After many years of speculation, Royal Decree-Law 13/2022 was approved last July, establishing a
new contribution system for self-employed workers and improving protection for cessation of activity.
The new contribution system will come into force on January 1, 2023, and will be applicable to all workers contributing to the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA), including corporate self-employed workers.
The
objectives of this reform are:
- To bring the contribution bases of self-employed workers closer to their actual income levels, as is the case for employees, in a context where 80% of the self-employed contribute based on the minimum base, regardless of their business performance.
- To improve protection for cessation of activity, assimilating it to the unemployment benefit of the general regime.
Below, we summarize the main
new features of this reform:
- A contribution system is established based on the annual net earnings obtained by self-employed workers in the exercise of their economic, business, or professional activities, requiring them to choose the corresponding monthly contribution base according to their forecast of annual net earnings.
- The reform establishes a system of 12 progressive brackets for the next three years that will determine the contribution bases and quotas based on the self-employed worker’s net earnings.
Thus,
the monthly net earnings and monthly quotas for the next three years will be as follows:
| NET EARNINGS |
2023 QUOTA |
2024 QUOTA |
2025 QUOTA |
| <670 |
230 |
225 |
200 |
| 670-900 |
260 |
250 |
220 |
| 900-1,125.9 |
275 |
267 |
260 |
| 1,125-1,300 |
291 |
291 |
290 |
| 1,300-1,500 |
294 |
294 |
294 |
| 1,500-1,700 |
294 |
294 |
294 |
| 1,700-1,850 |
310 |
320 |
350 |
| 1,850-2,030 |
315 |
325 |
370 |
| 2,030-2,330 |
320 |
330 |
390 |
| 2,330-2,760 |
330 |
340 |
415 |
| 2,760-3,190 |
350 |
360 |
440 |
| 3,190-3,620 |
370 |
380 |
465 |
| 3,620-4,050 |
390 |
400 |
490 |
| 4,050-6,000 |
420 |
445 |
530 |
| >6,000 |
500 |
530 |
590 |
As can be seen, this reform has a significant progressive component, in the sense that it reduces quotas for self-employed individuals who earn less and increases them for those who earn more.
Self-employed individuals will be able to
adapt their quota to their net earnings forecasts up to six times each year.
These quotas will be provisional, as at the end of the fiscal year, once the annual net earnings of the activity are known, the contributions will be regularized by returning or claiming any differences that may exist.
Net earnings will be calculated by adding all income from the economic, business, and professional activities of the self-employed and deducting all expenses necessary to obtain it, in accordance with Personal Income Tax (IRPF) regulations, and applying an additional deduction of 7% for general expenses, and 3% for corporate self-employed workers.
The reform also establishes:
- A subsidized quota for new self-employed individuals consisting of a flat rate of 80 euros during the first 12 months of activity, which can be extended for an additional 12 months in cases with lower net earnings.
- Contributions in cases where self-employment is compatible with retirement and a reduced contribution for self-employed individuals aged 65 and over.
- An expansion of the protection modalities for cessation of activity to improve coverage for contingencies such as a partial interruption of activity or to address cyclical or sectoral crisis situations.
Thus, this reform updates the contribution model for self-employed workers, adapting their contributions to the actual evolution of their activity, offering them new coverage, and ultimately helping more people to pursue their self-employed vocation and say
I am what I want to be!
