The family allowance under Spanish income tax isn't limited to descendants: there's also an allowance for dependent ascendants, aimed at those who financially support their elderly parents or grandparents, which likewise reduces the taxable base of the taxpayer responsible for them.
What the allowance for ascendants is
It's an amount deducted from the income tax base, based on the number of ascendants (parents, grandparents) over 65 (or of any age if they have a recognized disability) who live with the taxpayer and depend on them financially, subject to certain requirements regarding the ascendant's own income.
The requirements for applying it
- The ascendant must live with the taxpayer for at least half the tax year (with one exception: ascendants placed in specialized care centers can also generate entitlement to the allowance, even without physically living in the home).
- The ascendant must depend financially on the taxpayer, which translates into an annual income limit the ascendant's own income cannot exceed for the taxpayer to be able to apply this allowance.
- The ascendant must not have filed a tax return with income above a specific reduced threshold, nor can the taxpayer apply the allowance if the ascendant files a joint return with someone else.
The amount increases with the ascendant's age
Similar to how the income tax bracket scale works, the amount of the allowance for ascendants increases from a certain age onward (generally, from age 75 an additional amount is applied on top of the base allowance), recognizing the higher cost associated with caring for people of more advanced age.
What happens if several siblings support the same ascendant
When several taxpayers (for example, several siblings) contribute to supporting the same ascendant and have the same degree of kinship, the allowance is split equally among them, regardless of the actual proportion of expense each one covers, unless a different arrangement is agreed and properly justified.
Compatibility with other allowances and deductions
The allowance for ascendants is compatible with other family allowances (for descendants, for disability) and with specific regional deductions that some autonomous communities have established for the care of dependent relatives, which can be applied on top depending on the rules in force in each region.
A tax saving many families miss out on through simple unawareness
It's common for families who genuinely support an elderly ascendant financially not to apply this allowance simply because they're unaware it exists or of the requirements involved, losing out on a legitimate tax saving they'd be entitled to.
Estimate your income tax withholding with this circumstance
Although our income tax calculator is mainly designed around the allowance for descendants and other circumstances of the taxpayer themselves, it gives you a rough sense of how family allowances reduce your effective withholding.