There are hundreds of Gold shop operators who continue to operate without licenses.
This has cost the taxman a conservatively estimated €4.5 million so far, a figure based on an audit by the Finance Inspectorate which reports there are gold trading operators who have closed down their registered fiscal activity but continue to operate, paying no income tax, company tax and VAT.
The Finance Inspectorate report notes that the gold trade is "a huge area of activity with a risk of fraud and tax evasion, with an absence of proper supervision by the Tax Authority."
The inspectorate found "hundreds of operators which had licenses for the exercise of this activity, but those licenses had lapsed, most of them several years ago."
The Homeland Security Annual Report had already warned of the risk of fraud in this sector, boosted by the economic crisis but Finanças inspectors seem to have done little to halt the illegal trade.
The report noted that "difficulties accessing credit and the consequent illiquidity experienced in various industries, promotes illicit businesses,"
The trade in gold and precious metals was singled out as one of the main areas where fraudulçent activity was commonplace.
