• Historical Television: Rafa Castaño wins the biggest jackpot of Pasapalabra after completing the El Rosco pull
  • TV Are you able to solve (and pull) The winning Rosco of Rafa Castaño in Pasapalabra?

When almost two years ago Pablo Díaz took the last big jackpot of Pasapalabra -Sofía Álvarez did not exceed one million euros-, the big question was, how much was left of the 1,828,000 euros he earned after paying the Treasury? The answer left more than one target: just over 1,032,000 euros.

Indeed, Pablo Díaz had to pay 795,180 euros to the Treasury when taxing the Community of Madrid where the money from the prizes obtained on television is taxed at a maximum of 43.5%, by adding the common base plus the regional section. And it is that the Tax Agency takes around 50% of the prize, although this depends on the autonomous community in which it is declared.

And here, as with many other taxes, is where there can be great differences between one and another Autonomous Communities. And great difference is the one that has been on this occasion with the 2,272,000 euros that Rafa Castaño has taken.

Not only has it been the highest jackpot in the history of Pasapalabra but it has also been one of the jackpots with the greatest difference when it comes to paying taxes between two duelists. Rafa Castaño has been the one who managed to respond correctly to the 25 words of El Rosco de Pasapalabra -and he did it at once-. He became the winner of 2,272,000 euros, but it is also of the two that will have to pay the most to the Treasury.

In addition, we must bear in mind that during the 193 programs that Rafa Castaño has been competing in Pasapalabra and in which he achieved triumph after triumph more than 120,000 euros, this amount is not taken by rules of the program. According to the rules of the Antena 3 contest, that money is eliminated once the pot has been taken, so it does not receive anything from it, because it only takes it if you are eliminated before getting El Rosco.

The Pasapalabra prize is considered by the Tax Agency as a capital gain, and these lives wherever you live and whatever amount you are suffer a withholding of at least 19% and a maximum of 26%. In this case it is taxed by the highest. In general, what producers do in reserving the minimum percentage as an advance of the taxes that must be paid in the income statement. Then, when the declaration is submitted, the remaining percentage must be paid, in the event that the initial withholding has not been sufficient.

However, it is not the only retention suffered by this type of awards. At the time of the IRPF declaration, the tax must be adjusted to the real rate that must be applied according to the amount received and the withholding tables of the Treasury, at the state and regional level. In each Autonomous Community it is different.

Rafa is from Seville and therefore pays the IRPF established in Andalusia. To the 2,272,000 euros that he has won from the pot we must take away, in the first place, the 26%, which was already reserved by the producer with what to those 2,272,000 euros must be removed 590,000, with what the amount he receives is 1,681,280.

That is the amount that will have to be taxed in the next income statement and in Andalusia the self-employed have a minimum income tax rate of 9.5%, with the maximum of 23.7% -which corresponds to the Pasapalabra prize-, plus the common base -26%- would be a total of 49.7%. From 1,681,280 is 398,463. That is, the exact amount that Rafa has left of the largest jackpot in the history of Pasapalabra is 1,212,816 euros.

But what if it had been Orestes who had taken the boat? 26% would have been the same. That is, Orestes would also have received 1,681,280. However, when it comes to taxing personal income tax, the amount is different from what Rafa will have to pay since in Castilla y León -Orestes is taxed in Burgos- where the minimum is 9.5% and the maximum is 21.5%. So Orestes should have paid the Treasury in total 47.5%. From 1,681,280 euros it is 361,475. In total, Orestes would have been left with 1,319,804 euros, 106,988 euros more than what has finally been left to Rafa.

In short, the Treasury usually takes almost half of the cash prizes of television. A fact that many contestants have always revealed that they have won one of those prizes, also revealing the great differences between the autonomous communities.

The most talked about case today is probably that of Los Lobos, the winners of the biggest jackpot in the history of television in Boom!. Erundino Alonso, Manuel Zapata, Valentín Ferrero and Alberto Sanfrutos won a prize of 6,689,700 euros. According to the calculations of the union of technicians of the Treasury, 44.4% of the prize of Erundino, who resided in Guadalajara was for the Tax Agency, while his partner Manu, who resided in Navarra, had to pay 50.8%. Alberto (Jaén) and Valentín (Alicante), on the other hand, 46.6% and 47.3% respectively.

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  • Pasapalabra
  • Antenna 3