SPAIN’S tax agency will gain broad new powers to monitor all bank accounts nationwide from 2026 – as the government launches an unprecedented crackdown on tax fraud and money laundering.
From January 1 next year, banks will be required to provide Spain’s Agencia Tributaria with detailed breakdowns of their holders’ account balances, deposits, withdrawals, loans, and all card and digital payments.
This includes payments made via credit and debit cards, prepaid and virtual cards, mobile payment apps such as Bizum, and other electronic platforms.
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Before 2026, banks in Spain were required to report only certain large transactions, loans, or cash movements to the tax authorities – and account summaries were submitted once a year.
Many smaller payments and routine card transactions often went unreported, authorities have said.
But under the new rules, banks will generally report this information monthly rather than annually – and in far greater detail than ever before.
The regulation applies to both individuals and businesses, though reporting requirements are different.
Professionals, freelancers, and companies must report all payments received through cards or digital platforms, regardless of amount.
Ordinary account holders, however, will only be included if the sum of their annual card payments and charges exceeds €25,000 – or if they make significant cash deposits or withdrawals.
Banks will also be required to report loans and credits issued to all account holders, as well as all cash transactions exceeding €3,000.
The move comes after authorities identified gaps in previous reporting systems, which they said allowed some income and transactions to go undisclosed.
Between 2016 and 2021, Spain lost roughly €31 billion in corporate tax to “fiscal engineering,”, El Pais reported.
In 2022 alone, the government failed to collect around €4.5 billion due to fraud, evasion, or errors, data has also shown.
But last year, the Agencia Tributaria recovered nearly €19 billion through roughly 2 million inspections – a 13% increase compared with 2023, marking a decisive step toward stricter oversight.
The latest regulation, which came into force in April this year, further tightens the Agencia Tributaria’s control over the country’s finances – in a move the government hopes will unlock previously untapped sources of revenue.
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