Who is obliged to make a tax return?

TAXATION IN SPAIN

Who is obliged to make a tax return?

* All individuals resident in Spain are obliged to make a tax return (whether by confirming a draft on Renta WEB or filing a return), except those who have received income exclusively from:

1. Personal earned income equal to or less than 22,000 euros a year:

* Provided it comes from a single payer.

* When there are several payers, provided the sum of the second and subsequent payers in order of amount does not exceed the sum of 1,500 euros.

* When the only earned income consist of passive benefits (social security or civil service pensions, benefits from pensions plans, collective insurance, mutual policies for social benefits, company social provision plans, insured provision plans and dependence insurance benefits), provided the applicable withholding rate has been determined in accordance with the established special regulatory procedure (at the taxpayer's request through the presentation of form 146).

The limit is fixed at 12,000 euros a year in the following cases:

d. When earned income comes from more than one payer and the sum of the amounts received from the second and subsequent payers in order of quantity does not exceed the sum of 1,500 euros a year.

e. When non-exempt maintenance payments or annual payments are received from a spouse.

f. When the payer of the earned income is not obliged to make withholdings.

g. When untaxed earned income is received subject to a fixed withholding rate.

In 2016 this corresponds to the withholding rate of 35 per cent or 19 per cent (when the earnings come from entities with a net turnover of less than 100,000 euros) applicable to remuneration received as administrators and members of Boards of Directors and their substitutes and other members of other representative bodies, as well as the withholding rate of 15 per cent applicable to income deriving from giving courses, lectures and similar or deriving from the writing of literary, artistic or scientific works, provided rights to exploit them are transferred.

2. Investment income and capital gains subject to withholdings or payment on account, with a joint limit of 1,600 euros a year.

Capital gains from the transfer or buy-back of shares or holdings in collective investment institutions for which it is not appropriate to determine the withholding base from the sum to be integrated into the tax base are excluded from the joint limit of 1,600 euros. When the withholding base has not been determined in accordance with the amount to the integrated into the tax base, the capital gain obtained from the transfer or buy-back of shares or holdings in collective investment institutions cannot be calculated as a capital gain subject to withholding or payment on account for the purposes of the allowances in the obligation to make a return.

3. Attributed income from property, income from treasury bills and grants for purchasing officially protected or valued price housing, with a joint limit of 1,000 euros a year.

Those who obtain earnings from employment, or from liquid capital or from economic activities, or capital gains under €1,000 all together nor those who have had, exclusively, capital losses under €500 will not have to submit tax return in any case.

However, although they are not obliged to make a return, all taxpayers entitled to receive a refund have to confirm the draft or present the tax return to obtain their refund.

The above limits apply both to individual and joint taxation.

In all cases, taxpayers who receive any type of income other than the above or exceed the maximum sums indicated are obliged to make a tax return.