The taxable base (base imponible) is the monetary quantification of the taxable event from which the tax liability is calculated. Under IRPF (Art. 15 Law 35/2006), it is determined by aggregating net income, capital gains and losses, and income attributions, distinguishing between the general taxable base and the savings taxable base. Under Corporate Income Tax (Art. 10 LIS), the taxable base equals the accounting profit adjusted by the tax-specific corrections provided in the law.
In practice
What Is the Taxable Base
The taxable base is the quantitative expression of the taxable event. Once determined, the applicable tax rate is applied to it to produce the tax due. It is the central element that connects the taxed economic event with the payment obligation.
Taxable Base Under IRPF
Article 15 of Law 35/2006 (LIRPF) distinguishes two parts of the IRPF taxable base:
General taxable base: includes employment income, income from real estate capital, income from business activities and income attributions. Progressive rates apply.
Savings taxable base: includes income from financial capital (dividends, interest) and capital gains or losses arising on assets held for more than one year. Savings rates (19-28%) apply.
Both bases are reduced by personal and family allowances (Art. 56 LIRPF) to arrive at the taxable net base (base liquidable).
Taxable Base Under Corporate Income Tax
Under the CIT, Article 10 of Law 27/2014 (LIS) provides that the taxable base is calculated from the accounting profit of the year, to which positive or negative extra-accounting adjustments are applied: tax depreciation different from accounting depreciation, non-deductible impairments, related-party transactions and other permanent or temporary differences.
The resulting taxable base can be further reduced by tax losses carried forward from prior years (Art. 26 LIS) to arrive at the final taxable base for the period.
Taxable Base Under VAT
Under VAT, the taxable base is the total consideration for the taxable supply, determined in accordance with Article 78 of Law 37/1992 (LIVA). The applicable rate (standard 21%, reduced 10%, super-reduced 4%) is applied to this base to calculate the output VAT.