The Government rectifies in its plan to “gradually” eliminate the reduction by joint taxation in personal income tax after the harsh criticism received by the opposition on electoral eve and ensures that it will wait for the opinion of the tax reform experts and evaluate ” the measure without increasing the tax burden on families. “
The executive had included this measure in the Recovery Plan sent to Brussels on Friday, considering that it “creates a disincentive to the labor participation of the second income earner”, who are usually women. This measure, advanced by El País, was to be adopted by establishing a transitional regime.
This measure, which entailed the elimination of the tax reduction enjoyed by couples who jointly declare personal income tax and which reaches 3,400 euros, had been requested by AIReF in a report published last summer, in which it linked the tax benefit with the Inequality between men and women
The reduction in the income tax base for joint taxation amounts, in the case of family units made up of both spouses, to 3,400 euros, and in single-parent units, to 2,150 euros. Two million households benefit from this exemption and its cost amounts to around 1 billion a year.
The Tax Agency expects to receive almost 3.5 million joint returns in the 2020 income campaign, 7.1% less, a downward trend that has been maintained for years since this reduction is applied mainly in the case of that one of the spouses does not work.
The proposal is included in the Recovery Plan that the Executive led by Pedro Sánchez has sent to the European Commission for approval.
The approach is framed within equality policies, as an incentive to promote the incorporation of women into work .
The tax reduction benefits households in which only one person of the couple is a recipient of income or that of the second member is very low. This situation is usually occupied by women, and the approach deepens in the disincentive for their entry into the world of work.
AIReF recommended the abolition of the tax benefit
A report from the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) already warned last summer about this figure of Income and its pernicious consequences in this regard, and recommended the abolition of the tax benefit.
The joint income statement saves 3,400 euros per year for couples who pay the tax in this way. It is precisely this tax benefit, according to AIReF, which causes negative effects on the job offer of the members of the family unit who provide a lower income, discouraging their participation in the labor market.
Specifically, according to the analysis of the data from the 2016 joint income declarations, women are the household member in Spain with the lowest income in 83.2% of the cases.
At this point, two issues should be highlighted: that the employment rate of women in Spain is below that of neighboring countries and that the gap between the female and male employment rate (18.9%) is higher in Spain than in neighboring countries, especially among married women, and that this worsens to 30.9% if they have a lower educational level.
