Autonomous Communities in which self-employed workers can apply for direct aid

Last February, the Government announced the launch of a €7 billion package of direct aid for self-employed workers and small businesses to address the crisis caused by the pandemic. However, it was not until the end of May that all the Autonomous Communities (regions), which are responsible for managing the allocation, completed the administrative procedures and signed the agreements needed to make non-repayable transfers to the self-employed workers in their territories. Although each Autonomous Community is moving at its own pace, many regions already allow interested businesses to apply for the direct aid, and some, such as Madrid, have even begun making payments to their self-employed workers.

Cantabria

Self-employed workers and companies in Cantabria will be able to apply for the €55.3 million in direct aid from the central Government allocated to this Autonomous Community from June 21, for a period of 30 days, exclusively online.

Catalonia

The order on direct aid for self-employed workers was published in the Official Journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya, DOGC), and applications can now be submitted from June 21 until June 30 at 3:00 p.m., provided that the self-employed workers meet the requirements.

The Generalitat will also increase the central Government aid to more than €1 billion. In addition, the Catalan Government added 96 new sectors to the 95 proposed, making a total of 191. It is worth noting that the Generalitat’s extension will also cover workers who were on a temporary layoff scheme (ERTE) between January and May 2021.

Self-employed workers taxed under the objective assessment method (estimación objetiva) will be able to receive up to €3,000, while those under the direct assessment method (estimación directa) will receive a grant of no less than €4,000 and no more than €200,000.

La Rioja

Since June 18, self-employed workers in La Rioja have been able to apply for the direct aid established by the central Government. Totaling €32.5 million, this earmarked direct aid may be applied for until July 2.

The call for applications stresses that this aid is to be used to settle debts and make payments to suppliers or other creditors, both financial and non-financial, as well as to cover fixed costs incurred, provided that these accrued between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021, and arise from contracts entered into before March 13, 2021, the date on which Royal Decree-Law 5/2021, of March 12, entered into force.

As for the amounts, they will range from €3,000 to €200,000, as defined in the Royal Decree.

Balearic Islands

Self-employed workers in the Balearic Islands will be able to apply for the direct aid from June 14 until June 28. On April 30, the Monitoring Committee of the Pact for the Economic and Social Reactivation and Diversification of the Balearic Islands agreed to include a further 46 sectors. In total, 140 sectors will be covered.

Some of the newly protected activities are the production of oil, cheese, or beverages; the manufacture of footwear or furniture; the chemical and metal industries; and the manufacture of packaging. The extension will also cover food wholesalers and retailers such as souvenir shops, as well as technology sectors such as programming, IT, and information technology companies. Companies related to training and culture will likewise be eligible.

Applicants may apply through the Autonomous Community’s electronic office (sede electrónica), and there are two separate aid lines. The first would be for professionals who apply the objective assessment method for Personal Income Tax (IRPF) purposes. Maximum amount: €3,000. The second, in turn, would be for entrepreneurs, self-employed workers, businesses, or entities that determine the net income from their activities for Personal Income Tax purposes under the direct assessment method, or that are subject to Corporate Income Tax (IS) or Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR) for the purposes of quantifying the tax burden arising from the conduct of their business activities. For them, the maximum amount may not be less than €4,000 or more than €500,000.

Canary Islands

With two separate aid lines, self-employed workers in the Canary Islands who recorded losses of more than 30% and who have debts will be able to benefit from this package of non-repayable aid. The application period began on June 15 and will end on July 28 of this year.

The first aid line defined by the Canary Islands Government will be for self-employed workers taxed under the objective assessment method for Personal Income Tax purposes, for a maximum amount of €3,000. The second line will be for self-employed workers, businesses, and groups of companies whose annual volume of transactions (volumen de operaciones), as declared to or verified by the tax authorities for the purposes of the Canary Islands General Indirect Tax (IGIC) and, where applicable, Value Added Tax (VAT), fell by more than 30% in 2020 compared with 2019.

Beneficiaries of this aid must also fall under one of the National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE) codes included, with the exception of: financial and insurance activities; activities of households as employers of domestic personnel; and activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies. Applications must be submitted electronically using the standardized application forms published on the electronic office of the Public Administration of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands.

Castilla y León

From May 20 until July 6, self-employed workers in Castilla y León can apply for the direct aid. To do so, as in the other regions, they must meet a series of requirements vis-à-vis the authorities. First, self-employed workers in the region must have carried out, during 2019 and 2020, at least one of the activities listed under the CNAE codes corresponding to the eligible sectors and still have been carrying it out on March 13, 2021. The regional Government added 89 activities to those set out in the Royal Decree: 37 in trade, 15 in agriculture and livestock farming, another 15 in culture and tourism, six in education, five in healthcare, eight in social services, and another three in other services, as the regional Government itself recently announced.

Self-employed workers in the region will be able to apply for this aid on the electronic office: Tramita Castilla y León.

Castilla-La Mancha

Since June 10, self-employed workers in Castilla-La Mancha have been able to apply for the direct aid, with the call for applications closing on July 9. In addition, the region has become the Autonomous Community in Spain with the most added sectors, adding 300 new ones to the 95 initially proposed by the Government.

On an earmarked basis, self-employed workers in Castilla-La Mancha will be able to receive between €3,000 and €200,000 to settle their pandemic-related debts (depending on their size). They must also be up to date with their tax and Social Security obligations and be registered under one of the CNAE codes proposed by the Government or added by the region. In addition, they must show a drop of more than 30% in their annual volume of transactions in 2020 compared with 2019. Applications will be submitted online through the electronic office of the Administration of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha.

Notable among the 395 sectors extended by the Autonomous Community are the food sector, both livestock and agriculture, including fishing and hunting; the manufacture of food products and beverages (oils, beers, butters, confectionery, etc.); the manufacture of clothing and footwear; the manufacture and distribution of stationery; the processing of glass, paper, and plastic; the manufacture of healthcare and technical materials; the manufacture of construction elements (concrete, plaster, etc.); the manufacture of tools and carpentry products; the arms sector; metallurgical industries; machinery repair; the manufacture of electrical products; various retail businesses (florists, food, vehicles) and the wholesale of various goods; hospitality in general and tourism-related sectors; culture and audiovisual; beauty salons and hairdressers; and sports centers and activities.

Community of Madrid

Madrid has added €220 million to the direct aid approved by the Government in order to include self-employed workers in sectors that had been left out of the call for applications. Accordingly, from May 1 to June 30, the Autonomous Community opened the application period for the more than 25 CNAE codes excluded from the Royal Decree. This Autonomous Community is also reportedly already paying several self-employed workers, the first in Spain to do so, since it was the first to sign and process the aid.

This extension covers self-employed workers engaged in hairdressing, beauty centers, driving schools, academies (non-formal education), souvenir shops, home décor shops, mobile spare parts shops and mechanical workshops, bicycle rental; cultural sectors (singers, musicians, etc.), florists and the flower trade, audiovisual production, cleaning businesses, service stations, the wholesale of perfumery and cosmetics, the wholesale of metals and metal ores (scissors, barbering tools, etc.), the manufacture of household appliances (hair dryers, irons, cutting machines, etc.); the manufacture of plastic products; secondary, technical, and vocational education, advertising agencies, the textile industry, the beverage industry, freight transport, non-specialized wholesale trade; sports facilities and sports bodies, independent athletes and sports instructors, and sales agents.

Finally, it is worth noting that the criteria for the direct aid extended by the Community of Madrid will be the same as those established by the Government. The aid will be available to self-employed workers registered for the Business Activities Tax (IAE) under any of the 25 headings added by the Autonomous Community, and whose annual volume of transactions, as declared to or verified by the tax authorities for the purposes of VAT or an equivalent indirect tax, fell by more than 30% in 2020 compared with 2019.

Galicia

From June 14 until July 14, the Xunta de Galicia will allow applications to be processed for direct aid for self-employed workers and businesses affected by the crisis caused by the pandemic.

To this end, the Galician Government has defined four programs with different amounts depending on the form and size of the businesses affected. First are self-employed workers under the objective assessment method for Personal Income Tax purposes (Program I). They will receive a maximum of €3,000. The second program would cover individual self-employed workers, small businesses with up to 10 workers, and businesses with up to 25 workers with a turnover of up to €2 million. For this group, the amount would range from €6,000 to €9,000.

The third program, in turn, would cover self-employed workers or businesses with more than 10 workers and a turnover of more than €2 million, as well as activities with more than 25 workers. Under Program III, grants will range from €10,000 to €25,000.

However, the Xunta de Galicia stressed that this direct aid “is earmarked and must be applied to settle debt and make payments to suppliers and other financial and non-financial creditors,” provided that those debts arose between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021, and derive from contracts entered into before the entry into force of the Royal Decree that defines the grants.

Accordingly, self-employed workers interested in applying for this aid can do so through the electronic office of the Xunta de Galicia. Finally, businesses and self-employed workers whose activity has fallen by 30% compared with 2019 and that fall under the CNAE codes proposed in Royal Decree-Law 5/2021 will be eligible for this aid. This is because Galicia did not extend the 95 sectors defined by the central Government.

Region of Murcia

Self-employed workers in Murcia have 21 calendar days, starting June 7, to apply for the direct aid proposed by the central Government.

As in the other Autonomous Communities, self-employed workers in Murcia will be able to receive between €3,000 and €200,000 to settle their pandemic-related debts (depending on their size). They must also be up to date with their tax and Social Security obligations and be registered under one of the CNAE codes proposed by the Government or added by the region. In addition, they must show a drop of more than 30% in their annual volume of transactions in 2020 compared with 2019.

Self-employed workers with their tax domicile in the region may submit their application on the Murcia Business Solvency Aid (Ayudas a la Solvencia Empresarial) web portal. The Murcian Government has also increased to 125 the number of sectors eligible for these grants, notably: metallurgical companies; the manufacture of footwear and clothing; the manufacture of food products; crafts; lighting and electrical businesses; food retailers; technology product retailers; craft and clothing retailers; transport (taxis, maritime, etc.); cultural, audiovisual, and tourism activities; education; and sports-related activities.

Valencian Community

Since May 31, self-employed workers in the Valencian Community have been able to apply for the direct aid line defined by the central Government. With an allocation of €647 million, the Generalitat increased to 188 the number of sectors eligible for these grants. Thanks to the “Resistir Plus” plan, self-employed workers in the region will be able to receive aid amounts of between €3,000 and €200,000, depending on their type of taxation, drop in income, and business size.
According to the call for applications published in the Official Journal of the Valencian Community (Diario Oficial de la Comunidad Valenciana), the beneficiaries of this aid will be the small businesses and self-employed workers most affected by the pandemic crisis. The Generalitat has also set two dates for starting to process the direct aid. First, the call for applications opened on May 31 for applicants under the objective assessment method (the so-called “módulos” system), companies that underwent structural modifications as commercial companies between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020, and self-employed workers or companies that registered or were incorporated between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019. The call for these applicants closed on June 4, and beneficiaries not covered in the previous group will have another application period, which will begin on June 7, 2021, and end on June 11.

Since there are two separate windows for applying for these grants, self-employed workers must select on the electronic office of the Valencian Community the time slot and date for submitting their application. The Valencian Community has also increased to 188 the number of sectors affected by the pandemic that can access this aid plan, notably the food, transport, retail, hospitality, culture, audiovisual, and sports sectors.