Question about the Spanish Declaracion de la renta
I am very shocked today when I tried to process my renta (IRPF) for the first time. It says I owe €1,012.16 when my salary last year was just below €22,000. I started working full-time last year after my internship.
My salary now is above €30,000, does this mean I will be paying more next year? Do we actually have to pay something every year for the declaración de la renta apart from the declared amount?
Answers
These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
”You probably didn’t have enough withholdings. Some people get money back if they’ve had withholdings all year”
”As a general norm, you do not have to do the declaración de la renta (IRPF) if your income is under 22000€ from a single-payer or 15000 € from more than one payer”
”The fiscal year goes from January 1st to December 31st. If you made more than €15000 from more than one source, you do have to do the declaración de la renta (IRPF) in 2023”
”In the year that you change one contract to another with a different company and higher pay, the withholdings are usually incorrect and finally, an amount has to be paid. An opposite case is for example if you had a good job at the beginning of the year but then lost it and had lower/no income, then some amount will be returned to you”
”You work in a company? Then, you got a salary slip every month. You can find there how much tax was deducted from your salary. I guess you got this amount 1,012 Euro from the last year, so just check last year’s salary slip. From this year, because your salary gets high, so you pay more immediately. Income tax of salary is usually deducted from your salary. You can also see this in your salary slip”
”It’s likely because you paid less after the switch. I had the same issue. I normally actually get money back but this year I also had a bill. I switched firms and the newer firm actually paid less taxes despite me earning more and I didn’t notice. I only noticed the beginning of the year when they started paying correctly but I still wasn’t expecting the bill since I thought the higher tax was due to now doing a full-year calculation. It could be an error but I doubt it. See if you can get some deductibles to reduce the amount. You can also choose to pay the balance in instalments. I think its 2 instalments if not paying one go”
Conclusion
In conclusion, according to Spainguru Facebook group members, it seems that the reason for your unexpectedly high tax bill is likely due to insufficient withholdings when the member switched jobs and started earning a higher salary. This led to a lower amount of tax being deducted throughout the year, resulting in additional taxes owed when filing the declaration or declaracion de la renta. It’s important to note that the amount owed for the declaration is separate from monthly tax deductions. If your salary continues to increase, you may have a higher tax liability in the future. Reviewing your withholdings and consulting with a tax professional can help ensure your taxes align with your income to avoid surprises
