El Rubius, sentenced in Spain for tax evasion: how much he will have to pay

This was concluded by the Court of Justice of Madrid Ruben Doblas Gundersenpopularly known as El Rubius used a company for Evading taxes between 2013 and 2014. For this reason, one of the Spanish-speaking stars of YouTube and Twitch will have to take on an exorbitant amount of money.

As revealed by the Spanish media elDiario.es, the Treasury discovered the fraud by the youtuber, who settled in Andorra to avoid having to pay taxes, but the final sentence was recently pronounced by the Superior Court of Justice in Madrid ( TSJM).

After the verdict, the influencer will have to pay the €49,629.71 Irpef which he avoided paying in 2013 when he used the aforementioned company to pay taxes. Additionally, you will have to deal with a fine of 23,140.91 euros for the tax evasion regime.

The Treasury inspection began in 2015. The public body conducted its investigations on two fronts: it studied the tax returns of Rubén Doblas and also analyzed those of the company which it began using in 2013 to channel its come in, formerly named after his channel, The Rubius OMG SL and then named snofokk. At the time, the content creator was the majority owner.

Following its own investigations, the Revenue Agency found that the benefits of this company had not been correctly declared. The streamer was taxed through the corporate tax and not through the personal income tax (IRPF). That is, he opted for a lower tax rate to save money when, at the time, he was the only worker.

Last November, the Treasury ordered the recovery of 15,797 which it had paid in excess in 2013 for personal income tax, which was repeated the following year, with even higher amounts (48,004 euros).

The youtuber would have had to pay more taxes on his income, since the company he created to pay less did not justify any contribution to his career beyond the attempt to deceive the Spanish taxman.

On the other hand, the court has just rejected the defense appeals of the youtuber. The new ruling on El Rubius’ 2013 Irpef declaration supports the two decisions of the Revenue Agency: both the payment of almost 50,000 euros and the fine of a further 23,000 euros.

Andorra, the “tax haven” of youtubers

On January 18, 2021, El Rubius made the decision to announce that he was leaving Spain to continue his career from Andorra, an optimal geographical location in the middle of the Pyrenees, between Spain and France. The youtuber has expressed the desire, in principle, to meet his friends and professional colleagues.

But that was not the only reason why Rubén Doblas bet on his future in the small European country, but also the large difference in taxes with Spain came into play.

in Andorra, income tax is only 10%the same percentage as that of businesses, and the VAT is only 4.5%.

Likewise, its taxation is much lower and less progressive than that of neighboring countries.

This has caused merchants, influencers or digital commerce entrepreneurs to follow the example of El Rubius, whose decision has generated controversy in Spain.

With information from La Vanguardia.