation is one glaring great hole allowing overseas investment in local properties with very little taxes paid and the burden of high prices falling on the locals. Finally the idea of a black economy employing immigrants with no papers for slave wages also needs to be sorted. Inspectors need to go after those people (corporations and criminal gangs) rather than victimise people who already pay. The whole system needs a serious overhaul