Good news for Vodafone, since the operator has emerged victorious in relation to the dispute that had been open for years with the Treasury. Due to the improper charges linked to the IAE, the operator will pocket an amount of 219.8 million euros. Taking into account the high amount of the payment, it will surely be received at Vodafone with open arms.
A return of almost 200 million euros makes it clear that this is not an isolated case that occurred in a short period of time. In reality, the Treasury’s improper collection of the Economic Activities Tax took place for nine consecutive years. It began in the annual settlement of 2013 and was extended until 2022. Vodafone has not been the only operator affected, although the information about this return has just reached the press through the information obtained by Cinco DÃas.
This is how it has been discovered
The reason why this information has come into the hands of Cinco DÃas is that it is reflected in the accounts that Vodafone Spain has published corresponding to its last fiscal year. The accounts, which review the financial activity of the company between April 1 of last year 2023 and March 31 of this year 2024, have already been sent to the Commercial Registry. From what is mentioned, Vodafone, before passing into the hands of Zegona, had already computed the entire amount in its accounts.
Of course, at the moment it is indicated that the Treasury has sent 53.8 million euros of the total, leaving around 136 million euros pending that they will receive at one time or another. With this payment, this period will close, which has meant a series of comings and goings for Vodafone since, in 2020, the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) determined that the Government could not continue applying this charge to companies. telecommunications. After that, the operators took the case to court and were victorious, which resulted in the charge being stopped in 2022.
The light at the end of the tunnel for the operators was seen in mid-2022, at which time Vodafone already won its first ruling before the Supreme Court. At that time, the accounts for 2013, the first year affected, were still being settled. Of them, the operator managed to recover 29.8 million. From there the sentences and adjustments continued, which have led to all operators finding themselves in a similar situation. Now, as we indicated, the path is about to end and Vodafone is already aware that it will be able to close the chapter shortly with the recovery of all the funds that were improperly collected.
Looking to the future
We read in Cinco DÃas that, as a result of this results report, they have also discovered something additional that is quite interesting. Thus, it is discovered that Vodafone Group, at the time it made the decision to sell the operator to Zegona, decided to include in the conditions a series of points to take into account. Its objective was to protect itself against the possibility that the new owner of the operator would not be able to face the different responsibilities to which it was committing itself in the operation.
At that time, the loans that the operator’s parent company had in Spain with Vodafone Group in the United Kingdom were liquidated. To do this, funds obtained from new loan agreements with Zegona were used. Based on the particularities of the signed contract, it is discovered that, if Zegona fails to make the payments due, Vodafone Group could even recover a part of the capital of Vodafone Spain. In order for this not to happen, Zegona has to ensure that the operator’s financial ratio in Spain remains within a series of certain ranges. For now no verification has been carried out in this regard, but the first one is already known to take place on March 31 of next year 2025.
However, taking into account the good path on which Vodafone Spain is moving, it is most likely that the operator will not have problems achieving its financial objectives. After all, in recent months we have seen how the entity is reorganizing itself, carrying out a solid restructuring and promoting a presence in the market that indicates that it will be increasingly greater.
