8.7.5 Maternity deduction

This deduction will reduce the differential tax rate. Therefore, if your declaration results in a refund, the refund amount will increase and if the result of the declaration is positive, the amount to be paid will decrease.

The following may benefit from this deduction (Art.81 and Additional Provision 38 point 4 LIRPF):
- Women with children under three years of age who are entitled to apply the minimum for descendants, who carry out an activity on their own or for another's account for which they are registered in the corresponding Social Security or Mutual Insurance scheme.
  
  For the purposes of this deduction and for the tax periods 2020, 2021 and 2022, it will be understood that women who, as of January 1, 2020, have been in any of the following situations continue to carry out an activity on their own or as an employee for which they are registered with Social Security or a mutual fund:
  1. Self-employed workers who become legally unemployed due to:
    - Having your employment contract suspended. This situation occurs in the following cases: ERTE with total suspension and victims of gender violence.
    - Being in a period of productive inactivity for permanent-discontinuous workers.
  2. Self-employed workers who begin to receive the cessation of activity benefit as a result of the suspension of their economic activity.
  The application of this extension of the deduction for these three years (2020, 2021 and 2022) will be carried out in the 2022 Income Tax Return, however, for the purposes of the practical application of the deduction, a distinction must be made between:
  - 2022 Deduction: The amount of the deduction for Renta Web will be calculated both for the months in which an activity is carried out on a self-employed or employed basis and for the months in which any of these new circumstances occur.
  - 2020 and 2021 Deduction: For each of these years, specific boxes have been created in Renta Web 2022, so that the taxpayer can record the amount of the maternity deduction and the increase in childcare expenses corresponding to those months in which, under the original regulations, there was no right to the deduction and in which there is now a right.
    
    However, in those cases in which taxpayers have applied in the 2020 and 2021 declarations the amount corresponding to the months in which these new causes occur and have not yet been regularized by the AEAT, these declarations will remain unchanged and these amounts will not be applied in the 2022 Income Tax return.
    
    To make it easier for taxpayers to fill in these boxes for 2020 and 2021, the AEAT will calculate the amount of these boxes as established in the two previous paragraphs and will automatically transfer it to the declaration.
- In the case of adoption or foster care, whether pre-adoptive or permanent, the deduction may be applied, regardless of the age of the minor, during the three years following the date of registration in the Civil Registry.
  
  When registration is not necessary, the deduction may be applied during the three years following the date of the judicial or administrative resolution declaring it.
  
  When the adoption of a minor who has been in a foster care regime, or when a delegation of guardianship for pre-adoption cohabitation occurs, or when a change occurs in the foster care situation, the deduction will be applied during the time remaining until completing the aforementioned three-year period.
- In the event of the death of the mother, or when custody is exclusively awarded to the father or, where applicable, to a guardian, the latter shall be entitled to the pending deduction.
  
  In this case, the parent or guardian must meet the general requirements for applying the deduction indicated above.

Deduction amount and limit
- The amount of the deduction will be up to a maximum of 1,200 euros per year for each child under three years of age.
- The deduction will be limited for each child to the total contributions and fees to Social Security and Mutual Societies accrued in each tax period after birth, adoption or foster care.
  
  For these purposes, contributions and fees will be computed in full, without taking into consideration any bonuses that may apply.
Computation of the deduction
- The deduction will be calculated in proportion to the number of months in which the requirements set out in the standard are met simultaneously, including the month of birth and not counting the month of turning three years old.
- In the case of foster care or guardianship, if there are several foster parents or guardians entitled to apply the deduction for the same foster child or ward, the amount will be prorated equally.
- In cases where both parents are of the same sex (two adoptive males; two women, one biological mother and one adoptive mother or two adoptive mothers) and both are entitled to the deduction, because both carry out an activity on their own or as an employee, the amount of the deduction will be prorated between them in each of the months in which both are entitled.
  
  If, on the other hand, in a given month only one person meets the requirements, only he or she will be entitled to apply the deduction in that month.
  
  The amount of the deduction applicable to each parent will be determined based on the months in which each of them meets the requirements for its application.
  
  The resulting amount will be limited for each parent to the amount of their own contributions to Social Security or Mutual Insurance in the tax period, regardless of whether they opt for individual or joint taxation.
Advance payment of the deduction

The State Tax Administration Agency may request payment of the deduction in advance for each of the months in which they are registered with Social Security or Mutual Insurance and pay contributions for the minimum periods established by regulation. In these cases, the differential tax rate will not be reduced.

If, once all payments corresponding to a fiscal year have been made, there are still payments missing to complete the deduction to which you are entitled, or on the contrary, payments have been made to which you are not entitled, it will be necessary to regularize the amount of the deduction in the tax return.