General view of an AEAT office in Madrid, on June 8, 2020 Eduardo Parra / Europa Press / EUROPA PRESS
The income campaign that begins on April 7 will be marked by the ERTE, a tool that has been made more flexible by the pandemic and that will force more taxpayers to file the return.
In addition, many of them will get paid.
So that this burden is not too onerous, the Treasury will approve in the next few days a regulatory change that allows these taxpayers to divide the personal income tax payment without interest for six months, from July to December.
This campaign also brings news in personal income tax for groups such as the self-employed or beneficiaries of the minimum vital income.
Some 3.5 million workers were last year under the umbrella of temporary employment regulation files (ERTE).
This scheme has prevented the economic crisis caused by the pandemic from being translated into an avalanche of layoffs, but it will also cause changes in the face of the treasury.
The Tax Agency (AEAT) already published a note last week to clear up doubts about how workers affected by an ERTE should declare personal income tax in 2020.
This is how you have to make the income statement if you have received an ERTE benefit or the minimum income
These benefits are taxed as income from work, but who pays them, the Public Employment Service (SEPE), is a different payer to the Treasury than the employer.
The difference is not less.
The law exempts you from filing the statement when the income from work is less than 22,000 euros if they come from the sole payer.
If there is more than one, things change: the amount from which it is mandatory to file personal income tax returns to 14,000 euros if more than 1,500 euros have been entered for the second and other payers.
This year there will be about 327,000 new filers for complying with these assumptions, according to the AEAT.
But this is not the only novelty.
The monthly IRPF withholdings included in the payroll during the year anticipate what is owed to the treasury - and the statement adjusts accounts - but the SEPE is not obliged to apply these advances if the amounts are less than 14,000 euros, unless the taxpayer has requested it.
This means that the income statement can come out if the withholding has been lower than it should have been, since the tax is levied on the sum of all income.
Faced with this scenario, the Tax Agency is sending informational letters to all these new filers.
In them he informs them that they may choose to divide the payment into six equal parts without interest if the statement pays him: the first will be on July 20 and the last on December 20.
The possibility is open to all taxpayers who had an ERTE in 2020, also to those who are not new filers.
Until now it was possible to divide the personal income tax payment, but only in two: the initial 60% at the end of the rental campaign and the remaining 40% at the beginning of November.
The new modality will be approved in the coming days through a ministerial order.
The pandemic has also prompted other changes that have a fiscal impact.
Some of them are collected below.
Minimum income.
The 460,000 beneficiaries of the minimum vital income are required to present the income tax return.
The AEAT, which is also sending informational letters to this group, clarifies that this benefit is exempt, but that amounts that exceed 11,279.39 euros (1.5 times the IPREM) must be declared as work income if, in addition to the minimum income, other aid is received for vulnerable groups.
Self-employed.
The government also launched new measures in 2020 that affect these workers.
Among them, the extraordinary benefit for cessation of activity that, according to Luis del Amo, technical secretary of the Registry of Tax Advisory Economists (REAF-CGE), “is taxed as work performance”.
The situation of the self-employed who pay in objective estimation is different - who do not declare according to income, but according to certain characteristics of their business.
"The 99 days of confinement in the first semester may be deducted from the closing days imposed by their community in the second," explains Del Amo.
In 2020, the reduction in the net return on activity was also extended from 5% to 20%, and from 35% for hotels, commerce and tourism.
Maternity deductions.
Mothers in ERTE with total suspension from working hours will not be entitled to the deduction during the months that they have been in this situation;
This exclusion does not apply if the ERTE has been a reduction of hours or part-time.
Deductions for large families or disabilities may be applied in any case.
Rentals.
The crisis caused by the covid has led many landlords to lower the rents to their tenants or to postpone their payment, which must be reflected in the statement.
"If there has been a deferral of rent, for example, from April to September, those months are not counted as income, while expenses can be deducted normally," explains Del Amo.
In the case of defaults, things change.
The period for which they can be deducted has been reduced from six months to three.
SEPE errors.
Several taxpayers in ERTE have received more than they should from the SEPE.
The AEAT has clarified that, if the amount has been refunded in 2020, there will be no problems with the declaration.
But if the refund has not been made and the taxpayer does not know its amount, things change.
The information note published last week by the Tax Agency distinguishes two scenarios: if the Public Employment Service has already started the procedure for reinstatement or if it has not yet done so.
In the first case, the SEPE will notify the AEAT and the tax data will show the two amounts, the amount received and the refund, already made or pending to be made to the SEPE by the taxpayer.
If he agrees with the amounts, "he may transfer that information to Renta Web and present the return normally."
On the contrary, if the regularization procedure has not started, Del Amo advises waiting: “It is the best.
The payment of the rent can be domiciled until June 25, and during this time the Tax Agency will incorporate the data communicated by the SEPE ”.
Alternatively, the taxpayer may reduce the income to be declared if he knows the amount or present the declaration and,
after
correcting
the error with the SEPE, request
its rectification and the return of undue income.
Deduction for donations.
The finance technicians (Gestha) recall that the Government has approved an increase in the tax relief from 75% to 80% for the first 150 euros donated and from 30% to 35% for the rest.
This percentage rises to 40% if the donation to the same entity has not decreased in the last three years.
The terms and conditions of the IRPF campaign
There is less than a week before the rental campaign begins.
This year it will be necessary to declare for the year 2020, marked by the pandemic and all the regulatory changes with fiscal impact that have caused the measures adopted by the Government.
The start date marked in the calendar is next Wednesday, April 7, and its end is June 30, the 25 if it is with direct debit.
However, the dates to be taken into account are different depending on whether the declaration is made online, or through the Administration's telephone or face-to-face assistance.
Since March 24, the Tax Agency already allows taxpayers to consult their tax data.
As of April 7, the declaration can only be submitted digitally.
In this case, no prior appointment is necessary, and the declaration can be made through the Renta Web program accessed from the Tax Agency page or the agency's application.
For this, it is necessary to have an electronic DNI, electronic certificate, Cl @ ve PIN or reference number.
The Tax Agency also allows you to make statements by phone with the assistance of your workers through the Le Llamamos plan.
In this case, taxpayers may request an appointment from May 4 to June 29, and from May 6 the service will be launched.
Those who prefer to go in person to one of the Tax Agency offices should also make an appointment.
In this case, they may request it from May 27 until the penultimate day of the campaign.
June 2 is the first day set to attend in person.
