After several rulings by the Supreme Court, the latest on 4 March 2020, which recognised the right of self-employed partners or company directors to avail themselves of the benefits provided for in Article 31 of Law 20/2007 on the Statute of the Self-Employed Worker and, as a result, to the measures to support entrepreneurs provided for in Royal Decree Law 4/2013, which establishes reductions in Social Security contributions: the so-called flat rate for the self-employed.
The General Treasury of the Social Security, in view of the existence of jurisprudential doctrine, has finally been forced to change its criteria and will allow self-employed workers who are partners in trading companies to access the contribution benefits provided for in the aforementioned regulations. In addition, the TGSS will recognise the right to a refund of the contributions paid in excess over the last 4 years. However, for the time being, self-employed collaborators of trading companies are still excluded from the specific benefits recognised for this group (which are recognised for self-employed collaborators who are family members of an individual).
Let us remember the benefits of the flat rate, which are always applied to the minimum contribution base:
- 80% reduction during the first 12 months on the minimum contribution basis.
- 50% reduction for the following 6 months.
- 30% reduction for the following 3 months.
- 30% bonus for the following 3 months.
- If you are a man under 30 years of age and a woman under 35 years of age at the time of registering with the RETA: an additional 30% bonus for the following 12 months.
In this situation, it is possible to ask the Social Security Treasury to review the contributions paid, to regularise them and to refund the self-employed person's contributions, an amount that can exceed €4,000.
In any case, it should be borne in mind that when the refund of contributions is made, it should be checked whether it is necessary to make supplementary declarations of income for the years to which the refunds of contributions refer.
At Confialia we are at the disposal of our clients to submit their application for review and refund of undue income, and to review and submit supplementary income tax returns, if necessary.
This is not an automatic process, so if you think you may be affected by this change of criteria, please ask us!
Àngels Barceló
Confialia Labour Department Manager