The Supreme Court ruled in early October that Public benefits for maternity Social Security, which the working parents perceive during the leave after the birth of a child, are exempt from personal income tax.
Treasury promised a few days later I would elaborate a specific form on-line so that mothers could process returns simply and quickly, and the technicians advised to wait for him, to avoid collapses in the Tax Agency (AEAT).
Time is still running and the Treasury has not yet provided this form, although according to its director could be in the next few days, since they have already crossed the data with Social Security, essential step to make returns.
Even so, we must not yet jump for joy, since according to calculations of the finance technicians, Only 17% of mothers who have received maternity benefits are entitled to the return of their personal income tax.
We have spoken with José María Mollinedo, general secretary of the Technical Union of the Ministry of Finance, Gestha, who tells us what the status of the returns of the IRPF of maternity benefits:
“The director of the Tax Agency, Jesús Gascón, explained in the XVII tax conference, organized by the Spanish Association of Tax Advisors and Tax Managers, that Social Security has already sent the data on maternity leave to AEAT, and that the idea is to start right away with the IRPF return request on their website ”.
It is intended to be an easy procedure in which the information is already crossed and taxpayers do not have to provide proof, and thus proceed quickly to the return.
In Babies and more El Supremo confirms that maternity benefits are exempt from personal income tax: you can claim if you have paid it as of 2014Wait for the form
There are mothers who have already submitted the request for return to the AEAT, but the technicians recommend waiting and doing so by the standardized route that can be launched through the Treasury website.
From the first moment "We have advised mothers to wait for the form, which is designed to expedite the procedures and not collapse the AEAT", explains Mollinedo, because:
“The return request is in no hurry, as there is no prescription. The return of 2014, the furthest statement, does not prescribe until June 30, 2019, so there are still seven months. ”
Only 17 percent will receive IRPF refund
Treasury technicians estimate that only 17.1% of affected mothers and fathers between 2014 and 2017 will benefit from the exemption from personal income tax in maternity and paternity benefits.
The general secretary of Gestha warns that this calculation is an average that results from dividing the number of mothers affected by the amount to be retained, but that There are clear differences according to the Autonomous Community where you reside, given that salaries vary significantly from one another.
So, the returns will be higher in those places where the highest salaries are traditionally recorded: while in the Community of Madrid the percentage of beneficiaries reaches 27.2%, in Extremadura it will be only 7.5%.
In Navarra, on the other hand, they will not receive any refund, since since January 1, 2013, the maternity benefit is an income subject to personal income tax and not exempt in accordance with its regional regulations. Meanwhile, in Álava, with their own tax powers, they may request a refund since 2013.
In Babies and more, Basque farms will return the IRPF of maternity leave, but Navarra will notAge and low wages influence
The general secretary of Gestha explains that the fundamental reason why so few mothers will receive the return of the withholdings is:
“The low salary that, in general terms, women of maternity age (between 25-35 years old) obtain and the lowest remuneration for working part-time, more common in young women. Thus, at a lower salary, less retention of companies in their payrolls and therefore less return or none of IRPF ”.
In fact, 83% of working mothers receive salaries below 18,400 euros per year. The technician explains, so that we understand it, that the companies calculate the withholdings on the income that they really expect to pay in those eight months, so that amount is reduced to 12,300 euros, an amount for which no retentions are usually made.
"There is also no retention for personal income tax within four months of maternity benefits, unless the woman requests it, something that is very unusual."
Thus, of the 1,100,000 people who could benefit from the IRPF exemption, it is estimated that less than 200,000 mothers and fathers will receive 266 million for the withholdings made by the Treasury since 2014, to which the corresponding default interest will be added.
How to calculate the amount of the return
Explains the general secretary of Gestha, that it is impossible to perform a general calculation to know how much will be returned on average to each mother since:
"Each person would be reimbursed based on the amount of the rest of the income, their personal and family circumstances, the deductions they have had and the deductions that have been applied."
As José María Mollinedo explained before:
"To a person who earns 14,000 euros a year and has charged 3,000 euros of maternity the difference in fee would be approximately 380 euros, which does not mean that they were returned, because surely with those amounts they would almost have already returned everything in the income of the year ”.
If you have earned 54,000 euros a year and charged 3,000 euros of maternity, the difference in fee would be 1,100 euros. And there you would be entitled to a refund, although the amount varies depending on whether you have to deduct rent or mortgage, minor children (before the birth of your last baby), if you have older dependents ...
“Each case must be studied separately.. What we have asked the Treasury, and it seems to be what they are working on, is on their own website for these cases, that by simply entering the data calculate the amount to be returned ”.
In Babies and more How to claim the return of personal income tax you have paid for your maternity benefitCheck if you can request the return
Although they do not have the right to return, José María Mollinedo advises Check if there is a right to return on the website prepared by the AEAT, since, in addition, they may also be interested in rectifying the income statement of the previous year to those mothers who may be beneficiaries of grants, scholarships or social assistance that are granted based on the declared family income: places in schools or nursery schools public or, scholarships of books or dining room ...
The technician also remembers that “The woman may submit the declaration to obtain the return even if she had not made the declaration at the time, because she was not obligated” and that:
“The rectification of the income tax declaration implies the interruption of the limitation period. Therefore, the four years will be counted again since the rectification is agreed, in case it is necessary to make further modifications ”.
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