Recurrent: Ministry of Finance

Resolution appealed: R CTBG 0638/2025

In exercise of the right of access to public information, the MINISTRY OF FINANCE was requested to have access to information on the actions carried out by the Ministry of Finance in relation to a company that has been liquidated after a bankruptcy proceeding, as well as «the tax breaks for the public coffers of the business of selling fuel in Spain in the form of unpaid VAT» and the plan applied to avoid it.

The AEAT did not respond within the legally established deadline, so the request was deemed rejected by silence and expedites the way of the claim of article 24 LTAIBG. During the conduct of this procedure, the AEAT informs this Council that it has issued a resolution, which refers to the existence of a specific legal regime for access to information in tax procedures and denies access to some of the information requested because it has a reserved character, specifically the Plan that has been applied within the Treasury to combat fraud in the business of the sale of fuel in Spain in the form of VAT unpaid to the Treasury, since the LGT establishes in its article 116, that the Tax Control Plan has a reserved character. However, the resolutions of the last four years (2023-2020) are provided, where the general guidelines of the Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan and the general criteria for action are approved, as well as links to press releases that provide information on the participation of the Tax Agency in the fight against organized tax fraud.

The Council partially estimates the claim, after ruling out the shift in the application of the LTAIBG in the field of tax information based on the consolidated doctrine of the Supreme Court in this matter and, after evaluating the scope of the confidentiality reserve on the information requested, urges the AEAT to provide the claimant with a response regarding (i) whether the Ministry of Finance has been involved in the insolvency proceedings in defence of public interests, (ii) to facilitate the amount of the outstanding debt recovered and (iii) whether the liquidated company had been subject to any tax inspection during its existence.