Palma. Alberto Roibal, the director of the Balearic branch of the Inland Revenue confirmed thatlocal authorities have raked in 12.66 million euros as a result of tax fraud from January to June this year whilst during the first six months of 2010, income totalled 16.46 million euros.
It is also true said Roibal that inspections have stepped up during the first half of this year by nearly 41 percent. There were 1'840 official inspections of tax affairs from January to June 2010 but 2'593 during the same period this year.
The Director said yesterday: We can't confirm that the level of tax fraud in the Balearics has gone down; all we can say is that the number of occasions when inspectors have come across irregularities has lessened in comparison with the first half year in 2010.
However, there does seem to be an historic downward trend in the incidence of tax fraud in the Balearics. In the first half of 2009, income for the regional tax authorities from people who committed fraud was 18.71 million euros, 32.31 percent less than during the first half of 2011.
Roibal explained that the main irregularities which came to light in tax declarations were incorrect amounts submitted as the true value of income, mistakes in the declaration of refinancing operations and specific government concessions, and the omission of inherited wealth on tax forms.
Asked about the amount of tax fraud in the Balearics that never comes to light, Roibal maintained that there have been no conclusive studies made on the extent of tax fraud in the region. Roibal said that the Balearic government is currently considering restructuring the tax payment system to make fraud more difficult.