The new contribution system for self-employed workers is here

The Official State Gazette (BOE) has published Royal Decree-Law 13/2022, of July 26, establishing a new contribution system for self-employed workers.

This new contribution system for self-employed workers is a progressive contribution model that will be rolled out over three years, from 2023 to 2025. Under this model, self-employed workers with lower income will see their contributions reduced, while contributions for higher earners will increase.
The new system thus establishes 15 contribution brackets, and each self-employed worker will have to be placed in one of them based on their projected income, which they must report to the Social Security authorities.
The lower brackets will reduce the contribution relative to the minimum base, while the contribution will increase in the higher brackets.
The system will enter into force on January 1, 2023, with a minimum contribution of €230 and a maximum of €500. In 2024, contributions will range from €225 to €530. Finally, in 2025, self-employed contributions will range from €200 to €590.
Its aim is to align benefits between the General Social Security Scheme (régimen general) and the Special Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (Régimen Especial de Trabajadores Autónomos, RETA). The average pension of self-employed workers is 43% lower than under the general scheme, a difference of around €600. However, this reform is not limited to the contribution table, as the rule approved today includes other points of interest for self-employed workers.
WHAT’S NEW
Royal Decree-Law 13/2022, of July 26 (BOE of July 27, 2022)PDF creates a new system under which self-employed workers contribute based on their net income. Its new features include the following:
1. Entry into force and period
The Royal Decree-Law will enter into force on January 1, 2023. However, this change will be phased in gradually.
The new system will be rolled out over a maximum period of nine years, with periodic reviews every three years (the initial implementation period runs from 2023 to 2025).
2. Reduced contribution of €80 per month between 2023 and 2025 for starting a self-employed activity
From 2023 to 2025, a reduced contribution of €80 per month applies to initial registrations with RETA. It also applies where the self-employed worker had not been registered in the two years immediately preceding the effective date of registration.
This measure applies for the first 12 months and may be extended for a further 12 months if income during the first year is below the national minimum wage (SMI).
This mechanism will replace the flat rate for self-employed workers (tarifa plana).
3. Contribution tables based on the income obtained in 2023, 2024, and 2025
Workers covered by RETA must contribute based on the gross income obtained. Self-employed workers will contribute on the contribution base corresponding to their income bracket, under the general and reduced tables in force for each year of the 2023–2025 period.
The new system provides for progressive contribution brackets from 2023 to 2025, each linked to a range of gross income.
• Minimum contribution: in 2023, self-employed workers with net income below €670 will pay €230 per month. In 2024 they will pay €225, and in 2025 the contribution will be €200.
• Maximum contribution: at the other end of the scale, self-employed workers who contribute at the maximum (more than €6,000) will pay €500 in 2023, €530 in 2024, and €590 in 2025.
4. Up to six changes of contribution base (bracket) per year
Workers covered by RETA may change the base on which they are required to contribute up to six times a year. They may choose another base within the minimum and maximum limits applicable to them in each year, provided that they apply to the General Social Security Treasury (Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social, TGSS). The change takes effect as follows:
a) March 1, if the application is filed between January 1 and the last calendar day of February.
b) May 1, if the application is filed between March 1 and April 30.
c) July 1, if the application is filed between May 1 and June 30.
d) September 1, if the application is filed between July 1 and August 31.
e) November 1, if the application is filed between September 1 and October 31.
f) January 1 of the following year, if the application is filed between November 1 and December 31.
This option may be used if the income obtained varies during the current year.
SOME QUESTIONS
1. Is the flat rate for self-employed workers being kept?
Those who were already benefiting from contribution incentives before January 1, 2023 will continue to receive them on the same terms until the maximum periods established in each case for their application are exhausted. Once the transitional period ends, the reduced contribution of €80 per month will apply between 2023 and 2025.
2. Will self-employed workers whose income does not reach the national minimum wage pay contributions?
The new system allows contributions to be calculated on contribution bases below the national minimum wage where the self-employed worker’s income does not reach that threshold.
3. How is the annual net income that places a self-employed worker in each contribution bracket determined?
• Individual self-employed worker: net income from the self-employed activity is calculated under the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) rules. The self-employed contribution is then added back, and 7% is deducted from the resulting amount.
• Corporate self-employed worker (autónomo societario): the computation includes all gross income, whether in cash or in kind, derived from holdings in the equity of entities in which, on the Corporate Income Tax (IS) accrual date, the worker holds an interest equal to or greater than 33% of the share capital or, if the worker is a director, an interest equal to or greater than 25%. It also includes all employment income derived from the worker’s activity in those entities.
4. What happens to self-employed workers who, as of December 31, 2022, were contributing on a contribution base higher than the one that corresponded to their income?
Self-employed workers who, as of December 31, 2022, were contributing on a contribution base higher than the one that would correspond to their income may keep that contribution base, or opt for a lower one. This applies even if their income would require the application of a contribution base lower than either of them.
5. Are the age-based caps on contributions being kept?
The regulatory amendment removes the current age-related restrictions on self-employed contributions. Under the new model, self-employed workers aged 47 or over will contribute based on their actual income. In other words, they will be able to raise their contribution base in the final stage of their working career, provided their income increases.
6. How is the contribution bracket that a self-employed worker must join initially determined?
In their registration application, self-employed workers must declare the net income they expect to obtain from their business or professional activity during the calendar year in which registration takes place.
• If the provisional contribution paid was lower than the contribution corresponding to the minimum contribution base of the bracket into which their income falls: the self-employed worker must pay the difference between the two contributions by the last day of the month following the month in which they are notified of the result of the adjustment. No late-payment interest or surcharge will apply if payment is made within that period.
• If the provisional contribution paid was higher than the contribution corresponding to the maximum base of the bracket into which their income falls: the TGSS will refund the difference between the two contributions ex officio, without any interest. The refund will be made before May 31 of the year following the year in which the relevant tax authorities reported the computable income to the General Social Security Treasury.
7. Am I entitled to any contribution relief (bonificación) for caring for a child with cancer or any other serious illness?
Yes. Beneficiaries of the benefit for the care of children with cancer or any other serious illness are entitled to relief of 75% of the self-employed contribution for as long as they receive that benefit.
8. Am I entitled to any relief for the birth of a son or daughter, adoption, pre-adoptive custody, foster care, or guardianship when I return to self-employed work?
Yes. You will be entitled to relief of 80% of the contribution for 24 months from your return to work.
9. If I was already registered as self-employed, am I required to report my income so that my contribution base can be adjusted?
It is not mandatory. If nothing is reported, contributions during 2023 will continue to be made on the base applicable as of December 31, 2022.
10. If, as of December 31, 2022, I am contributing on a base higher than the one that would correspond to my income, will I be able to keep that base?
Yes. Even if your income is low, you will be able to keep the contribution base on which you were contributing as of December 31, 2022.