PP wants to protect tax evaders who seek amnesty from inquiries

In an effort to encourage many more Spaniards to repatriate money stashed away in tax havens, Popular Party (PP) lawmakers have submitted a clause to the proposed Penal Code reform that prohibits further investigation against anyone who has solicited the government’s fiscal amnesty.

Spaniards have less than a month to apply for the amnesty and regulate their tax record by paying 10 percent of what they hold in offshore accounts. The government hopes to rake in some 2.5 billion euros in revenue through this plan. But there is still confusion over the law and many taxpayers fear that they will be investigated even if they are granted exemption.

According to the daily Expansión, the PP wants to put it on the books that there won’t be any further criminal investigations. The bill will be discussed today by the Judicial Committee in Congress.