Madrid: Spain has clawed back 28 billion euros ($37 billion) since launching a crackdown on tax fraud two years ago in a bid to fix public finances, the government said on Tuesday.
Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro said the government`s efforts netted 11.5 billion euros in 2012, just under 11 billion in 2013 and 5.5 billion in the first half of this year.
The conservative government moved to stamp out tax evasion from 2012, ordering more tax inspections and setting limits on cash transactions.
That was part of a series of tough measures to save Spain from a financial crisis that rattled the whole eurozone.
Montoro called tax evasion a "scourge" of Spain, where fiscal officials estimated the black economy accounted for nearly a quarter of the country`s output in 2012.
"We are convinced that continuous action against fraudsters is the only way to end this scourge, which is a real social menace and slows down our recovery," Montoro told a parliamentary commission.
