Prior to the current Social Security pension system, social security in our country was organised through various mutual societies of different nature. In short, labour mutual societies (Social Security management entities), mutual societies that substitute Social Security management entities and mutual societies that complement Social Security.

The contributions made to the various mutual societies by those who currently receive a retirement or disability pension could not always be deducted (in whole or in part) in the Personal Income Tax , hence the Tax Law has provided for a transitional regime to avoid double taxation in relation to contributions made to mutual societies prior to 1 January 1999.

Well, in order to correctly apply the Second Transitional Provision of the Personal Income Tax Law it is essential to identify, according to the criteria issued by the Courts:

• What type of mutual fund were the contributions made to? This will determine the tax treatment they received under the regulations in force at any given time.
• On what date prior to 1 January 1999 was the mutual fund in question dissolved, if applicable, as this will determine the date on which contributions to it ceased.

It is therefore necessary to apply to each case the criteria issued by the Courts in relation to the mutual society in question, since the tax treatment of the contributions made differed depending on the different types of mutual societies that existed.

Given the large number of people affected by this transitional regime, the Tax Agency is designing a simple procedure to deal with the refund requests that are being submitted as quickly as possible and with the least inconvenience for citizens.

For this purpose, since March 20, 2024, a form has been available on the Tax Agency's Electronic Office that will allow all requests to be channeled for resolution based on the information available to the Agency, as well as information on the applicants' working life that the Tax Agency will collect from Social Security and other organizations.

Consequently, it will not be necessary to attach any type of documentation to the application form, since, in general, the Tax Agency will already have the necessary information to resolve the application.

However, if it is not possible to resolve a specific request with the information available, interested parties may be required to provide the necessary documentation a posteriori.

Submitting the refund request using form available on the Electronic Office will be voluntary, although this form of submission is recommended because it will allow for more agile processing of the information and thus speed up the resolution of the request.

For any questions regarding the submission of refund applications, the Tax Agency has enabled a specific section on its electronic office with all the necessary information that can be consulted at the following link:

Tax Agency: Mutualists: refund requests