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V2035-17 27 July 2017 · SG de Impuestos sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas Criterion in force
IRPF · imputación temporal

Salary arrears must be declared in the tax year they become due, not when the right was originally established

A civil servant enquired whether salary arrears from 2014 and 2015 should be declared in those respective years or in 2016, when they were actually received. The Directorate General for Taxes (DGT) ruled that they must be declared in 2016, as that is when they became due.

The question raised

Which is the tax period in which they must be declared, whether it is in the 2016 fiscal year, which is the year in which the back pay is effectively received, or whether supplementary Personal Income Tax (IRPF) returns must be filed for the years 2014 and 2015, as said back pay constitutes salary differences corresponding to those periods.

The DGT's ruling

Income from employment is attributed to the tax period in which it becomes due to the recipient. If the due date occurs in a period later than the one in which the work was performed, the attribution must be made in that subsequent period. In this case, the back pay must be declared in the 2016 fiscal year, as that is when the right to receive the amounts arises following the May 2016 resolution.

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