Government gets six months and two days of every employee's annual wages in taxes
Thursday, August 14, 2014 @ 9:27 PM
THE average worker in Spain spends six months' wages on taxes before they are able to spend their earnings on bills, food, mortgage or rent and general enjoyment, a recent survey has revealed.
And tax hikes mean employees and the self-employed need to work an extra nine days and spend a further 747 euros than they did in 2010, says the think tank Civismo.
Typically, every cent earned each year up to and including July 3 goes on taxes, since workers spend the first 102 days of their salaries on Social Security (national insurance) payments, the next 41 days on income tax or IRPF, a further 25 days if they are self-employed on IVA, or value-added tax – irrespective of their turnover – and a final five days for other, miscellaneous taxes.
Of the extra 747 euros it costs the average worker every year now in taxes, 116 euros go in income tax or IRPF, 193 euros in relation to the IVA hike in 2010 when the top rate rose from 16% to 18%, plus a further 370 euros for the 2012 IVA rise from 18% to 21%.
The final 68 euros relate to property tax or IBI, car tax, and other 'special taxes' such as those on petrol, electricity, alcohol and so on.
And the difference between how long it takes a worker who earns a typical gross wage of 1,000 euros a month to pay off all tax duties and those who earn enough to be comfortable is anything up to 23 days.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com