2020 Income Tax Campaign

• Online filings begin today and within 48 hours the first returns will be received in a campaign in which 21,570,000 returns are expected, two thirds of which will be returned for an amount of 10,857 million.
• Those affected by ERTE and recipients of the Minimum Vital Income (IMV) are receiving information letters and will have personalized assistance for the presentation, while an option of splitting the payment into six months without interest is established for taxpayers in ERTE with the result of the declaration to be entered.
• Taxpayers with economic activities in direct estimation who keep their books in accordance with the format proposed by the Agency will be able to automatically upload the content to 'RENTA WEB' and speed up the filing of their declaration.
• The 'We Call You' plan for telephone preparation of declarations will start on May 6, with appointment requests starting on May 4, maintaining the reinforcement of its capacity arranged last year due to the pandemic

April 7, 2021 .- The Tax Agency opens today the period to confirm or modify and submit online the Personal Income Tax return for 2020 (IRPF 2020). Refunds will begin within 48 hours, next Friday. The Agency has designed the campaign that is now starting with a reinforcement of personalized assistance for two groups that may require special help at this time: those affected by temporary employment regulations (ERTE) and recipients of the Minimum Vital Income (IMV). In turn, and as a means of facilitating liquidity, an option of six-month installment payments without interest is established for taxpayers in ERTE with the result of the declaration to be paid.

The campaign also includes improvements that make it easier for taxpayers with economic activities under the direct and objective assessment regime, landlords and investors to file their tax returns.

It is expected that 21,570,000 tax returns will be submitted, 2.1% more than the previous year. Of this total, 14,330,000 are expected to be eligible for a refund, two thirds of the total and 1% less than the previous year, for an estimated amount of 10,857 million euros. Those taxpayers who have tax returns to file (around 5,960,000, 5.7% more, amounting to 12,976 million) will not make their first payments until the end of the campaign.

The deadline for filing returns for both payments and refunds ends on June 30, although the deadline for returns to be paid by direct debit will end on June 25. Telephone support for preparing and filing tax returns ('We Call You' plan) begins on May 6, with appointment requests starting on May 4, and in-person support at offices begins on June 2 (six days earlier than last year), with appointment requests starting on May 27. Personalized assistance, by telephone and in offices, will continue to have the support of regional governments and city councils.

Anticipation of services

Once again, in this campaign, taxpayers have had the main assistance services available in advance, such as downloading and viewing tax data, obtaining the reference number for filing and the 'App', which will have new improvements to facilitate navigation and usability, such as the incorporation of the same direct access ('click to call') to the tax information telephone number that exists on the Agency's website.

Thanks to this advance service, more than one million taxpayers have already accessed their tax data to manage and file their tax return, so they have had the opportunity to prepare in time to be able, if they wish, to file their tax return from day one through RENTA WEB, thus also speeding up any refunds that may be due to them.

Assistance for people affected by ERTE and IMV recipients

The campaign forecasts are clearly conditioned by the increase in those obliged to declare as a result of the ERTE (more declarations expected to be paid) and by the obligation to file a declaration for all recipients of the Minimum Vital Income (26.9% more declarations with a zero result – neither to pay nor to return –, given that the IMV is exempt income and these are recipients with low incomes).

Without the effect of both groups, the number of declarations would decrease slightly compared to the previous year, as would the declarations with a balance to be paid, due to the effect that the paralysis of activity due to the pandemic has had on income derived from economic activities, capital and capital gains derived from property transfers.

With special consideration given to the need for help that both groups may have, the Agency has designed a reinforcement of personalized assistance in this campaign, both for the resolution of queries and for the preparation, where appropriate, of the declaration. Additionally, information letters are being sent to recipients of ERTE benefits who become new declarants and applicants for the IMV, with instructions for submitting the declaration. Previously, and on the occasion of the availability of tax data on March 24, the Tax Agency had already offered a series of recommendations for these taxpayers on its website.

Specifically for recipients of ERTE benefits pending a possible refund of excess amounts by the Public Employment Service, the Tax Agency recommends delaying submission if the taxpayer does not have confirmation of the amount to be refunded. This gives SEPE more time to notify the Agency of the update of its data, so that the tax data and the draft can contain the correct information.

In this regard, it is worth remembering that RENTA WEB (the universal tool for managing all declarations regardless of the channel of preparation and presentation) offers the most up-to-date data possible available to the Tax Agency every time the taxpayer logs in or resumes a previous session. At the same time, the Agency has designed the service this year in such a way that the transfer of the information available in the case of ERTE will be automatic and modifiable, in any case, by the taxpayer.

Improvements for self-employed workers in modules

In addition, RENTA WEB will facilitate the declaration for self-employed workers in modules (objective estimate) who benefited last year from support measures for the sectors most affected by the pandemic through reductions in net income subject to taxation (the system will automatically incorporate the increased percentages of 20% and 35% in the corresponding activities) and by eliminating the days of activity affected by the state of alarm and by suspensions of activity subsequently decided by the Autonomous Communities.

In the case of the elimination of days of activity, RENTA WEB will not allow fewer days than the 99 days of the state of alarm in the first half of the year to be reduced from the calculation, and will remind the user of the possibility of also eliminating the days in which the activity was suspended by one or other Autonomous Communities in the second half of the year.

The hours corresponding to those days will not be counted as a period worked, nor will the proportional part of those days' distances travelled and energy consumption be computed in the corresponding modules. In this way, self-employed workers are able to make the most of these support measures introduced last year.

More facilities for economic activities, rentals and shares

Furthermore, a series of improvements have been introduced in RENTA WEB to facilitate the declaration, especially for three groups: taxpayers who declare income from economic activities in direct estimation, landlords and investors in general.

In the case of economic activities, this campaign is the first in which taxpayers under the direct assessment regime will be able to speed up the submission by automatically uploading to RENTA WEB the information from their registration books required for the declaration, provided that the format of the books they use is the one offered by the Agency through its website. In such a case, export will be immediate and the declaration will be significantly facilitated.

As regards landlords, this year RENTA WEB will allow the automatic determination of the amortisation (main deductible expense in rental matters) to which the taxpayer is entitled for their rented properties, an automatic completion that will be possible in those cases where the necessary information was already completed last year.

In turn, the 'securities portfolio' tool launched two years ago now allows for an automatic dumping of transactions with listed shares carried out during the year and offers a net result for tax purposes, also for complex cases of corporate transactions that may involve deferral of taxation, or 'split' and 'reverse split' operations that affect future calculations of profits derived from subsequent sales of shares.

This improvement represents a significant step forward in making tax returns easier for small investors, who with their securities portfolio could already view on RENTA WEB the composition of their portfolio as of 1 January of the year in which the tax was due (for this campaign, 2020) and the operations of the year, and also enter all the income generated by the sale of listed shares, but still had to complete data in complex operations. More than 92,000 taxpayers used this tool last year during the Income Tax Campaign. As of this year, the calculation of capital gains and losses is automatic in the vast majority of cases.

Predicting errors in the declaration

As already anticipated in the Agency's Control Guidelines for 2021, this Income Tax Campaign will feature a new tool that will help taxpayers avoid recurring errors in their tax returns and, therefore, the risk of subsequent regularization by the administration.

Using machine learning techniques based on adjustments from previous years, the new tool will select taxpayers who may make mistakes in certain boxes in the employment income section (cash and in-kind compensation, income on account, contributions and withholdings, among others). If the taxpayer modifies any of these boxes, he or she will be reminded that he or she has modified the amounts in the tax data so that he or she can confirm that he or she is modifying the data correctly.

Improvements in the app

For this campaign, the mobile application has certain improvements to further strengthen its accessibility, usability and user experience. On the other hand, and as every year, in addition to filing the declaration, the app allows you to modify the tax assignment and the IBAN code, consult tax data from previous campaigns or cancel 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 and renew the reference number, view tax data and receive 'push' messages with information of interest, such as the time of issuance of the refund.

The app can be used on different devices (mobiles and tablets) and supports up to 20 identified users, each with their own reference number, which allows the preparation and presentation of declarations for family members and friends, as well as the calculation of the most favorable option between individual and joint declarations. 

'Callback' Scheme

In addition to online filing via the agency's website ( sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es ) and the mobile application, taxpayers less accustomed to new technologies who require personalized assistance will once again have the 'We Call You' plan for telephone tax return preparation a powerful alternative to face-to-face assistance in offices.

The 'Le Llamamos' plan maintains the reinforcement of its capacity designed last year due to the pandemic, starting on May 6 (appointment requests from May 4) and with service until the end of the campaign.

Once the taxpayer makes an appointment (it is recommended to request it online or through the automatic service at 901 12 12 24) and chooses morning or afternoon hours, the system suggests a day and time at which they will receive a call from the Tax Agency official. In order to speed up the service, it is highly advisable that the taxpayer has the information and documentation necessary to file the return available when the Agency calls.

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 14,000 euros per annum.

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 pre-populated tax return offered by the Tax Agency. The information kept on RENTA WEB will always be as up-to-date as possible but, at any event, the Spanish Tax Agency may not always have all the details required for the tax return, information that perhaps the taxpayer should include in the pre-populated tax return.

  Details such as the following should be checked carefully:

• Receipt of ERTE benefits

• Properties and their land registry reference numbers

• Personal and family circumstances (if they changed in 2020)

• 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. Prior registration can be made online following the instructions contained in the letter which the Tax Agency will send to those who request it, via the option offered on the Cl@ve PIN icon of the Agency's website. In this case, you must provide the ID number, expiry date, mobile phone number. It is also possible to pre-register by video call, or at the Agency's offices, by providing your ID card and a mobile phone number, without the need for additional documentation.

  Once registered in the system, when the taxpayer wishes to carry out a procedure, they can request an access PIN using the link available in the procedure itself, or from the ‘app’. To do this, they must enter their Tax Code and its expiry date, adding a four-digit password of their choice which will be given 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 505 of the 2019 Income Tax Return and the validity date of the DNI itself will be requested. For those who did not file a tax return in the previous year, or whose 2019 Income Tax return box was set to zero, instead of box 505, 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.

  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 25, but payment will not be made until June 30, 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 7 to June 30 (June 25 for direct debit payments):

FILING METHODS	Cases in which you can use this method
Income Tax Portal 2020 headquarters.agenciatributaria.gob.es	ALL
APP (mobiles and tablets)	Payment (by direct debit) or refund
'We Call You' Plan (application from May 4)

  

• In-person routes, from June 2 to June 30 (June 25 if payment is made by direct debit, with charge on June 30):

   

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 tomorrow and runs until June 30 (June 25 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: sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es and 'app'

  (provides information and transactions and is always available). 

• Telephone request for 'We Call You' (starting May 4):

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

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

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

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