A new year begins and also a before and after for the more than 3.3 million Spanish self-employed. The new quota-based contribution system will mean an increase in the bureaucracy they have to face, something that Spaniards don’t like it. According to the first Report on the Spanish Income Statement and Fiscal Policy prepared by TaxScouts, 92% of self-employed workers believe that the public administration should simplify the amount of bureaucratic procedures and thus facilitate and encourage entrepreneurship. In this context, TaxScouts highlights the main novelties that the self-employed will have to face during the next year.
New self-employed quotas
The new self-employed quotas are the main novelty for the self-employed for the new year. These will be calculated based on the net monthly income obtained by the self-employed in the following way: to the benefit of the activity (annual profit: tax base of the invoices minus the deductible expenses), it will be necessary to add the amount paid to Social Security, and the result is subtracted by 7% of expenses that are difficult to justify, instead of the usual 5% that was subtracted until a few months ago. The result of this operation is divided by 12, and that is the Monthly Net Income figure, from which the new contribution table can be applied.
The big change for the self-employed this year is that they must make an estimate of income as close as possible based on the results obtained the previous year to choose the contribution bracket in which to contribute. The self-employed must take into account that in the event that the selected contribution bracket does not correspond to the actual income that ends up being invoiced, it will be possible to change the bracket every two months, that is, a total of six times throughout the year. year. In the event that at the end of the year there has been a lower contribution due to having chosen a lower tranche than what has been collected, the remaining part will have to be returned. In the opposite case, in which contributions have been made in a contribution bracket greater than that of actual income, Social Security will return the corresponding amount.
Changes in the flat rate
As of this new year, the flat rate will become more expensive by 33%, Going from the current €60 to €80. In addition, the reductions in the fee for the second year of the new self-employed are eliminated. With the new flat rate, in the second year, only new self-employed workers whose income does not exceed the interprofessional minimum wage will be able to enjoy the bonus, but they will pay €80 instead of the current reductions.
Those who have registered before January 1, 2023 will be able to continue enjoying the current flat rate: the fee of €60 until the end of their first year as self-employed workers, and bonuses of 30% and 50% for the second year.
Expenses that are difficult to justify
Expenses that are difficult to justify are a fixed percentage that the Treasury allows to deduct, since it is understood that there will always be a series of expenses that are difficult to justify. For the self-employed who are taxed under the direct estimation regime, which are the majority, until now, the Tax Agency determined that this type of expense was quantified by applying 5% of the positive net income, but this percentage has increased by two points, up to 7%, and with a maximum annual amount of 2,000 euros.
This measure will benefit 956,452 self-employed workers who will see their tax bill reduced by 116 million euros and will mean a tax reduction of 10.1 euros per month and taxpayer according to Government data.
Zero fee application
The zero rate has been recently announced by the governments of the autonomous communities of Madrid, Andalusia and Murcia, but the details have not yet been specified, nor has its application been made official. If applied, it will mean that all those people who want to register as self-employed will have a total exemption from the fee, with the Administration assuming the payment of 100% of them.
Due to the details that have been revealed so far, all those entrepreneurs who register will be able to take advantage of this new rate. for the first time in the RETA and those mothers who have ceased their activity as self-employed due to the birth or adoption of children and who return to activity in the following two years. It has also been announced that those self-employed who do not reach the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) will be able to continue with this zero rate until they are two years old.
Reduced net return
The last of the novelties for the self-employed for next year is the additional reduction in personal income tax of five percentage points for the self-employed who are taxed under the objective estimation regime (or modules). This measure will benefit 577,688 self-employedwhich will save about 68 million euros according to government calculations.
“The new quotas, which come into force on January 1, will undoubtedly be the biggest headache for the self-employed, who will have to predict their approximate income and adapt to each contribution module as the year progresses. For this reason, the self-employed must be attentive to legislative changes so as not to be financially harmed and to be able to get the most out of filing their taxes”, says Jaume Suñol, General Manager of TaxScouts Spain.
