Income Tax 2026: how to file the Tax Return if you receive the Minimum Vital Income

The Income Tax Campaign 2026 has begun this April 8, with the opening of the period to file the Tax Return online. On May 6, the period will begin in which the Tax Agency will be able to prepare it by phone and, from June 1 and until the 30th of the same month, taxpayers will be attended in person.

On this occasion, the Government of Spain points out, the filing of 25,251,000 declarations is foreseen, 2.1% more, of which 15,706,000, 62%, are expected to be entitled to a refund for an estimated global amount of 13,271 million euros. Among the people obliged to file their Declaration are those who are beneficiaries of the Minimum Living Income (IMV).

Do you have to file the Income Tax Return if you receive the IMV?

Yes, recipients of the Minimum Living Income must file an Income Tax Return, regardless of the amount of their income. The MLI itself is an exempt income and the vast majority of beneficiaries will not have to include it in their Return, but they must file it.

What needs to be declared?

Amounts exceeding 12,600 euros must be declared as employment income (1.5 times the Public Indicator of Multiple Effects Income, IPREM). In the event that, together with the IMV, other aid to groups at risk of social exclusion such as minimum insertion income, guaranteed incomes and similar aid from Autonomous Communities and city councils are received, only that excess must be declared and taxed.

To pay or to refund?

In the vast majority of cases, the Declaration will be very simple, with no income to incorporate. In many cases, the amount will be zero (neither to pay, nor to refund), so that, if no other income has been obtained, the boxes of the Declaration will appear with a zero amount. The Minimum Living Income does not in itself generate the right to the deduction for maternity, nor to deductions for large families or people with disabilities in their care.

IMV beneficiary families with minor children

For cases of IMV beneficiary families with minor children, the submission of a Joint declaration of all members is recommended if the parents are married. In the absence of marriage, one of the two parents may file a Joint Declaration with the children, and the other individually.

How to make the Income Tax Return 2026?

Through the Renta DIRECTA service, it will be possible to easily confirm the draft offered by Renta WEB if you do not need to make changes:

In the tax data, the proportional part of the IMV corresponding to each member of the cohabitation unit will already appear. The taxpayer only has to transfer the information to Renta DIRECTA and confirm the declaration.

In cases where there is an amount subject to exceeding the exempt amount, all the necessary information can also be transferred to Renta DIRECTA and confirmed in an equally simple way.

Minors must present a Declaration individually or jointly with the family unit, without the obligation to present a Declaration being fulfilled by appearing in the parent's individual Declaration as a descendant.