Social Security paralyzes the payment of maternity benefits

Social Security paralyzes the payment of maternity benefits

The Ministry of Finance is studying the possibility of returning officially the income tax withheld over the last four years to 900,000 beneficiaries

  The National Institute of Social Security (INSS) has paralyzed the payment of maternity and paternity benefits, a payment that will probably resume again in about fifteen days. And it has done so to develop a computer application that stops withholding income tax. This is what he has to do from last Friday, once the ruling of the Supreme Court that establishes the exemption of this tax on maternity allowance was published, as the Secretary of State for Social Security advanced to some journalists on Tuesday. , Octavio Granado. In this way, the beneficiaries will begin to receive these benefits in a few days in full, without any tax reduction.

  But this ruling does not affect only the current benefits, but it can have an effect on some 900,000 people, according to calculations made by the Ministry of Labor, Migrations and Social Security that have been sent to the Department of the Treasury on Tuesday. This is because a failure of this type has effects on the four preceding years, so in theory around 900,000 beneficiaries can claim the return of this money.

Fearing an avalanche of complaints before the Tax Agency that leads to collapse, the Treasury is considering the possibility that this exemption can be returned ex officio - as was recently done with the extension of the regulatory base for widows -, so that they directly enter the amount deducted without having to make any claim or even present a declaration of complementary income. This was announced Granado, who nevertheless pointed out that the sentence only refers to maternity benefits, so it believes that the Court must still decide on whether this also affects paternity.