Personal and family minimum

The income the tax leaves alone

The mínimo personal y familiar (arts. 57–58 LIRPF) is the part of your income the tax system treats as tax-free because it goes to covering your own and your family’s basic needs. It is not a deduction you subtract from tax owed and not a benefit you receive — it is a threshold. In the monthly payslip it does its work as a credit: the withholding scale is applied to it and that result is subtracted from the tax on your base, which is why it lowers the rate you actually pay.

It comes in two parts — a minimum for you, the taxpayer, and a minimum for your dependent children.

The taxpayer’s own minimum

Every taxpayer starts with a personal minimum of 5550,00 € a year (art. 57). Age raises it: from 65 it increases by 1150,00 €, and from 75 there is a further 1400,00 € on top of that — so an over-75 taxpayer carries 2550,00 € above the base amount. The calculator assumes a working-age employee, so it uses the base figure; the age increases are noted here for completeness.

The minimum for dependent children

Each dependent child adds to the minimum, and the amount grows with each further child (art. 58). A child under three years old adds a further 2800,00 € on top of the amount for its birth order.

A child counts for this minimum when it lives with the taxpayer, is under 25 (or has a disability) and has little or no income of its own. Where a child could be claimed by both parents the minimum is normally shared — the calculator assumes full attribution to one taxpayer as a simplifying assumption.

Why it makes children change your net

This is the mechanism behind one of the tool’s signature behaviours: adding a child visibly lifts the monthly net. Because the minimum is subtracted through the scale rather than from the base, a larger family produces a larger credit and a lower withholding rate — live, as you change the number of children in the calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Is the personal and family minimum money I receive?

No — it is not a payment or a benefit. It is a slice of income the law treats as tax-free to reflect your personal and family situation, and in the payslip it works as a credit against the withholding scale. Its effect is a lower monthly withholding, not a transfer into your account.

Why do more children lower my monthly withholding?

Because the minimum for dependent children is applied inside the withholding as a rate-scale credit: the scale is run over your minimum and subtracted from the scale run over your base. A larger family means a larger credit, so the withholding rate drops and the monthly net rises.

Does the calculator split the children minimum between two parents?

No. Where both parents can claim a child, the minimum is normally shared, but that is a return-time choice. To keep things simple the calculator assumes the full minimum for each declared child goes to one taxpayer, which is a simplifying assumption, not a rule.

What is the earned-income reduction?

It is a separate relief (art. 20) for lower earners that further reduces the base the withholding scale is applied to, up to 7302,00 € a year, tapering to nothing as pay rises. It is why the withholding is very low or nil around the minimum-wage level.