The Income tax return 2025 It should be presented in a few months and will introduce important changes that taxpayers should be aware of and take into account. Among the most notable modifications are the new measures related to personal income tax (Personal Income Tax), which will affect both workers and unemployed people, who until now were not required to carry out this procedure. Some of these adjustments are included in Royal Decree-Law 2/2024, which includes the reform of unemployment benefits.
Among the measures included in this standard is that the Unemployed people who receive unemployment benefits must submit the Income Tax return. This will affect all subsidies, including the subsidy for those over 52 years of age, who must complete the process twice. That is, submit the Income Tax and the DAR (annual income declaration). In addition, some workers will be exempt, thus eliminating the obligation to pay personal income tax.
On the other hand, changes are introduced when making payments, as well as the use of Bizum, the objective of the Tax Agency being to facilitate their use. Below, all these developments are explained and how they affect taxpayers, with special attention to the new obligations of unemployed people.
The change in the 2025 Income Tax return
Starting next year, All unemployed people who receive unemployment benefits will be required to file their personal income tax return.regardless of how much they have earned. This measure is included in Royal Decree-Law 2/2024, which introduces changes in the regulation of unemployment benefits and modifies various articles of the General Social Security Law (LGSS).
Until now, unemployed taxpayers were only required to file the Income Tax return if their annual income exceeded 22,000 euros, or 15,000 euros, if they had two or more payers. However, with the entry into force of this new rule, the obligation will be extended exclusively to those who have received unemployment benefits, similar to what already happens with the beneficiaries of the Minimum Vital Income, who are also required to present the declaration.
Personal income tax threshold adjusted to the SMI
In 2025, The Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) will be exempt from personal income tax. That is, those who earn 15,876 euros per year (1,134 euros in 14 payments) will be exempt from the Personal Income Tax as regulated by Royal Decree 142/2024.
It should be remembered that this income tax exempt threshold has undergone several modifications in recent years. In 2022, it stood at 14,000 euros per year, rising to 15,000 euros in 2023. Now, for 2024, this limit rises to 15,876 euros, in line with the new SMI. The increase in the exempt minimum will benefit some 5.2 million taxpayers, according to estimates by the Ministry of Finance.
Some examples of how the measure will benefit are:
- Workers with income equal to the SMI (15,876 euros annually): in 2018 they supported 7% withholdings (1,111 euros). In 2025 they will not have withholdings, saving those 1,111 euros.
- Retirees with pensions of 17,000 euros per year: their withholdings will fall from 1,462 euros in 2018 to only 224 euros in 2025.
- Married worker, with two children, with an annual income of 20,000 euros: in 2018 she had withholdings of 1,852 euros. In 2024, these will be reduced to 1,346 euros.
Groups exempt from declaring in 2025
On the other hand, for next year and as in 2024 there will be a group of groups that will be exempt from personal income tax in 2025. These are the groups:
- Victims of terrorism must not declare extraordinary public benefits or pensions related to decorations or medals awarded for acts of terrorism.
- People affected by HIV who receive aid regulated by Royal Decree-Law 9/1993 are exempt from submitting the declaration.
- Legally or judicially recognized personal injury compensation for civil liability is also included in this exemption.
- Pensioners who suffered injuries during the Civil War, covered by special legislation or the Passive Classes regime, will not have to complete this procedure.
- Annuities for maintenance derived from judicial decisions will also not be subject to the obligation to declare.
- Benefits intended for the accommodation of disabled people, those over 65 years of age or minors in modalities such as simple, permanent or pre-adoptive are exempt, along with their regional equivalents.
- Relevant cultural and scientific awards, such as the Prince of Asturias Awards, should not be declared.
- High-level athletes who receive financial aid linked to programs of the Higher Sports Council or the Spanish Olympic Committee will also be exempt from submitting the Income Tax return.
Pay the income tax return through Bizum
The Tax Agency introduces an important novelty in 2025 and it is the possibility of paying the income tax return through Bizum and credit cardin addition to traditional bank transfers through Renta WEB Open.
The incorporation of Bizum and credit cards aims to adapt the tax system to the current preferences of citizens. And it makes all the sense in the world, since according to data from the Bank of Spain, a third of Spaniards use Bizum to make electronic payments and a similar proportion prefers credit cards.