The 2018 Income Tax Campaign begins

• The submission period starts today for all non-face-to-face methods and the first returns will be received within 48 hours.

• The campaign is expected to involve the submission of 20,350,000 declarations, of which 14,315,000 will be refunded, amounting to 10,468 million euros, 4.5% more.

• All telephone filing of tax returns will be concentrated in the 'Le Llamamos' plan, which will be able to make 500,000 calls to the taxpayer.

• Taxpayers with the app installed will be able to access their tax data and file their tax return without having to locate box 475 of last year's tax return.

• The new stock portfolio tool will allow you to directly view the composition of your portfolio and the year's operations in 'RENTA WEB', and to enter all the income generated by the sale of listed shares, facilitating the declaration of capital gains and losses.

April 2, 2019 .- The Tax Agency today opens the period to confirm or modify and submit the Personal Income Tax return for 2018 (IRPF 2018), which starts with an extension and improvement of the two complementary services for the electronic submission of the return, the Agency's mobile application and the 'We Call You' plan for telephone preparation of returns by calling the taxpayer with an arranged appointment. Both methods, together with the traditional use of the AEAT website ( sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es ), allow for faster filing of the tax return and, where applicable, the corresponding refunds, which will begin in just 48 hours, on April 4.

Once again, in this campaign, taxpayers have had the main assistance services available in advance since 15 March, such as downloading and viewing tax data, obtaining a reference number and mailings to certain groups of taxpayers.

Thanks to this advance notice, two weeks before the start of the campaign, more than 1,490,000 taxpayers have already accessed their tax data and more than 1,538,000 have obtained the reference number for the management and submission of their declaration, so that they have had the opportunity to prepare with more time to be able, if they wish, to submit the declaration from the first day through 'RENTA WEB', the universal tool for the management of all declarations regardless of the channel of preparation and submission ('app', telephone, website of the Agency and, from May 14 when face-to-face attention begins, also offices).

In the current campaign, 20,350,000 declarations are expected to be submitted, 361,000 more than the previous year. Of this total, it is expected that 14,314,000 will be eligible for a refund for an estimated amount of 10,468 million euros, 4.5% more, while nearly 5,161,000 will result in a refund of 10,160 million euros. The deadline for filing returns is July 1, both for income and refund returns, although the deadline for returns to be paid by direct debit will end on June 26.

Expansion of services in the app

For this campaign, those users who have kept the Tax Agency's mobile application installed and, therefore, were already previously identified in the 'app', will be able to access personalized services more quickly, such as tax data and the declaration proposal itself, since they will only need to enter the date relative to their NIF requested by the application and, therefore, they will not have to locate box 475 of the declaration of the previous year, box that will be necessary to present the Income Tax with a reference number through the web.

In turn, users who have not previously downloaded the app will not need to locate the box if they have the reference from the previous year, since that reference will be used to obtain the new one in the current campaign once the app has been downloaded.

The app also incorporates a whole series of design improvements to continue making it easier to use, such as the possibility of modifying the tax allocation and the IBAN code, consulting the tax data of the three previous campaigns or cancelling a previously arranged appointment.

As for the general functioning of the app, it is the same as last year. Taxpayers with simpler returns can file their Income Tax Return 'in a single click', or, if they need to complete some information, they will be automatically redirected to RENTA WEB, but the rest of taxpayers also have this powerful assistance tool that makes it easier for them to obtain the reference number, the PIN, the viewing of tax data and the reception of 'push' messages with information of interest such as the time of issuance of the refund.

The APP can be used on up to five different devices (mobiles and tablets) and supports up to 20 user profiles, each with its own reference number, allowing the preparation and presentation of declarations for family members and friends, as well as the calculation of the most favourable option between individual and joint declarations. Please note that in order to access personalized services, such as filing tax returns, for security reasons the terminal will be required to have a screen lock system activated.

Extension of the 'We Call You' plan

Another important new feature of the campaign that begins today is the concentration of all the preparation of declarations by telephone in the 'Le Llamamos' plan, which, in its third year of validity, will be strengthened to absorb the traditional system of incoming calls (last year there were incoming calls to the Agency and outgoing calls to the taxpayer) and increase its overall capacity to potentially reach 500,000 calls during the campaign.

The 'We Call You' plan is set up as a telematic alternative to face-to-face assistance so that taxpayers who are less accustomed to new technologies and who have a telephone assistance profile can file sooner and, where appropriate, also obtain their refund sooner.

By absorbing the old incoming call system, the system allows for better planning of the telephone service and, therefore, greater agility for the taxpayer. From 1 April, taxpayers can request an appointment online or by phone for the 'We Call You' plan, at their choice, in 15-minute slots between 9 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., and simply have the necessary information available to file the declaration at the time the Agency's call has been arranged.

Portfolio of securities in RENTA WEB

This campaign will also include new improvements in the usability of RENTA WEB, such as the incorporation of a box locator for the declaration itself to facilitate internal navigation. However, the main novelty is the incorporation of the securities portfolio in RENTA WEB. This tool already existed in previous years, but simply as an external calculation module that required the incorporation, by the taxpayer, of all the data necessary to determine the income to be included in the declaration. The new tool represents a qualitative leap in ease for taxpayers.

The new securities portfolio tool will allow you to directly view in 'RENTA WEB' the composition of the portfolio as of January 1 of the year in which the tax is due (for this campaign, 2018) and the operations of the year, and also to enter all the income generated by the sale of listed shares, facilitating the declaration of capital gains and losses.

In turn, the data that the taxpayer will have to continue to incorporate, specifically the historical purchase prices of their shares, will allow this information to be recorded in the coming years and the calculation of capital gains and losses will be practically automatic in the future.

Taxpayers who are not obliged to file a tax return

Generally speaking, taxpayers with incomes exclusively from employment are not obliged to file tax returns until an amount of 22,000 euros a year. However, this limit is lowered if the income relates to more than one taxpayer (with exceptions), and when the taxpayer is not obliged to make a withholding or when the income is subject to a fixed withholding tax rate. In such cases, the limit is 12,643 euros per year.

Both limits are still valid for not being required to file a tax return if the taxpayer has the following income instead of or in addition to them:

• Dividends, interest payment or capital gains subject to withholdings with a joint ceiling of 1,600 euros.

• Attributed income from property, income from full untaxed returns on investment capital obtained from Treasury bonds and grants for purchasing protected or affordable housing, and other capital gains deriving from public aids, with a joint limit of 1,000 euros per year.

Like last year, taxpayers will not be obligated who have income from wages, capital and financial activities, as well as capital gains (grants, prizes and others), with a joint limit of €1,000, along with equity losses less than €500.

Review of personal and economic data

It is always advisable to review the proposed declaration offered by the Tax Agency. Through RENTA WEB the information will be as up-to-date as possible but, in any case, the Agency may not have all the data relevant to the declaration, data that the taxpayer may have to incorporate into the declaration proposal.

Details such as the following should be checked carefully:

• Properties and their land registry reference numbers

• Personal and family circumstances (if they changed in 2018)

• Property leasings

• Transfers

• Contributions to pension plans

• Union fees

• Amounts received as grants

• Deductions for family and maternity

• Deduction for investment in primary residence

• Autonomous community deductions

How do I obtain 'Clave PIN' and the reference number?

The reference number and 'Clave PIN' are still, together with the digital certificate and electronic ID, the login requirements for RENTA WEB and other Income Tax services, such as consulting tax details and the status of your refund.

Obtaining the Cl@vePIN requires two steps, a single prior registration and a subsequent request each time the taxpayer needs it. Pre-registration can be done in two ways:

• Online, following the instructions in the letter that the Agency will send to those who request it through the option offered in the 'Clave PIN' icon on the AEAT website. In this case, you will need to provide your ID, its validity date, mobile number and an email address.

• At the Agency's offices, providing your ID, an email address and a mobile phone number, after requesting an appointment and without the need for additional documentation.

Once registered in the system, when the taxpayer wishes to carry out a procedure, they can request this through the link available in the procedure itself, or from the app. To do so, the taxpayer must provide their NIF, the expiration date of their ID and a four-character password that the taxpayer will define for each request. They will then receive a three-digit PIN via SMS, which, along with the password, constitutes the necessary access code for carrying out their procedures.

In turn, to obtain the reference number through the REN0 service on the Agency's website, the NIF, box 475 of the 2017 Income Tax Return and the validity date of the NIF itself will be requested. For those who did not file a tax return in the previous year, or whose 2017 Income Tax return box was set to zero, instead of box 475, certain digits of the code of a bank account of which the taxpayer is the holder will be requested. In order to facilitate its use, the reference number will only consist of six characters.

When sending tax data by mail, box 475 will be sent instead of the reference number itself, given the possibility of obtaining different reference numbers depending on the needs of the taxpayer.

Methods of filing the return.

There are various methods of filing the return, depending on whether the result is payment or refund and whether or not payment is by direct debit. Direct debit means that you can file your tax return any day up until June 26, but payment will not be made until July 1, the last day of the Tax Return Campaign. Direct debit does not prevent payment from being split into two instalments (the second on November 5).

• Non-face-to-face methods (no need to go to offices), from April 2 to July 1 (June 26 for direct debit payments):

  FILING METHODS	Cases in which you can use this method
  Income Portal 2018 headquarters.agenciatributaria.gob.es	ALL
  APP (mobiles and tablets) *	Payment (by direct debit) or refund
  'We Call You' Plan (by appointment) *
  By electronic and telephone banking	To pay (other than by Direct Debit)
  At ATMs of certain entities

  ( * ) Limited by profiles: Mainly, income from work, movable capital, allocation of real estate income and sales of investment funds subject to withholding.

• In-person routes, from May 14 to July 1 (June 26 if payment is made by direct debit, with charge on July 1):

  FILING METHODS	Cases in which you can use this method
  At the offices of the Tax Agency, Autonomous Community or local authorities	Refunds and payments required (with direct debit)
  At branches ofparticipating financial institutions	To pay (other than by Direct Debit)

Wealth Tax Declaration

In the current campaign the Wealth Tax declaration is still obligatory for taxpayers who are required to pay tax (after the relevant deductions and allowances have been applied) and for those who are not required to pay tax, but have property and rights whose value is greater than two million euros. The tax return is filed online.

Under state law, the minimum amount exempt stands at 700,000 euros and the primary residence is exempt up to 300,000 euros, although both limits may vary according to the autonomous region. All those taxpayers that are liable to declare a Wealth Capital return must do so via the Internet, using the Clave PIN, reference number or by using an e-DNI or e-certificate.

The deadline for submission begins today and runs until July 1 (until June 26 for direct debit payments). In the case of declarations to be paid without direct debit, it is necessary to first make the payment (by direct debit or in cash) at a financial institution and obtain the payment receipt number provided by the institution itself (Full Reference Number, NRC).

Main information and assistance services

• Internet: headquarters.agenciatributaria.gob.es

  (provides information and transactions and is always available).

• Telephone Appointment 'We Call You':

  901 22 33 44 or 91 553 00 71 (operator, from 9 am to 7 pm, Mon-Fri)

  901 12 12 24 or 91 535 73 26 (automated service, 24 hours)

• Income Information phone line: 901 33 55 33 and 91 554 87 70

  (to clear up doubts; from 9am to 7pm, Mon-Fri)