Skip to main content
Practical manual for Income Tax 2020.

1. Compensatory pensions in favor of the spouse

According to civil legislation (article 97 of the Civil Code), the spouse whose separation or divorce causes an economic imbalance in relation to the position of the other, which implies a worsening of his or her previous situation in the marriage, has the right to a pension that will be set in the judicial resolution of separation or divorce or in the regulatory agreement formalized before the judicial secretary or the Notary. 

For the payer, the compensatory pension paid, provided that it has been set in the court ruling, or has been agreed by the spouses in the agreement regulating the separation or divorce, reduces the general tax base of the payer without being able to result in a negative result as a consequence of this reduction. The remainder, if any, will reduce the taxable savings base, without the latter being able to become negative as a result of said reduction.

For the recipient, the compensatory pension received from the spouse constitutes, in any case, work income not subject to withholding because the spouse paying the pension is not obliged to withhold.