One of the most frequent doubts among taxpayers who have children is how to submit their income statement, yes individually or jointly. The question is not trivial, because depending on the modality chosen, the result can be quite different.
But what is better? Tax individually or do it together? We tell you what are the family circumstances that entitle you to do it in one way or another, its differences and which of the two is more advantageous.
Differences between individual and joint taxation
Individual taxation is the general and default regime through which taxpayers submit income tax returns. It assumes that each of the members of the family unit declare your income individually, that is, without taking into account the rest of the members of the family unit.
Joint taxation, on the other hand, implies that the income obtained by each and every one of the natural persons integrated by the family unit they declare together. That is, if one of the two spouses has obtained income of 20,000 euros and the other of 25,000 euros, the declaration of income would be about 45,000 euros, the sum of the income of both respondents.
The law establishes two assumptions so that taxpayers can pay jointly:
- Those who form spouses not legally separated and if there were any, minor children, in addition to older children but legally incapacitated.
- In the case of legally separated spouses, the family unit is formed by the father or mother and the minor children, in addition to older children but legally incapacitated.
Advantages of making the joint declaration
When making the declaration jointly, an additional deduction is recognized that will depend on the type of family unit:
- 3,400 euros in the case of family units composed of both spouses and children, if any.
- 2,150 euros for family units formed by the father or mother and all children living with one or the other. This deduction applies to single-parent families or unmarried partners in which a single taxpayer makes the declaration as a family unit with their children.
However, the minimum amount per taxpayer will be 5,550 euros per year, regardless of the number of members integrated into the family unit. That is, for a couple consisting of two taxpayers, this amount will be the one applied in joint taxation, and double in case of individual taxation (11,100 euros).
In Babies and moreRenta 2018: basic tutorial for parents making the statement for the first timeThe minimums for descendants in case of having children will be the same in both individual and joint taxation. That is, to calculate the tax exempt amount the minimum must be divided by descendants between the two spouses.
When does it compensate me to pay jointly
As a general rule, it is more interesting to make the statement individually, especially if both parents work and earn income. But nevertheless, there are a number of cases in which it may be more interesting to do it together.
If only one of the two spouses work
In this case, the joint declaration is undoubtedly the best option. One of the two spouses does not have to pay income tax, so the total income is obtained by one of them and, in addition, the deduction of 3,400 euros can be applied.
In this case, for an income of about 25,000 euros gross per year, the saving is about 545 euros, approximately.
If one of the two spouses gets rents of a reduced amount
The other assumption is whether one of the two spouses enters little money. Obviously, if one of them enters less than 3,400 euros, joint taxation compensates. Above that amount, calculations will have to be made to see which option is more favorable.
If both spouses have suffered losses with their investments
In the rent, The capital gains are compensated with the losses suffered by the taxpayer for the investments made during the fiscal year. In this sense, if both spouses have suffered losses with their investments in the previous year, they may compensate for joint taxation.
The potential savings range between 19 and 23%, depending on the amount of the loss and the investment product.
In Babies and moreRenta 2018: the draft boxes of the declaration that interest you most if you are a father or motherIndividual and joint declaration in Web Income
Renta Web allows taxpayers to simulate the result of the declaration, both in individual taxation and in joint taxation, and present it according to the result that is most favorable to their interests.
By default, the program calculates the result of the declaration with the modality of joint taxation offering the result also in individual declaration for each spouse. To modify it, we only have to access the identifying data and check the option "If you want the program to calculate only the individual declaration of the declarant, click here".
For this, it will be necessary Identify the spouse through your reference number or your Cl @ ve PIN, in addition to all the children that make up the family unit. Once all the data of each of the taxpayers has been entered, we can simulate the result of the declaration to see which option is the most convenient. The Tax Agency will inform us of which of the two options is more favorable for each of the taxpayers.
As you can see, the option of individual or joint taxation depends on our personal circumstances but, above all, on our income. Through Renta Web we can simulate the result to know what is the most advantageous option for our interests.
