Government gives check up to 600 euros to compensate for lower surcharge

Children and young people up to the age of 17 who do not receive a total annual amount of 600 euros or 50 euros per month through child benefit and deduction from the collection in the IRS will receive an allowance from the Tax Authorities (AT) that will write a check for the difference. Payment for this year will be in March, DN/Dinheiro Vivo said. And it will be able to cover more than 300 thousand higher income families belonging to the 3rd, 4th and 5th levels for granting the allowance. For the poorest households, in the 1st and 2nd level, the reinforcement will take place through the social benefit.

The measure “guarantee allowance for youth” was already included in the national budget (OE) for this year, but will only now become operational. Until December 31, Social Security must inform Finance who the beneficiaries are and the amount paid from the child support for the AT in order to cross this data with that of the deduction for the collection in the IRS and determine the supplement to which the families are entitled per child up to 600 euros per year. Only after this process is it possible to determine how many families will be compensated and what the amounts will be.

An analysis of the Social Security statistics from July shows that 286,684 households are in the 3rd income bracket, between 6,204.80 and 10,548.16 euros per year, representing 27% of the total number of beneficiaries. At this level, the allowances per child range from €97.31 for children up to the age of three, €32.44 for children aged three to six and €28 for children older than that age. In this case, children over three years old may be entitled to the “guarantee allowance”, as they receive less than 50 euros per month.

In the 4th level, between €10,548.16 and €15,512 per year, there are 92,768 holders, 8.8% of the total. Here the benefits range from 58.39 euros up to three years and 19.46 euros up to six years. In this category, the check can ultimately only be paid to children over the age of six. As for the 5th bracket, with an income above 15,512 euros, Social Security does not provide information on the number of families, as they are not entitled to benefits.

But in order to actually know how many households are eligible for the State assessment, the AT must determine how many households receive an allowance of less than 600 euros per year and how many are not allowed to deduct the same amount per child. the IRS, for not having sufficient income. For example, anyone who receives up to the subsistence minimum of 9415 euros per year is exempt from IRS but cannot receive from the tax authorities. Up to this income level, there are mainly families in the 3rd bracket. These will mainly benefit from the “guarantee surcharge”.

However, it is necessary to pay close attention to the IRS code, as families with incomes up to 11,320 euros who have three or four dependents may also be exempt from this tax and therefore not eligible for refunds. This limit can rise to 15,560 euros if the household has more than five children. However, in these situations, there may be 4th and 5th level families who can receive the “guarantee allowance”.

There are also various situations in which the IRS income in combination with the allowance does not amount to 600 euros per year. For example, in the case of a family without entitlement to this benefit and with a tax deduction of 500 euros, the tax authorities must pay a surcharge of 100 euros to reach that 600.

Under this year’s state budget bill, “the transfer will be made in the first quarter of the year following the IRS settlement.” It means that the supplement to the surcharge and tax deduction for 2022 will be paid until next March. Families can consult “detailed information on the value of the allowance granted” on the Finance Portal, the diploma states.

The aim is to ensure that all children under the age of 18 are entitled to EUR 600 per year, regardless of age and family income. About 15 days ago, the Council of Ministers approved the increase in child benefits for the poorest households, in the 1st and 2nd tier with an annual income of up to 624.8 euros, to ensure that no beneficiary receives less than 600 euros a year or 50 euros per month. As DN/Dinheiro Vivo reported, in practice this bonus gives between 1 and 19 euros per month to 400 thousand children older than three years. The accrual will start to be paid out in phases next month with retroactive effect to 1 July. There will be no increases at these two levels for up to three years, and the benefit, which varies between 149.85 and 123.69 euros, remains unchanged, as it is well above the set minimum of 50 per month.

In addition, the guarantee for children under 18 at risk of extreme poverty has been strengthened, which will cover 123,000 beneficiaries. The aim is that these children, normally in the 1st and 2nd degree, receive a supplement to the allowance to ensure that they receive 70 euros per month or 840 euros for the whole year and 100 euros per month or 1200 euros per month. year in 2023.

According to the OE, the package of measures will cost the state treasury 140 million. Although this package for children is included in the budget, it is structural and permanent, ie it must be maintained in the coming years.

Salomé Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo