Reductions for contributions to the social security mutual fund at a fixed premium for professional and high-level athletes

Regulations: Additional Provision Eleventh Law IRPF

Professional and high-level athletes may reduce the general tax base by the amount of contributions made to the fixed-premium social security mutual fund for professional athletes, with the following specialties:

1. Subjective requirements

The status of member and insured must, in all cases, be that of a professional or high-level athlete.

For these purposes, the following are considered:

• Professional sportsmen: those included in the scope of Royal Decree 1006/1985, of June 26, which regulates the special employment relationship of professional athletes.

• High-level athletes: those included in the scope of Royal Decree 971/2007, of July 13, on high-level and high-performance athletes ( BOE of July 25).

2. Objective requirements

The contingencies that may be covered are those provided for in article 8.6 of the pension plans' regulatory standard, that is, in the consolidated text of the Law on Regulation of Pension Plans and Funds, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2002, of 29 November.

The contingencies that may be covered are the following: retirement, total and permanent incapacity for work in the usual profession or absolute and permanent incapacity for any work, and severe disability; death and severe or great dependency of the participant.

3. Maximum reduction limit

1. Maximum annual contributions that may entitle you to reduce your tax base

   Annual contributions may not exceed the amount of euros year, including contributions made by promoters in the form of work income.

   Contributions will not be accepted once the working life as a professional athlete ends or the status of high-level athlete is lost under the terms and conditions established by regulation.

2. Maximum reduction limit

   Contributions, direct or imputed, as well as, where applicable, excesses from the years 2017 to 2021 pending reduction, may be subject to reduction exclusively in the general part of the tax base . The maximum limit will be the lowest of the following amounts:

   1. Sum of the net income from work and economic activities received individually by the taxpayer in the fiscal year.
   2. 24,250 euros per year.

4. Excess contributions

1. Pending excesses to be reduced from contributions made in previous years

   Contributions that could not have been subject to reduction in the tax base due to insufficient tax base or due to application of the maximum limits of tax reduction legally established, may be reduced in the current fiscal year, provided that the taxpayer has requested in the declaration corresponding to the fiscal years 2017 to 2021 to be able to reduce the excess in the following five fiscal years.

   The reduction of the excess, which will be carried out subject to the maximum limits discussed below, will be carried out with priority to that corresponding to the contributions made in the financial year.

2. Excess contributions corresponding to the fiscal year

   Contributions made in 2022 that have not been subject to a reduction in the tax base due to insufficient tax base or due to the application of the limit mentioned in letter a) above may be reduced in the following five years.

   In this case, the taxpayer must complete, within section I of the declaration, boxes [0488] and [0489], in the last of which the amount of contributions and contributions made in 2022 will be stated.

   Note: the amounts corresponding to the excesses pending reduction of contributions made in the years 2017 to 2021 pending application at the beginning of the year, those applied in the declaration and the remainder pending application in future years, as well as the excess of contributions corresponding to the year 2022 not applied, the amount of which is requested to be able to be reduced in the following 5 years, must be recorded in Annex C.4 of the declaration in the section "Unreduced excess of contributions to the professional athletes' social security mutual fund pending reduction in the following years".

5. Consolidated rights provision

The consolidated rights of members may only be made effective:

• In the same cases provided for in article 8.8 of Royal Legislative Decree 1/2002, of November 29, approving the revised text of the Law on Regulation of Pension Plans and Funds (long-term unemployment or serious illness) and, 

• Additionally, once one year has passed since the end of the professional athlete's working life or since the loss of the status of high-level athlete.

The disposition of consolidated rights, in whole or in part, in cases other than those above, will determine the obligation for the taxpayer to replace in the tax base the reductions unduly made, by carrying out the complementary self-assessments, which will include the applicable late payment interest, within the period between the date of early disposition and the end of the regulatory declaration period corresponding to the tax period in which the early disposition is made.

Any amounts received that exceed the amount of contributions made, including, where applicable, contributions imputed by the promoter, will be taxed as employment income in the tax period in which they are received.

6. Special case: other contributions to the social welfare mutual fund for professional and high-level athletes

Without prejudice to the special system of reductions for contributions to the fixed-premium social security mutual fund for professional and high-level athletes that we have just discussed, professional and high-level athletes, even if they have finished their working life as professional athletes or have lost the status of high-level athletes, may make contributions, under the general system, to the social security mutual fund for professional and high-level athletes.

Such contributions may be subject to a reduction in the tax base, in the amount intended to cover the contingencies provided for in article 8.6 of the consolidated text of the Law regulating Pension Plans and Funds, provided that the requirements previously mentioned for contributions to social security systems in general are met.

As a joint maximum reduction limit of these contributions, the one indicated in this same Chapter for the contributions and contributions to social security systems will be applied.

Remember: The general taxable base and the savings taxable base cannot be negative as a result of the application of the reductions discussed so far.