The Catalan Tax Agency is demanding 14 million euros from two Girona water companies

2023-06-29 11:26:51

The Tax Agency of Catalonia (ATC) claims 14 million euros from two Girona water companies linked to the Mallart family and which are dedicated to the supply of water to several municipalities in La Selva. Specifically, it requests the collection from Rec Madral Companyia d’Aigües SA, of Maçanet de la Selva, of 7.5 million euros and 6.8 million euros to Riera de Cabanyes Water Company.

The debts are related to the own taxes or those assigned by the ATCsuch as property transfer taxes and documented legal acts, inheritances and donations, estates, the gambling tax and settlements from the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) in relation to the water fee.

The Generalitat decided in 2019 to publish the annual list of people with pending tax debts or penalties for an amount exceeding one million euros as one of the tax measures included in the 2019-2022 Tax Fraud Prevention and Promotion of Good Tax Practices Plan. The two companies from Girona have been on the list for years and the debt has increased year after year.

The goal, they say, is raise awareness about voluntary compliance with tax obligations. The Generalitat also clarifies that the publication of the list puts an end to the administrative process and that the members of the list can file an optional appeal before the director of the ATC within one month or an administrative dispute before the court in the period of two months, but in no case both resources at the same time. Aside from REC Madral Water Company and Riera de Cabanyes Water Company, another Girona company, Roses Shipyard SL, also appears on the listdedicated to the boat sector, which accumulates a debt of 1,093,890 million euros.

The controversies of Rec Madral

The company Rec Madral has been the protagonist in recent years due to various controversies. A little over a year ago, the Maçanet de la Selva City Council announced that it was going to manage, definitively, the water supply to the Residencial Park urbanization, after months of disputes with the company awarded the service , Rec Madral. A week later, the council announced that it was preparing a report on the state of the water network in the urbanization where “debts and abuses” were also collected of Rec Madral to take the case to courtwith the intention of suing them for damages.

Subsequently, the company complained to the Tax Agency to impose on the City Council, together with the company Agbar and the two private owners of the network, the responsibility of assuming the company’s debt as part of the provision of this service throughout the Residencial Park urbanization.

A debt of 73.8 million

According to the latest list of the ATC published yesterday, a total of 41 natural and legal persons had a debt of 73.8 million euros with the Tax Agency of Catalonia on December 31, 2022. In the list of debtors there companies such as Playbadalona SA continue, with more than 10 million euros outstanding.

With respect to the 2021 data, which were published a year ago, the number of debtors and the outstanding amount to be paid has decreased: at that time there were up to 51 debtors with a total amount of 88.5 million euros. Among the companies, there are also Moramar SA, with a debt of 3.3 million euros; Recreativos Caballero SL, with 2.3 million euros; Ibupe Rehabilitació SA, with 1.6 million euros; o Comunitat d’Aigües SL, with 1 million euros; among others.