For the first time, the Spanish tax agency receives all childcare expenses from nurseries and authorised early childhood education centres, thanks to Form 233 expanded by Royal Decree 253/2025. That information is pre-loaded into your draft return and unlocks up to €1,000 extra on top of the maternity deduction. The catch: the increase is not paid in advance — it only shows up if you review and confirm your return. Thousands of mothers will leave it on the table.
What has changed?
Royal Decree 253/2025, of 1 April, requires not only traditional nurseries, but also authorised early childhood education centres, to file the informative return on childcare expenses (Form 233). The change applies to informative returns for the 2025 tax year, filed in January 2026 — the tax year now being declared in this 2025 tax return.
This has two practical effects:
- The tax agency already knows how much you paid for enrolment, attendance (regular and extended hours) and meals at the centre for your child under 3.
- That information is pre-loaded into your draft return and should unlock the increase of up to €1,000 extra on top of the €1,200 annual maternity deduction set in Article 81 of the Personal Income Tax Law.
The catch is in how it pays out:
| Item | Monthly advance | Annual maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Maternity deduction (Art. 81 PITL) | Yes, €100/month if requested | €1,200 per child |
| Increase for nursery expenses | Cannot be advanced | €1,000 per child |
The €1,000 increase only applies when you file the return. If you confirm the draft blindly, that money may be left out.
Extra detail · one-off €150 increase: if you registered with Social Security or a mutual scheme after the child was born and you complete the 30 days of contributions in a later month, that month the deduction is increased by an extra €150 (€250 in total for that month). Only in this case does the annual cap of the maternity deduction rise from €1,200 to €1,350 per child (art. 81 IRPF Law). The nursery increase of up to €1,000 remains independent and is added on top.
Who is affected?
- Mothers with children under 3 who have paid for a nursery or authorised early childhood education centre during 2025.
- Also the father, guardian or adoptive parent with sole custody or when the mother has passed away (the deduction transfers).
- You do not need to be working at the time of filing: since 2023, the requirement of self-employed or salaried activity has been removed, along with the minimum contribution period — it is enough to receive unemployment benefit, or to be registered with Social Security or a mutual fund with at least 30 days of contributions at some point.
The Minimum Living Income does not open the door
Receiving only the Minimum Living Income (IMV) does not in itself trigger entitlement to the maternity deduction or the nursery increase. You also need to meet one of the activity or contribution requirements in Art. 81 PITL.
What should you do?
- Open your draft return in Renta Web and look for the "Maternity deduction and increase for childcare expenses" section.
- Check that the centre's amounts appear: enrolment, attendance (regular and extended hours) and meals. If your centre was authorised and nothing shows up, contact the centre: they should have filed Form 233 in January 2026.
- Confirm or adjust the increase amount (up to €1,000 per year, prorated by full months).
- Subtract any amounts paid by your employer as tax-exempt benefits in kind (nursery vouchers): they do not count twice.
- If you worked fewer months than your child was enrolled, calculate the proration manually — only months where you simultaneously met both the contribution requirement and the nursery expense apply.
Key tip
Partial months do not count
Only months in which you paid the centre in full count. If the child started nursery mid-month, that month is excluded from the increase. And if your child turns 3 during 2025, the increase can run until the month before the start of the second early-childhood cycle — a detail the draft return does not always apply on its own.
Context
According to the 2025 Tax Manual published by the Spanish Tax Agency, the expanded informative obligation for nurseries and early childhood education centres was introduced through Royal Decree 253/2025, of 1 April, which amends Article 69.9 of the Personal Income Tax Regulations in relation to the authorised early childhood education centres referred to in Article 81.2 of the Personal Income Tax Law. This is the first campaign in which the tax agency cross-checks this data before generating the draft return. AEAT reminds taxpayers that, unlike the general maternity deduction, the increase for childcare expenses cannot be claimed in advance: it must be requested directly on the tax return.
If you want to dig deeper
- Review the key deadlines of the 2025 tax campaign before filing.
- See which deductions are most often forgotten and why.
- If you already filed without claiming the increase, see how to amend the return with box 103.