The tension between the treasury and taxpayers has reached its peak during these months. Álex Algarci, renowned international tax advisor, has voiced the discontent of thousands of self-employed workers and businessmen who feel “persecuted” by an administration that, according to his complaint, uses extreme pressure mechanisms.
In a scenario where the Treasury has broken collection records, the feeling of legal insecurity grows: “The operation of the inspection process is based on blackmail,” says Algarci, pointing out that the system pushes citizens to pay unfair fines rather than face eternal and costly trials.
300,000 million euros in collection
Official data from the last campaign support this feeling of “unstoppable machinery.” In 2025 alone, the Tax Agency exceeded 300,000 million euros in total collection for the first time.
This milestone is not only due to greater economic activity, but also to the so-called “cold progressivity” (a concept supported by recent economic analysis, including reports from the Bank of Spain) by not adjusting the income tax brackets to inflation, Spaniards pay more taxes even though their purchasing power has not increased.
With 24.7 million returns filed, the State has achieved unprecedented digital efficiency, but at the cost of an increasingly acrimonious relationship with the taxpayer.
This fundraising success contrasts with an uncomfortable judicial reality for the administration. According to the statistics of the Contentious-Administrative Courts, almost half of the citizens who decide to sue against the Treasury end up winning.
However, getting to that point is a long-distance race that few can afford. The current system forces many to give up on parallel settlements for fear of surcharges or the cost of lawyers and solicitors which, in cases of small debts, exceed the amount of the fine itself.
The punishment of being right
“If I fine you and I get it right, perfect, I get paid as an inspector; if I fine you and I don’t get it right, I get paid too,” Algarci explains about the system’s incentives. This asymmetry is aggravated by the principle of solve and repeat (pay and then claim), which requires the immediate disbursement of the debt to avoid seizures, even if the process is appealed.
In addition, the Treasury applies late payment interest from the first day, which turns any administrative error into a financial snowball that the Supreme Court is beginning to seriously question in 2026.
The mistrust is such that many businessmen no longer only fear for their money, but for their personal stability. Algarci warns that a conflict with the treasury “takes away your assets and your relationship with your family.”
Given this panorama, the expert assures that the only reason why the country’s economy has not collapsed yet is because the current “atrocity of taxes” does not affect 100% of the income of some people, which allows them to have a certain margin to continue growing. However, he confesses that the balance is fragile and the taxpayer’s resistance has a limit: “I believe that if the ‘B’ disappears, Spain will go bankrupt.”