The Tax Agency and the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid do not agree on whether the maternity benefit should be taxed or not. For now, we pay personal income tax for our maternity leave, but the judgments of TSJM in favor of the mothers who have claimed it have caused many families to encourage the return of this money, which varies according to our salary.
Now that the campaign for filing the income statement has begun, it is time to claim (and the deadline for moms who received their benefit in 2013). Now, we notice that It is not an automatic procedure nor is it guaranteed that we will win. You have to inform yourself and think about it before you start it.
Who can request the return?
Women who have been mothers during the last 5 years (between 2013 and 2017), who have received a maternity benefit during the 16 weeks off. Also the parents in case they shared the maternity leave.
What is claimed?
When a worker gives birth she is entitled to 16 weeks of leave, during which Social Security is the one who pays her salary through the maternity benefit. The TSJM defends, through sentences, that this benefit should be non-contributory.
However, the criteria of the Tax Agency is different, as explained by Sila Marcos, a professor in the Department of Economics and Finance of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication of the European University:
"This body distinguishes between the benefits included in letter h) of article 7 of Law 35/2006 and which include public maternity benefits received from the Autonomous Communities or local entities, which would be exempt; and the remuneration paid in the form of maternity benefits paid by Social Security, which, like other Social Security contributory benefits (retirement pensions, disability, etc.) must be included in the income statement as work income . In short, according to the Tax Agency, there could be no doubt that the maternity benefit is not exempt from taxation as it is a tax benefit paid by Social Security. "
The amount to claim varies depending on the salary of the worker, but to get an idea, the TSJM gave the reason to a taxpayer who requested the return of 3,135 euros that he paid as an income tax and his maternity benefit was 11,679 euros.
What is the procedure?
The OCU explains how to carry out the petition: A "Request for rectification of self-assessment and return of undue income" of the year (fiscal year) in which the benefit was received must be submitted. Here you can download a free model.
When filling out the document:
We must include the amount of the maternity benefit we have received. If you have this information, you can check it at www.agenciatributaria.es by registering in the Cl @ vePIN system.
If you know what the amount they have to pay you back, include it in the Fourth section of the model. If you don't know, skip that paragraph. The Treasury will make the pertinent calculations if it admits the rectification request.
Make a photocopy of the declaration and the fiscal data of the year that you claim and present them to your Treasury Administration together with the model. Remember to bring two copies of the signed model so that you can seal one with the date of receipt. You can also send everything by administrative certified mail.
What are the deadlines?
It must be claimed before four years have passed since the end of the deadline for submitting the claimed declaration. In Christian: if your child was born in 2013 and received the benefit that year, you have until the end of this year's income campaign, which began on April 4 and ends on July 2.
Of course, moms who had children in 2014, 2015 or 2016 can also request rectification of their statement. If your baby was born, for example, in September, and you received benefits in months of two different years, you will have to ask for the rectification of these two statements.
And what happens next?
Claiming these amounts can be a lengthy process and sometimes will not compensate because the court does not have to give us the reason.
Two things can happen:
- If the request is considered appropriate, honey on flakes. Treasury will rectify the declaration submitted and will refund the amount improperly entered, plus any interest due late.
- But most likely, the Treasury rejects our request. There would have to present a administrative economic claim and exhaust this route (answering each and every one of the allegations).
- If you do not get a positive result, you must go to the judicial route with lawyer and solicitor and here the costs rise quite a lot.
Although we will request the return, experts advise pay for help and then claim.
Compensate or not compensate?
Well, you have to inform yourself well and value it carefully, because the process It can be long, tedious and expensive. First, calculate how much money would correspond to us and consult with an expert for how much we could go to the courts, which is where it seems that we only have options to win.
The OCU makes this telephone 900 907 159 available to interested parties.
In Babies and more Maternity and paternity leave in Europe, These are the aids and benefits offered by the Autonomous Communities to families in 2018
