On April 6 began the 2022 Income campaigncorresponding to the 2021 financial year. Like the vast majority of self-employed workers, lawyers face the usual doubts about what is deductible and what is not when it comes to catching up with the Treasury.
Before going into details about which expenses can be deductible and which ones are not, some general rules must be taken into account:
- Must be expenses linked to the economic activity carried out by the lawyer, or as the Treasury says, that they are “affected” to it.
- Must justify them by means of the corresponding invoices. Sometimes they can be worth receipts or simplified invoice as long as all the fiscal data appear.
- They have to be accounted for by the lawyer in his registration book.
Possibly, of these three basic conditions, the one that may lead to more questions is the first, since, in order to justify certain items, the lawyer has to certify that the expense incurred it is related to his professional activity and not to his private life.
«The General Directorate of Taxes admits that the expenses associated with the ownership of the property such as depreciation, IBI and community expenses can be deducted» (Photo: E&J)
This is the case of lawyers who have the office in your home. The costs associated with that part of the dwelling used for the development of professional activity deductiblesas long as that place has a use independent of the rest. In this way, the self-employed who works from home and has so notified the Treasury in his census declaration (model 037 or 036) can qualify for the 30% deduction for supplies of water, light, etc. of the proportional part of the dwelling intended for the activity. This expense is deductible since 2018 with the entry into force of the Law of Urgent Reforms of Self-Employment.
The General Directorate of Taxes admits that the expenses associated with the ownership of the property as amortizations, IBI and community expenses can be deducted in proportion to the square meters affected by the activity reflected in the census declaration. This extends to the rental of the property if it is not your property.
In this sense, the Treasury allows the deduction for spending on the phone mobile as long as there are two lines differentiated, one for personal use and the other for professional use. This is the only way to justify that the expense is related to the activity.
Likewise, there are other deductible expenses such as those related to use of the vehicle o la customer service what can be more complicated to deduce. In the case of the former, for personal income tax purposes only fully supported as expenses in the case of self-employed workers engaged in passenger transport, merchandise, driver education or commercial activities, which includes taxi drivers, carriers, delivery men, messengers, driving schools, commercial agents and representatives. Thus the things, the deduction is conditional for the vehicle to be used exclusively for work. In this sense, aspects such as its typology and the existence or not of other cars for private use are decisive.
What concerns to customer service, it is possible to deduce both travel expenses on public transport (plane and train, but also taxis) as well as hotel stays and living expenses (meals, dinners).
spending on diets for work meals is one of the most controversial. Therefore, it is appropriate that is limited to the logic of the activity and that you always write down in an agenda or on the back of the bill who you have eaten with. In this regard, there has been a major change as a result of the judgment of the Supreme Court of March 30, 2021which recognizes that expenses for meals with clients are deductible as long as they are not unrelated to the professional activity.
Other deductible expenses
Lawyers who have hired workers they can deduct the amounts paid to its employees as personnel expense and the social security contributions derived from them. Other deductible personnel expenses They include training expenses, compensation for termination of contract, staff accident insurance, gifts (for example, Christmas baskets) and contributions to pension plans or company social security plans.
The lawyers integrated into the RETA (Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers) can deduction of fees paid. those who are not subject to this scheme, they have the possibility of deducting what is paid to social welfare mutual societies that act as alternatives to Social Security with limitations.
It is also possible to make deductions in the declaration for the liability insurance premiums professional civilian they have to have hired.
Other deductible expenses are the purchase of books, subscriptions to professional magazines, expenses for attending events related to the activity (courses, congresses, conferences) or office supplies and computer equipment. As long as you can demonstrate your affection for the activity.