Article 310 Spanish Criminal Code: Accounting offences against the public revenue

Article 310 punishes the absolute failure to keep commercial accounts or tax records under the direct assessment regime, the keeping of parallel sets of accounts, the omission or falsification of entries and the making of fictitious accounting entries.

Wording of Article 310 of the Spanish Criminal Code

Elements of the offence

1. A legal obligation under tax legislation to keep commercial accounts, books or tax records.
2. One of the four forms of conduct described in subparagraphs (a) to (d).
3. In the cases of subparagraphs (c) and (d), the omission of the tax returns or their correspondence with the false accounts.
4. In those same cases, a quantitative threshold of 240,000 euros for each financial year, without arithmetical set off between debits and credits.

Defence strategy

Effect of a tax regularisation. Article 305.4 expressly prevents prosecution for accounting irregularities connected with a debt which has been regularised. Where the regularisation is available, it resolves this offence as well, which is habitually overlooked when the two charges are examined separately.

The quantitative threshold. Subparagraphs (c) and (d) require the omitted or falsified entries to exceed 240,000 euros per financial year, without set off. Verifying the calculation, and in particular whether debits and credits have been improperly netted, frequently removes the offence.

Absolute failure as distinct from partial default. Subparagraph (a) requires an absolute failure to comply. Accounts which are incomplete, out of date or defectively kept do not satisfy that requirement, which is confined to the direct assessment regime.

Attribution of the accounting function. Liability lies with the person under the legal obligation. Where the accounts were kept by an external professional upon the information supplied, the attribution requires evidence that the information itself was falsified.

• Article 305 CP: tax fraud
• Article 290 CP: falsification of company accounts
• Company offences in Spain
• Criminal compliance in Spain

This entry is provided for information only and does not constitute legal advice. The application of any provision depends on the circumstances of the individual case and requires examination of the case file by a qualified lawyer.