The Ministry of Finance has crossed paths with Microsoft Ibérica, the American computer titan's Spanish branch, for not filing some corporate earnings in the 2004 and 2005 fiscal years.
The Ministry, directed by Cristóbal Montoro, who doesn't do anything for naught, is asking the subsidiary to pay taxes owed for non-resident earnings from 2006. The amount would be small, but totals to around 12.06 million euros plus late payment interest.
The issue will end up in the courts, which still haven't been able to settle disagreements between two contentious parties. The ruling is significant for two reasons. First, the total amount that the government is asking Microsoft Ibérica for far exceeds the 8.9 million euros in profits that the subsidiary declared in 2011, meaning that paying their debt would put them in the red for that fiscal year. Second, because the action represents the Ministry of Finance's mission to collect tax revenues and give equal treatment to the companies, Spanish or foreign, that operate and do business in our country.
The legal process will take a long time, but it should help clear up the playing field for the various multinational companies operating in Spain. Some of them are still looking for loopholes in the law that will allow them to either evade taxes or ultimately seek refuge in Ireland or the Netherlands.
