Balearic tax advisers push six reforms to ease tax pressure

A pay rise that only matches inflation should not add to tax pressure: advisers from the Balearic Islands and Catalonia are pushing six reforms. They will discuss the proposals on 5 November at their 31st tax conference in Castelldefels, Barcelona. The changes cover Spanish personal income tax and deadlines in tax proceedings.

Tax bands and allowances

The Spanish Federation of Professional Associations of Tax Technicians and Tax Advisers sent the proposals in May to the Ministry of Finance, the State Secretariat for Finance and parliamentary groups in Congress.

Joan Torres Torres, who heads both the federation and the Professional Association of Tax Technicians of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, says a wage rise that compensates for inflation does not give someone greater spending power.

The federation wants income tax bands updated each year in line with the consumer price index. It also wants annual updates to personal and family allowances. For people claiming an allowance for older relatives, it proposes raising the relatives’ income limit from 8,000 euros to 80% of the annual minimum wage, with a floor of 12,000 euros.

More time to respond

Taxpayers should have 25 working days to respond in tax proceedings, the federation says. It also wants August excluded from procedural deadlines, with exceptions for urgent cases. Torres Torres says taxpayers need enough time to defend their rights.

Under the final proposal, fourth-quarter tax returns and annual summaries would share a 31 January deadline for filing and paying any amount due. The association has not said whether the proposals will be taken up politically.

Topics: Economy

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com