The European Commission made official complaints against Spain in May 2010 and February 2011 regarding its Inheritance tax legislation. These complaints were ignored and so the EC has commenced an action against the Spanish state through the European courts.

The Spanish Government intends to approve a number of changes in legislation to strengthen the tax office’s armoury against the black economy and tax fraud.  They propose to modify the Penal Code so that substantial tax fraud may be penalised with up to 6 years (currently four years) in jail.