Inspectors slam amnesty offer for tax dodgers as "unethical"

The amnesty for tax dodgers announced by the government as part of the state budget for this year is "ethically disgraceful," goes "against the rule of law" and is "contrary to the Constitution." So says an association that groups together 95 percent of Spain's state tax inspectors, in a statement released Monday.

The government announced Friday that those admitting to having concealed income from the tax office would not face any charges if they declared the earnings and paid a fine of 10 percent. The administration is hoping to rake in some 2.5 billion euros from the measure.

The statement issued by the Professional Organization of State Tax Inspectors (IHE) described the amnesty, which was referred to euphemistically by the government as an "extraordinary regularization," as a measure that "undermines the conscience of honest taxpayers."

Annual tax returns are due to start being filed this month.

The provinces of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country said Monday they would not impose the amnesty. The Basque Country has the right to collect its own taxes, and transfers part of the revenues to the central government.

"We are not in favor of money laundering, nor scrubbing consciences clean," the chairman of the district council of Bizkaia, José Luis Bilbao, said. These funds could come from "arms or drug trafficking or urban planning scams," he added.