The Spanish Confederation of Organizations of the Elderly (Ceoma) has warned of a possible situation of fiscal discrimination against pensioners in the next declaration of the Personal Income Tax (IRPF).
The organization has requested the Ministry of Finance to clarify whether people who receive low pensions will be able to benefit from the same tax deductions foreseen for workers with incomes equivalent to the Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMI).
According to Ceoma, the new deductions approved by the Government for the lowest labor incomes will allow many workers who receive the minimum wage to be practically exempt from paying IRPF.
500.000 pensioners without tax advantages
However, the organization warns that more than 500,000 pensioners with incomes included in those same brackets could be left out of these tax advantages, despite being in a similar or even more vulnerable economic situation.
The public pensions are considered fiscally as income from work and, therefore, are taxed under conditions comparable to salaries. However, the confederation warns that the application of the new deductions could generate a paradoxical situation: workers with incomes equivalent to the SMI could stop paying IRPF, while pensioners with pensions of a similar amount would continue to pay taxes.
"Both for workers and for pensioners"
The president of the Spanish Confederation of Senior Citizens' Organizations, José Luis Fernández Santillana, points out for Demócrata, that this scenario would imply unequal tax treatment for citizens with the same income level. In his opinion, policies aimed at protecting low incomes should be applied consistently to both workers and pensioners.
Given this situation, Ceoma demands that the deductions foreseen for the lowest labor incomes also be extended to pensioners with reduced incomes, especially to those who receive minimum pensions or pensions close to the minimum wage, in order to guarantee the equity of the tax system. Furthermore, the organization reminds that many elderly people depend exclusively on their pension and that the increase in the cost of living is especially affecting this group.