US credit cards: Reporting to UE?

[thomasparra]

A Spanish passport holder stays in Spain for a portion of the year. He has no bank account in the country or no bills under his name, and is a tax resident in another country (outside EU) and spends with cash or with a US credit card from a large bank.

Does Spanish tax office can have direct access (e.g. CRS/AEOI) to this information on the credit card (cardholder name, amounts, dates) or they could only get it once an official request is submitted by tax office on this particular individual or a court order?

 

[Marzio]

they could only get it once an official request is submitted by tax office on this particular individual or a court order

this one.

 

[thomasparra]

this one.

Thank you.

Can they associate credit card use to a specific individual in any other ways? I know that in some countries, such as the US the cardholder name can appear on some receipts (on receipts with tips at F&B businesses, or a hotel when they hold a deposit - I have seen this in multiple countries).

If they don't get this information from the credit card issuer, is there some other sorts of automatic reporting done by the payment processor, the merchant or any payment intermediaries directly?

 

[Sols]

There have been a couple of sting operations where ATMs and POS terminals were scraped for data (cardholder name is often taken from the card and saved) about cards from tax havens and matched against local tax records.

These sting operations have focused on cards issued in places like Cayman Islands, Belize, Panama, and so on. Not really the US.

There are far too many American tourists for anyone to pay you any mind, not to mention a lot of Americans have Spanish names anyway.

 

[thomasparra]

There have been a couple of sting operations where ATMs and POS terminals were scraped for data (cardholder name is often taken from the card and saved) about cards from tax havens and matched against local tax records.

These sting operations have focused on cards issued in places like Cayman Islands, Belize, Panama, and so on. Not really the US.

There are far too many American tourists for anyone to pay you any mind, not to mention a lot of Americans have Spanish names anyway.

This is indeed somewhat targeted. I was curious about data cross-referencing from a database (from the issuer, or payment processor that could be EU based, or simply the merchant processing company) that could be accessed including cardholder names.

 

[jafo]

This is indeed somewhat targeted. I was curious about data cross-referencing from a database (from the issuer, or payment processor that could be EU based, or simply the merchant processing company) that could be accessed including cardholder names.

If your name is Joe Smith, I doubt they will follow through. I speak here from experience.

Now, if your name is Esquiveliano Mauricio Nappavaliyu (I made this name up - doesn't exist as far as I know) then you could be targeted. It's a rare name and may be the only one. This has happened to a friend of mine, but he also had real estate in Madrid that "they could put hands on", even though he never lived in Spain and was never a tax resident in Spain. Hacienda opened a case against him in Spain and filed a lien against his apt. in Spain. He had to get an attorney and "defend" it. In the end, Hacienda got MORE from the taxes the attorneys paid on the income they earned from his defense than had he just paid Hacienda's tax bill. He did "win" his case though.

Moral of the story: If they can put their hands on something material that they suspect belongs to you within their "borders", they WILL!

As far as requesting information from the US, Hacienda just won't (easily) as you can start discovery in the US and file motions for Subpoena Duces Tecum. No way, a Spaniard working for Hacienda (or any other jurisdiction) is going to submit to a US federal court and risk putting his liberty at stake. I also know this from experience.

During the MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE TREATY process, the US counterparts will warn the other side NOT to allow themselves to be submitted to US Federal courts. As in many cases, some do, but only really during the sentencing period. In other words, the defendant is already convicted in US court and the US judge sets a sentencing hearing to determine the criminal history points and hear testimony.

Good luck!

 

[Radko]

Hacienda analysis a few thousand card transactions every year, mainly those cards that have a lot of activity over several months.
Once they start checking a card they will contact the card company to get the bank account linked to that card.
If the card has no name on it, they will contact the bank that issued that card to get the name of the card holder. Then they will check if that person is a tax resident in Spain, if he/she is not a tax resident they will ignore that card.

Keep in mind that in 2019 Spain had over 80 million tourist visiting the country, that's a lot of credit/debit cards to check.

I do know they have recently added artificial intelligence to help them identify suspicious cards.

I don't think you have anything to worry as long as you don't use that card for more than a few months every year.

 

[jafo]

mainly those cards that have a lot of activity over several months

#Bingo! An "acquaintance of an acquaintance" has dozens or so credit cards. He uses only 1 every 90% of the allowable time on his visa (so if 90-day visa, he uses the cc for 81 days max). After that, he moves to the next cc. Rinse and repeat!

If the card has no name on it, they will contact the bank that issued that card to get the name of the card holder.

This may work with banks in Europe, but I can only imagine some banker in Mississippi getting a request from some "communist Spanish corrupt tax man"*** about the bank's clients.

*** (in +40 years, I haven't met one American who didn't agree with me when I mentioned that Europe is a socialist/communist place - Americans lose their mind over such things....so easy to get them on your side - play them like a fiddle)

 

[Radko]

#Bingo! An "acquaintance of an acquaintance" has dozens or so credit cards. He uses only 1 every 90% of the allowable time on his visa (so if 90-day visa, he uses the cc for 81 days max). After that, he moves to the next cc. Rinse and repeat!

This may work with banks in Europe, but I can only imagine some banker in Mississippi getting a request from some "communist Spanish corrupt tax man"*** about the bank's clients.

*** (in +40 years, I haven't met one American who didn't agree with me when I mentioned that Europe is a socialist/communist place - Americans lose their mind over such things....so easy to get them on your side - play them like a fiddle)

Well, the Spanish government at moment is made up of the Socialist and Communist party, in case anyone has any doubt.

Hence the new official name "EUSSR."

 

[yngmind]

Well, the Spanish government at moment is made up of the Socialist and Communist party, in case anyone has any doubt.

Hence the new official name "EUSSR."

Lol, it really looks like the USSR.

Schengen like the USSR had, one currency, similar laws, but different taxes.