Reductions for compensatory pensions and annuities for food

Regulations: Art. 55 Law Income Tax

1. Compensatory pensions in favor of the spouse

According to civil law (Article 97 of the Civil Code), a spouse whose financial situation as a result of separation or divorce is worsened by the financial imbalance in relation to the other spouse, which implies a worsening of their previous situation in the marriage, is entitled to a pension which will be set out in the judicial resolution of separation or divorce or in the regulatory agreement formalised before the Court Clerk (currently, the Clerk of the Court of Justice) or the Notary. 

For payer , the compensatory pension paid, provided that it has been set in the court ruling, or has been agreed by the spouses in the separation or divorce settlement agreement, reduces their general tax base without being able to result in a negative result as a result of this reduction. The remainder, if any, will reduce the taxable savings base, without the latter being able to become negative as a result of said reduction.

For these purposes, the Supreme Court has established the following interpretative criteria: “The reduction in the tax base for compensatory pensions in favor of the spouse, paid by court decision, is applicable from the date on which the regulatory agreement between the parties that established its payment is signed, provided that the subsequent court ruling that ratifies it does not modify what was agreed in said regulatory agreement.” See Judgments Nos. 1.369/2024, of July 22 (ROJ: STS 4251/2024) and 1,397/2024, of July 23 (ROJ: STS 4248/2024). And, more recently, STS No. 54/2025, of January 21 (ROJ: STS 330/2025).

For recipient , the compensatory pension received from the spouse constitutes, in any case, work income not subject to withholding because the spouse paying the pension is not obliged to withhold.

2. Annuities for food in favor of people other than children

In accordance with the provisions of Article 143 of the Civil Code, spouses, ascendants and descendants, as well as siblings are mutually obliged to provide support in the cases and terms indicated in the aforementioned article.

However, when the taxpayer is required to provide support, it is necessary, for the purposes of its treatment in the IRPF , to distinguish between two situations:

1. Annuities for foodstuffs in favour of children

   For payer , the amounts paid in child support do not reduce the general tax base, but are subject to special treatment consisting in that, when the amount of said annuities is less than the general taxable base and there is no right to apply the minimum for descendants, they are subject to taxation separately in order to limit the progressivity of the tax scales. 

   The liquidation treatment of the annual alimony payments in favor of the children, the amount of which is less than the general taxable base subject to tax, is discussed in Chapter 15.

   For the children receiving said annuities, they constitute exempt income, provided that they are received by judicial decision or by virtue of the regulatory agreement decreed judicially or formalized before the Court Clerk (currently, Clerk of the Court of Justice) or in a public deed before a Notary referred to in article 90 of the Civil Code, or the equivalent agreement provided for in the regulations of the Autonomous Communities.

2. Annuities for food in favor of other people

   For payer , amounts paid in alimony to persons other than the children, provided that they are set by court decision, reduce the payer's general tax base without being able to result in a negative result as a result of this reduction. The remainder, if any, will reduce the taxable savings base, without the latter being able to become negative as a result of said reduction.

   For the recipient of the same, these annuities constitute employment income not subject to withholding.

3. Special case: compensatory pension and annuities for food without distinction

In cases of legal separation or divorce, a compensatory pension will normally be established in favor of one of the spouses, and, on the other, the obligation to pay an amount in the form of child support for the parent who does not have them in his or her care.

In the special case where the obligation of a single payment is established, without specifying in the judicial resolution or in the regulatory agreement which part corresponds to compensatory pension and which part to annual maintenance payments, the impossibility of determining the amount corresponding to the compensatory pension prevents applying the reduction of the base for this concept. All of this without prejudice to the fact that at a later time the amounts corresponding to each concept may be judicially specified.

Summary table of the tax treatment of compensatory pensions and alimony annuities