If you’re using one of the many free VPNs available to bypass regional blocking and watch movies and TV shows based in countries other than ours, we have bad news for you: The Treasury doesn’t want you to do that.

Setting up a VPN is very simple and more than just what MIUI offers us in our Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO terminals. But that goes head-to-head with a new measure approved by the Tax Office (AEAT): Observe the location of citizens’ mobile phones. A legitimate financial weapon.

Treasure can spy on your geolocation from your mobile (and it’s legal)

Is the treasure watching over us? Yes and legit as they take advantage of Google rate. According to the Tax Law on Certain Digital Services in force since January 2021, calculating the usage and consumption of certain services of some tech giants means knowing the IP of the mobile, to be able to track and trace according to geographical location and to receive tax accordingly.

“A particular device of a user will be deemed to be located in a place determined by ip address, but this location cannot be concluded by other means of proof that can be accepted as another evidence. law, in particular, the use of other geolocation tools”, says this law that has already been enacted.

While this measure doesn’t convince everyone—because it suggests more interesting uses than the main purpose—there doesn’t seem to be any other option. This The cost of prosecuting tax evasion in an increasingly digital world.

And why should it affect us that a fight over taxes becomes a magnifying glass to keep a close eye on everything we do? Because every time you order food through Just Eat, shop on Amazon, or verify a trip on your mobile, you’re sending information about tax processing, Capital to control company profit.

And trying to avoid it through a VPN could constitute an attempt to evade liability and hide tax information, at least in theory. Yes, we are talking about digital information that can be requested from a company after all. And it’s not about fraud or tax evasion, but there is a presumption of guilt nonetheless. Specifically and under Article 111 of the CFF, III. According to the section, that is, It can be considered a crime against persons who partially or completely conceal, alter or destroy their accounting systems and records.as well as documents related to the relevant seats that must be carried according to tax laws.