The Filomena storm recorded last January caused serious personal damage, as well as to public and private property infrastructures. The effects were also evident in a large number of hectares in crops and farms due to heavy snowfall in much of the Iberian Peninsula.
The damage caused to economic activity and infrastructure in the 6,643 accidents caused includes total damages that in a first review reach an amount of 453.3 million euros.
Faced with this situation, the national government approved a few days later a package of measures for the victims of the filomena storm. These measures have finally been included in the Official State Gazette following the
approval of aid of 509 million
by the Council of Ministers.
Through Royal Decree-Law 10/2021, the BOE has published these urgent measures to compensate for the material and personal damages caused by the passage of the Filomena storm in Madrid, and in other autonomous communities.
As stated in the text, the scope of application of this rule is for Asturias, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalucía, Aragón, Madrid, La Rioja, Navarra, Canarias, Cantabria, Cataluña, Región de Murcia and Comunidad Valenciana.
Below, we review the main aids that have been adopted in fiscal and tax matters, as well as the keys on how to request aid for those affected by Filomena.
Tax benefits for Filomena: exemption in personal income tax
The first tax measure highlighted is that the aid for the Filomena disaster will be exempt from personal income tax (IRPF) for personal injuries. That is to say, those aids aimed at alleviating personal damage, material damage to housing, goods, industrial establishments, commercial, tourist …
All these aids are exempt in personal income tax and are collected by Royal Decree 307/2005,of March 18, which regulates subsidies in response to certain needs arising from emergency situations or catastrophic nature, and establishes the procedure for granting them.
The aid for the filomena storm will be exempt from personal income tax.
Therefore, apart from the direct economic aid already mentioned for personal and material damage, we add the aid to natural or legal persons who have performed personal or property services and to local corporations for the expenses caused to deal with these emergency situations.
In addition, fiscal and labor measures are added to the damages of Filomena provided for in the Law of the National Civil Protection System to compensate for the impact of the storm on economic activity and the labor market.
The text includes aid to alleviate personal and material damage to homes and household goods, as well as to industrial, commercial and agricultural establishments…
What aid for the storm Filomena is contemplated by the Ministry of the Interior? In the event of damage to industrial, commercial, maritime-fishing, tourist and other services establishments, where the person concerned has been compensated by the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros, a subsidy of up to 7 % of the amount of compensable damage caused by the accident, up to maximum amount of 9,224 euros.
All this provided that, in no case, the sum of this subsidy and the compensation to be paid as insurance, or any other subsidy or public or private aid, exceeds the value of the damage or harm caused.
It also includes aid and subsidies in cases of death, disability, or for the destruction and damage to the housing stock.
Filomena: exemption from IBI fees
Other aid for the Filomena storm for the Community of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and the rest of the communities included in the RDL, are the exemption in the IBI quotas for the 2020 and 2021 financial year and the reduction of the IAE quota 2020 and 2021.
The exemption in the IBI quotas corresponding to the 2020 financial year, and where appropriate, for the 2021 financial year, for the accidents that have taken place in those years and that affect homes, industrial, tourist, commercial, maritime-fishing and professional establishments, agricultural and forestry farms, workplaces and the like, it may be requested provided that it is accredited:
- The need for total or partial rehousing of the persons or property located in them until the repair of the damages suffered; or
- That the destruction of agricultural and livestock farms has led to claims not covered by public or private insurance.
In addition, the exemption in the IBI quota for the filomena storm also includes that of the legally authorized surcharges on it.
The decree adds measures such as exemption from the real estate tax and a reduction in the tax on some economic activities.
Exemption from the reduction of the IAE quota and traffic charges
the reduction in the share of the Tax on Economic Activities (IAE) corresponding to the financial year 2020, it may also be extended for the financial year 2021 to industries of any nature, commercial establishments, maritime-fishing, tourism and professionals whose business premises or goods affected by that activity have been damaged as a direct result of the accidents, provided that:
- Rehousing was necessary; or
- There has been damage that forces the temporary closure of the activity.
The reduction must be proportional to the time elapsed from the day of cessation of activity until its resumption,in the same or other premises, under normal conditions.
Likewise, the reduction in the IAE quota includes that of the legally authorized surcharges on it. According to the text, if these benefits have already been satisfied, the refund of the amounts paid can be requested.
It also exempts from the payment of fees in the processing of vehicle cancellations requested as a result of the damage caused by the accidents, and the issuance of duplicates of driving or circulation permits destroyed or lost for such reasons.
For this, it will be essential that the owner of the vehicle has the compulsory insurance of civil liability of the car at the time when the damage occurred.
Exemptions from traffic charges are provided for the processing of vehicle casualties and the issuance of duplicates of destroyed or lost driving and circulation permits.
Deadlines for submission of aid Filomena
When does the deadline for submitting aid by Filomenaend? The deadline for submitting aid for personal and/or material damage ended on February 18,since the application had to be submitted within a month, counted from January 19 since the emergency situation caused by the snow and cold storm began on January 7 and ended on Monday, January 18.
The decree, however, has extended its validity to any civil protection emergency between April 1, 2020 and June 31, 2021.
Other measures are possible exemptions and bonuses of Social Security contributions that will be specified in a subsequent ministerial order.
