Soledad Fernández clarifies that her departure from the State Tax Administration Agency is not linked to the investigation into José Luis Zapatero

The former director of the State Tax Administration Agency, Soledad Fernández Doctor, has disassociated her recent departure from the agency from the inspection of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, explaining that she wanted to leave that position "a long time before."

During her appearance before the Senate's investigative committee on SEPI, the former director of the Tax Agency was asked by the Popular Party, to which she responded that the matter related to Zapatero "had nothing to do" with her decision to leave the position. For their part, the 'populares' accused the former director of the Tax Agency of having allowed "these matters to prescribe," something that Soledad Fernández denied on several occasions during her appearance.

Regarding the Tax Agency's involvement in this case, Soledad Fernández explained the procedure followed by the agency on these occasions: "We have opened investigations when we understood that they had to be done and we have acted according to the deadlines within which we understood we should do so," Fernández highlighted.

PP Senator, Salvador de Foronda, also underwent an interrogation, in which he said that businessman Julio Martínez did not file income tax returns for several years and the Tax Agency was aware that he was collecting as an administrator with withholdings. "How is it possible that it doesn't flag that he doesn't file an income tax return, that he is collecting as an administrator and it doesn't flag him? And what's more, he also paid 60,000 euros a month for a property on Diego de León street, and it turns out that his accounts were at zero. Does this not give you enough to initiate a procedure?" the PP senator asked.

Given this situation, the former director of the Tax Agency has admitted that she does not understand how the agency's mechanisms did not activate: "If it has happened, it is a regrettable error". However, she has also revealed that the management area has taken "some action" related to businessman Julio Martínez. All of this has occurred despite her invoking her confidentiality obligations to avoid answering various questions related to former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in the Senate's SEPI investigation committee. "There are many topics you are asking me about that I, due to my confidentiality obligations required by Article 95.3 of the Tax Agency, will not be able to answer," Soledad stated.