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V0131-21 29 January 2021 · SG de Impuestos sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas Criterion in force
IRPF · retenciones

New employer must consider previous year's bonus when calculating IRPF withholding in cases of business succession

A worker transfers from one company to another due to business succession (Art. 44 ET). The query concerns whether the new employer must include the bonus received at the previous company when calculating the IRPF withholding rate in January 2021.

The question raised

Whether the new company where said employee works must take into account the bonus received by the employee in March 2020 for the purpose of calculating the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) withholding rate to be applied to the January 2021 payroll.

The DGT's ruling

In the event of business succession, the transferee company maintains the status of the same payer. To calculate the initial withholding rate, the total amount of remuneration must be taken into account, including foreseeable variable components, which shall be at least those obtained in the previous year. If the payer knows that there will be no variable remuneration in the previous year, it may choose not to include it, but this must be assessed according to objective circumstances. If remuneration varies during the year, the withholding rate must be regularized.

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