Speculation Grows Over a $4.7 Million Tax Bill Paid With Goyas

Speculation grows over using money from valuable pieces, such as Francisco Goya and Francisco de Zurbarán works, for paying off a tax bill, owed to the local government of Álava in Spain’s Basque Country. These pieces are worth around $4.3 million, and the tax bill debt was $4.7 million.

Speculation Over Ownership

francisco goya sleep reason produces monsters etching 1797, Speculation — The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters by Francisco Goya, 1797. Source: Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Since the debtor’s name remained a secret, rumors regarding the collection’s beginnings circulated. Among the artworks paid in kind are some 200 etchings by Goya, including original copies from his Disasters of War, Disparates, Los proverbios, and Caprichosseries. Furthermore, the Álava Treasury acquired about 85 paintings. This includes one of the Virgin Mary attributed to de Zurbarán.

There are also several more paintings by another 20th-century artist Ignacio Diaz de Olano. In 2022, these projects accounted for around 20% of the income taxes collected in Álava. Public records indicate that the entire collection may be linked to the Celaya Foundation, which manages the estate of local businessman Juan Celaya, who passed away in 2016. This is despite the arrangement being apparently confidential.

francisco goya blind mans buff cartoon painting 1788, Speculation — Blind Man’s Buff by Francisco Goya, 1788. Source: Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Perfectly Legal?

It is unclear who obtained ownership of these works and then stopped paying taxes because the foundation does not owe any money. But, the in-kind payment may qualify as connected to obligations owed by Juan Celaya’s 1934-founded battery company, Cegasa. That business did, however, still owing taxes in 2023 totaling €1.3 million ($1.4 million). Furthermore, the most significant pieces were essentially already a part of the public heritage.

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The Arteta triptych was loaned to the Guggenheim Bilbao in 2021, and the valuable Goya etchings were given to the municipal museum of fine arts in 2018. Before being rented out, the Goya etchings were valued at €191,000 ($207,000) by insurance in 2018. Today, their combined estimated value is €1.5 million ($1.6 million). The Arteta triptych’s worth, meanwhile, rose by €200,000 ($217,000) since 2018 to €1.2 million ($1.3 million).

inquisition tribunal goya — The Inquisition Tribunal, by Francisco Goya, c. 1812-1819, via Wikimedia Commons.

The generated numbers almost exactly match the amount of tax payable with the overall value of the collection. A treasury spokesperson has stated in the Spanish press that accepting cultural heritage in lieu of money to clear a tax bill is perfectly legal. It is also not subject to a wealth tax. Spain is not the only country that accepts this form of payment. In the U.K., art is often donated to the state as a means of covering inheritance tax.