Severance payments: when do you lose your personal income tax exemption?

The Audiencia Nacional validates the use of evidence to classify a dismissal as agreed. The consequence is direct: compensation is not exempt. We analyse the criteria that every company should be aware of before executing a dismissal.

Case law highlights

La imagen muestra la parte superior de un edificio con un diseño arquitectónico curvado y una iluminacion suave.

Acquirer’s labour liability for debts arising from already terminated vontracts

Labour - M&A in insolvency

The Supreme Court confirms that the purchaser of a production unit in insolvency proceedings may be liable for the labour debts of workers whose contracts were terminated before the award. Art. 224 TRLC 2020 incurred in ultra vires by restricting this liability: it could not be done by means of a recast text.

More news of interest

In-depth analysis

Retention of severance pay: recent criteria of the Audiencia Nacional (Spanish High Court)

Taxation - Personal Income Tax

The Contentious Chamber analysed the case of a company that treated as exempt - in accordance with art. 7.e) LIRPF - the severance payments made to six workers. The TEAC concluded that the terminations were in fact agreements between the parties, which precluded the application of the exemption. The company appealed unsuccessfully


The key: determining whether the dismissal is forced or agreed. The Court of Appeal validated the circumstantial evidence method of art. 108 LGT by assessing a "precise and direct link according to the rules of human criteria". The evidence that tipped the balance:


  • The objective causes alleged in the dismissal letters were recognised as unfair in prior conciliation, revealing that they were not the real origin of the dismissal.
  • In all cases, compensation was chosen over reinstatement, obtaining higher amounts than in the case of objective dismissal.
  • All the workers were over 61 years of age. After receiving unemployment benefit, they received a retirement pension.
  • The amount is not related to seniority or salary: the older they are - the shorter the distance to retirement - the lower the amount. The total was intended to compensate for the income they would have received until retirement.

Contact our team of professionals