Has your company put you in an ERTE? Do you know how that influences your income tax return for next year? In this post, we tell you all the details.

As a result of the health and economic crisis that COVID-19 has produced, many companies requested a Temporary Employment Regulation File (ERTE). This means that employees have had, during 2020, two payers:

  • Your company.
  • The State Public Employment Service (SEPE). The SEPE will have paid you 70% of the regulatory base that corresponds to you and that amount is considered work performance.

Having two payers can also happen in those cases in which a person has several jobs or is unemployed after working in a company.

What does it mean to have two payers on the income tax return?

Based on the regulation established in article 96 of the Personal Income Tax Law (IRPF), those people who have two or more payers will have to file an income tax return, when the income from work is higher to 14,000 euros and the amount received from the second and other payers exceeds 1,500 euros.

Therefore, if you are in an ERTE, you may have to present the income statement, although in other years you have not had to do it, and, besides, you may have to pay. On the other hand, you must reflect in the statement that you have been affected by an ERTE.

Will I have to pay more taxes?

There is no single answer to this question, as it depends on several factors:

  • The total amount you have received for your work for the two or more payers.
  • The withholdings that payers have made on the remuneration received. In SEPE, withholdings are not usually made, and if they are, they are minimal.

The fact that the SEPE does not apply to withhold may mean that many employees who have been or are in an ERTE have to pay more on next year’s income tax return.

What can I do to reduce the income tax payable?

The solution to avoid scares when you prepare the income statement is to ask your company or the SEPE to increase the withholding concerning the amount that it pays you, to pay little by little and not have to pay everything at once when you do the income tax return.

Also, if the income statement gives you a result to pay and you cannot meet that payment, you have the option of requesting a postponement or split into two payments. Another option is to pay the amount with a credit card and request a deferral from the bank.

In any case, you must consult an expert tax attorney so that you can correctly file your Personal Income Tax and reduce your tax burden as much as possible.

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