The income statement is a document that must be submitted annually. However, not everyone is required to do so. Those who do not reach a limit do not have to. But, what happens if I get paid but I am not required to file the declaration?
Would I have to present it to pay the taxes that correspond to me? Does the Treasury keep that amount for when we have to present it? We tell you everything below.
What is the tax return
The income statement, also known as IRPF, which would be the Income Tax of individuals, is actually a tribute that a group is obliged to present to the Tax Agency. It must reflect the income that has been obtained during a year, as well as the expenses, and in this way it is determined if money must be paid or received from the Treasury.
Depending on the income that has been obtained in the year, there are people who are not obliged to present it while others do have that obligation, and of them there are those who have to pay and those who receive money.
Who is required to file the tax return?
In general, any natural person, Spanish or not, who has lived in Spain for at least 183 days, is required to submit it. Also those whose main headquarters of their economic activities.
There are some exceptions, of course, but in general, anyone who receives income is required to file it, otherwise they would be incurring a penalty that can be minor or serious (and involve paying a large sum of money).
Who is not required
Given the above, it is clear that there are people who would not fall into that group. In general, those that are not required are:
- Those who do not reach 22.000 euros per year. In other words, throughout a calendar year (from January to December) you have not earned 22.000 euros. This is relative, because it must be with a single payer; if there are several (for example, that you have had different contracts), then provided that the sum of the second and those that come after do not exceed 1500 euros together.
- That you earn less than 14.000 euros per year. This occurs when you have several payers and the set of the second and following is greater than those 1500 euros that we were talking about before.
- Have passive benefits. Such as a Social Security pension, pension plans, group insurance, dependency insurance...
What if I'm not obligated
If you are within the groups that we have mentioned before, it is most likely that you have been happy because you do not have to present the tax return, but is it really so?
Actually, there are two assumptions in which you can be:
- That you are not obliged and still make a draft of the income statement to see if it comes out to be returned or paid.
- That you are not obliged and do not inform yourself if this is the case.
And it is that, in Treasury matters, many make the mistake of thinking that they do not have to present it when in fact they do have to. Normally, doubts arise when a benefit is received (unemployment, temporary disability...).
For this reason, even though you consider that you are not obliged, you should consult it to see if this is the case, since in case you were obliged and did not present it, it may mean having to pay a fine.
If the declaration comes out to return
Within the draft of the non-obligated persons, you can find yourself with the assumption that it will come back to you. That is, the Treasury must pay you an amount of money because you have overpaid throughout the year.
This is a common situation and many experts consider that it would be good, even if you are not required, to present it in order to recover that money. Otherwise, the money would stay with the Treasury.
Now, it may happen that the amount to be returned is minimal, before which the person can decide to present it or not.
Other situations in which you may find yourself is that you need to prove a lack of income. For example, in the face of unemployment benefits, a job activation program or to apply for active insertion income.
The proof that they are going to ask you is going to be the income tax return with which, although you are not obliged, it would be good to present it.
Finally, it will also help you apply deductions. We speak, for example, of maternity or paternity, of a large family or of the nursery check. These are negative taxes, where you will receive money yes or yes, regardless of whether you have to pay taxes (or you get to return). Of course, you must meet the requirements.
What happens if I get paid but I am not required to file the return?
At the other extreme would be the situation where the declaration would go out to pay; in other words, that you had to pay the Treasury because you have not complied with the taxes in full. Can they force you to present it in those cases?
The truth is that no. If you get paid but you are not required to file the statement, you do not have to file it. In other words, as long as you do not reach the minimum, you would not have to make the declaration even if the result that comes out is to pay the Treasury.
It is not such a rare situation, it can happen, but by not meeting the requirements that are requested to force you to make the declaration, even if it means collecting money that corresponds to the Treasury, they cannot force you. Another thing is that you, voluntarily, want to fulfill that obligation to pay your taxes in full.
So, if you get paid but you are not obligated, you do not have to worry. Just make sure that you have taken into account all the income, expenses and other aspects to be reflected in the declaration to really know if you are exempt. To do this, there is nothing better than having the draft, although we also recommend you make one yourself, taking into account all the data that you must include for that previous year.