Unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits will not have to file a tax return

The government removed the requirement for unemployment benefit recipients to file a tax returnas specified in the royal decree-law on economic measures approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers and published this Wednesday in the Official State Journal (BOE).

The measure will be applicable for the 2025 financial year and consists of rectifying the obligation that appeared in the 2024 unemployment compensation reform.

To this end, the royal decree approved yesterday modifies the General social security law, with the justification that the presentation of the personal income tax return by these persons “represents only a formal obligation”.

The Executive maintains that this requirement “goes beyond the intent of the rule, which was initially to provide an additional source of information to the entity administering unemployment benefits.”

As explained, a similar obligation has been incorporated for the non-contributory profit of the minimum living income (IMV), with the aim of aligning the two regulations.

However, “substantial differences both in the applicable regulations and in the purpose of each benefit” have led to this obligation being discouraged for beneficiaries of unemployment benefits, “which would also lead to an unnecessary increase in the administrative burden for the worker”, specifies the text.

In addition, the data necessary to verify the responsible declarations of people applying for unemployment benefits must be verified by the SEPE through consultation of the beneficiaries’ tax data.