Filing your tax return with errors can trigger your tax bill. In this campaign, as in any other, sending incorrect personal data, forgetting to declare certain earnings or directly believing that you are not obliged to complete the procedure can cost you dearly.
Any error can tip the balance and go from a potential refund to ending up paying. “We are often asked how many errors occur in drafts and how many drafts contain errors. At this point I can only answer that having made an error is already harming a taxpayer,” explains Fernando Santiago, president of the General Council of the Associations of Administrative Managers.
Enter the draft, see what is going to return, or pay little, and submit the return without further ado. Getting rid of the income tax process is tempting, but also a mistake. "Some very specific aspects can be overlooked, but, nevertheless, they can be key when it comes to reducing the expense associated with the declaration," warns the Spanish Association of Financial Advisors and Planners (EFPA). These are some.
It is possible that in the draft offered by the Tax Agency, data on personal situations, changes that have occurred in the year, or that others that do not apply may have been incorporated. At the same time, data such as donations or contributions to professional associations, which give the right to deduction, have not been included are left behind.
Therefore, before submitting the declaration, it is worth reviewing the tax data available to the Tax Agency and checking if they are correct. If they are missing, they will have to be incorporated into their corresponding sections. The omission of some may lead to sanctions, so it is not a minor point... "The data may not be correct or be outdated, for which the declarant has the responsibility of checking them, before accepting the result that said draft shows. ", say the General Council of the Colleges of Administrative Managers.
A birth, a divorce, a union... Income and assets may be better controlled by the Tax Agency, but each person's situation not so much. "It is vital to review and communicate any change in personal situation that may affect the return. This includes changes in address, marital status or birth of children, among many others, which must be reflected correctly to maximize tax deductions and benefits," warn the tax advisors and planners.
For example, not reporting a birth if it is not recorded will not entitle you to maternity deductions, which amount to up to 1,200 euros per year.
When making the declaration, it is advisable to add the spouse's information to be sure that the individual declaration is more worthwhile than the joint one. This can be done in the identifying data of the declarant, adding the spouse in the corresponding section. The income program will ask to identify the spouse to add their data.
Once the spouse's information has been entered, the real-time calculations for individual and joint taxation will be displayed at the top of the "Declaration Summary". "In family units where income is low, it is usually advisable to opt for filing as a couple, although it will always be necessary to study the cases individually," comments from the EFPA.
Believing that the income campaign does not affect is another of the big mistakes. Workers with a payer are obliged to do so if they earn more than 22,000 euros gross annually. If you have more than one payer, the limit drops to 15,000 euros if you collect 1,500 euros from the second and subsequent payers.
Additionally, this year there is a big change for self-employed workers. Everyone will have to submit the declaration, regardless of whether they have had income or not, if they have earned money or if they have been registered in the regime for just one day.
The Tax Agency specifies on its portal all taxpayers who are required to declare. For example, those who earn the minimum vital income.
Another mistake for wanting to go fast is forgetting about deductions. Among the state ones, which all taxpayers can apply if they meet the requirements, are some for housing, energy reform works or for the purchase of an electric car.
In the case of autonomous regions, since they depend on where the declarant lives, it is necessary to review whether there are new ones or the requirements have changed, which several autonomous regions have done this year. It is not a minor factor, because the savings can reach thousands of euros and there are some that are so disparate, and that can escape the control of the taxpayer, such as gym fees, the purchase of bikes or residing in less populated areas.
Another of the weak points is in the new developments of recent years. The declaration of operations with cryptocurrencies or sales on second-hand platforms must be taxed when there is a profit through the medium. In both cases, this year the controls of the Tax Agency have increased due to their possession or operations, as the case may be.
Unlike other years, the Treasury has more and more user information, which is reflected in the fact that almost 950,000 notices will be sent for cryptocurrencies and about 164,000 for online gambling operations.
Even though the campaign is one of the longest in memory, some people overlook the process. July 1 marks the end of the official campaign, but in between there are other dates to take into account. Like April 29, when the application for the prior appointment for telephone service begins, which will begin on May 7; or on May 29, when you can make an appointment to go to the Tax Agency offices, which will begin to be open on June 3.
Declarations sent later will have a surcharge if they are done voluntarily and an additional surcharge and fines in cases of regularization if a request has been sent.
