Opening your draft return and discovering you owe thousands of euros when you didn't even think you had to file is one of the most frustrating experiences of the campaign. Thousands of taxpayers fall into the "two payers trap" every year, and most can't understand why the Tax Agency claims so much when their salary wasn't high. The reason isn't an extra tax: it's that not enough was withheld month by month.
The threshold that drops from €22,000 to €15,876
The rule in Article 96 of the Spanish IRPF Act remains intact: the general threshold for not being required to file is €22,000 gross per year. But as soon as a second payer appears who has paid you more than €1,500 during the year, that threshold plummets to €15,876.
It's not that you owe more for having two payers. The problem is that each one withheld tax based only on their own payroll, with no knowledge of the other. Result: during the year you paid less withholding than you should have, and now the Tax Agency reclaims the difference all at once.
Who is affected
- People who changed employers during 2025.
- Workers who were on ERTE or received unemployment benefits: SEPE counts as a second payer.
- Multi-employed individuals with several simultaneous part-time contracts.
- Pensioners receiving an overseas pension in addition to the Spanish one.
- Anyone who received a severance payment or back pay from a previous employer.
What to do if your draft owes money
- Don't confirm blindly. If you exceed €15,876 with two payers, the "amount owed" result is expected, but you should review before accepting.
- Check deductible expenses: union fees, mandatory professional association fees (€500 cap) and legal defence expenses for labour disputes (€300 cap) are often missing from the draft.
- Review the personal and family minimums: births, newly recognised disability, or changes in family circumstances reduce the tax bill and the draft sometimes fails to reflect them.
- If the amount is high, split the payment: the AEAT lets you divide the payment into two instalments (60% on filing and 40% on 5 November) with no interest or surcharges.
Key tip
If your draft comes back high, don't improvise. Spend ten minutes reviewing the boxes for deductible work expenses and the family minimum. And if you confirm, tick the 60/40 instalment option: you defer almost half the payment to November with no interest.
Legal context
The obligation to file when exceeding €15,876 with two or more payers is set out in Article 96.3 of Law 35/2006 (IRPF). It is one of the points that generates the most queries at the AEAT at the start of each campaign because of the surprise it causes for workers on medium-low salaries. If your return owes money, you should also check how to split the payment in two interest-free instalments.