The union of technicians of the Ministry of Finance, Gestha, recommends that salaried workers who earn between 15,876 and 20,000 euros gross per year submit the Income Tax Declaration, although they are not required to do so in all cases. His argument is practical. This section is where the new deduction linked to the increase in the interprofessional minimum wage, set at 1,221 euros per month in 14 payments, can make the difference between paying and recovering part of the withholdings.
According to calculations released by Gestha, the extension of the tax adjustment would allow those who earn up to 17,094 euros to remain untaxed, while the effect is progressively reduced to 20,000 euros. The union estimates that 2,976,220 taxpayers could obtain a real advantage if they file the declaration, even in cases in which, as a general rule, they would not be required to file it.
The recommendation seeks to avoid a common scenario in low and medium incomes. With withholdings applied during the year, it may happen that the taxpayer is entitled to a refund, but only obtains it if he/she submits the self-assessment. In other words, for many adjusted salaries, the declaration is not a procedure to pay, but rather the way to collect the extra withheld.
The territorial map drawn by Gestha places the Canary Islands, Murcia and Extremadura as the communities with the highest percentage of salaried workers within that salary range. The union links it to a combination of structural factors, such as a lower average salary amount, a greater presence of part-time work and a higher weight of temporary contracts. At the other extreme are Catalonia, Madrid and Aragon, with a smaller proportion of workers in that income bracket.
Even so, due to pure demographic dimension, the absolute volume of beneficiaries is concentrated in the communities with the largest employed population. Gestha points out that Andalusia, Catalonia, Madrid and the Valencian Community bring together just over half of the employees with incomes between 15,876 and 20,000 euros, 52.1% of the total in that range.
The technicians also remember that the obligation to declare remains in the usual cases. Those who earn more than 15,876 euros and have two or more payers must present the income, unless what is received from the second and remaining payers does not exceed 1,500 euros per year. With a single payer, the general threshold for not being obligated is 22,000 euros, although these limits cease to operate if the taxpayer has other income, such as rent or income from an economic activity, or if other circumstances provided for in the regulations occur.
Gestha expands the focus to a second group. Employees who earn between 20,000 and 22,000 euros do not qualify for the enhanced deduction, but they may be interested in filing the return if they have other deductions that allow them to recover part of the withholdings that, in many cases, are quite close to the final amount.
In practice, the union’s advice boils down to a simple idea. In adjusted incomes, it is advisable not to assume that “it is not time” to make the income. The decision may depend on details such as the number of payers, the level of withholding applied or the existence of additional deductions. For those who are close to the thresholds, submitting the declaration can be, more than an obligation, an opportunity to not leave money in the hands of the Treasury.