Meest voorkomende fouten bij het invullen van de belastingaangifte

Did you know that 20% of tax returns in Spain are filed incorrectly? Do you know why? It is often difficult for Spaniards to file a tax return, imagine for a foreigner. There are small mistakes that are due to not taking into account some important information about your individual situation.

That is why we are going to review the most common mistakes when filing your tax return. We always advise you to be guided by a professional who is dedicated to it, in our team we have a tax section specialised in making individual tax returns for expats in Spain.

Why is it not so easy to make the rent in Spain?

It may seem very easy to make the income tax return in Spain, but it is full of bills and interpretable laws. And this often makes us hesitate and fill it in incorrectly, which has consequences. In addition, the Tax Agency is not responsible for errors, whether the mistake is in the draft or if you went to the appointment with the AEAT to help you make the declaration, any error will always be the responsibility of the taxpayer.

In fact, the tax authorities can penalise you if they discover that you have made a mistake, even without malicious intent. Moreover, if you make a mistake on your tax return, they have four years to claim it back.

Frequent errors when filing your income tax return in Spain

There is a lot of carelessness when entering data, misinterpretations of the law and lack of knowledge about the deductions that can and cannot be made. Here are a few examples:

➡️ Believing that unemployment doesn’t count in the tax return

➡️ Thinking that because you have little income you don’t have to declare it. It depends on the type of income and not on the amount. We recommend to our foreign clients that as a form of proof of tax residency they submit a tax return.

➡️ Confirming the draft without checking in detail that everything is correct

➡️ Putting deductions wrong (e.g. maternity, large family, disability or other autonomous deductions).

➡️ Do not include some income because it is taxed in your country, this should be assessed by your tax specialist

➡️ Believe that there are reductions for main residence

➡️Do not include second residence, here or elsewhere

➡️The deduction for rent, this is what usually raises the most doubts.

➡️No include your children in your tax return

➡️ Forgetting about your pension abroad (e.g. in England the famous ‘estate pension’)

➡️ Not deducting payments to trade unions and membership fees

➡️ Not paying tax on grants and subsidies

Tips to avoid errors

These tax filing mistakes can be easily avoided by following a few basic tips:

Collect all your information and organise it

As long as you live in Spain, make sure you keep all your documents with dates, payments, receipts and so on. This will make doing your tax return much easier and simpler, whether you do it yourself or with a specialist like us. This will prevent errors due to missing data.

Always make sure you double check your information and return.

Sometimes you can make a mistake on a simple number, letter or digit. Just double check several times before you send it in, it will prevent future problems.

Use a specialist for your tax return

We know this sounds promotional but it is not. You don’t know how many problems people have with their declarations, whether it is a lack of data, not taking into account certain types of issues, the language problem (if you declare in Spain but don’t speak Spanish it can be difficult to find out about some new legislation). Contact trained specialists, in our law firm we have a tax department that will be able to solve all your doubts.

The tax return can be complex, and taxpayers sometimes get confused because they are not used to these legal and tax terms. We remind you that we can take care of your tax return and other taxes, just contact us.