Final stretch to try to reduce the tax bill for 2022. December still gives room to plan movements and increase deductible contributions, with the aim of haggling over the tax increases expected for 2023. This time especially among high incomes.
The big change for 2023 is the increase in the burden on savings income. The payable bases of 200,000 to 300,000 euros will pay from the current 26% to 27% and from 300,000 from today’s 26% to 28%. “They are high sections, it reaches a small number of people. But it can affect especially with the sale of a home with high capital gains, or bonds and stocks with very high earnings. If you are going to make the decision to sell a property or asset with a very high profit, it is better to do it this year, under equal conditions”, warns Paula Satrústegui, wealth advisory partner at Abante. “A point or two above in high amounts is noticeable. It is still worth accelerating and advancing operations”, completes Paula Urcera, head of TaxDown’s fiscal area.
For these taxpayers, in what cases is it interesting to advance operations before December 31? Taking examples, if you receive a payment of more than 200,000 euros for an installment operation in 2023, if you expect to receive dividends in your company or if a sale of company assets is expected. “Having such a high savings rate is not frequent, so more planning will have to be done,” insists Luis del Amo, technical secretary of the Registry of Tax Advisory Economists of the General Council of Economists (REAF-CGE). Assess everything that next year involves paying more.
For the rest of mortals, the taxpayer with an average pocket, “in reality there are not many changes”, assesses Del Amo. It will be possible to do the same as in previous years, although with less margin. Especially in pension plans, whose maximum contribution with reduction falls from 2,000 euros to 1,500. Gone are the 8,000 of previous years… “The margin now is quite limited”, they review in the REAF-CGE. In any case, it is encouraged to complete the contribution up to the maximum. According to TaxDown calculations, in wages of 40,000 euros you can save 437 euros in rent. “The higher our tax rate, the greater the reduction,” they point out in Abante. On the sidelines, benefits may be achieved by contributing up to 8,500 euros to employment and family pension plans, with limits based on kinship.
The second maneuver is in the mortgage payments. For regular homes purchased before 2013, up to 15% of the amount paid in the year can be deducted, on a maximum basis of 9,040 euros. The deduction reaches, therefore, up to 1,356 euros. If 5,000 euros have been paid in the year, only 750 deduction is eligible. Paying 4,040 more you reach the limit. “You have to take into account if it compensates. The total or partial amortization may have a cost ”, warns Satrústegui.
Donations to non-profit entities follow on the list. Up to 150 euros deduct 80%. Above, between 35%-40% depending on whether the donation to the same entity increases. “It improves the result and it is a good action”, says Urcera. Again, contributing to the limit is convenient.
The last one is no less important, but more complicated. It is to compensate capital gains and losses or income from movable capital for the operations of the year, reducing the tax bases. For example, the 7,000 euros gained from the sale of a fund with the 5,000 lost operating with shares. Or the redemption of insurance with the loss of an alienated bond. It is necessary to review which operations can be crossed and with what limits. “By the end of the year we will be able to compensate the rents. If, for example, I have sold a property with a profit, I could compensate it with the sale of shares that have unlimited losses”, Satrústegui exemplifies.
Among the average citizen, it is also worth overtaking. How to close home energy improvements, with deductions of up to 40%. Of course, the energy certificate is needed to justify them. “If the work is being finished, you have to try to speed it up to include the return this year,” says Del Amo. And there are things that it is better to delay. Next year the maximum base will increase (from 60,000 to 100,000 euros) and the deduction (from 30% to 50%) for investment in emerging companies. “It should be delayed until 2023,” says the expert.
