The Council of Ministers has approved a royal decree-law that declares exempt from taxation in the IRPF the compensations intended for victims of sexual abuse within the scope of the Catholic Church. The measure ensures that the economic compensations are received in full, without tax deductions, within the repair system agreed between the Executive, the Ombudsman, and the Church itself.
According to the Government, the decision fulfills the agreement signed with the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) to establish a mechanism for recognition and reparation to the victims, avoiding them having to face tax obligations for the amounts received.
The measure corrects a previous situation that had generated uncertainty. In most cases, the abuse crimes have prescribed, which has prevented the existence of judicial resolutions. As a consequence, the compensations granted outside the courts did not fit into the usual cases of tax exemption, forcing the victims to pay taxes on them.
With the new decree, the Executive establishes a framework that allows these compensations, linked to personal damages of a physical, psychological, or moral nature, not to be reduced by the tax burden.
This exemption is integrated into the mixed repair system designed between the State and the Church, in which the compensations are determined based on the proposals of the Ombudsman and assumed by the ecclesiastical institutions.