27% of self-employed workers paid more to Social Security with the new contribution system
Around 880,000 workers, on the other hand, were underpaid and will have to return the necessary amount.
MadridThere is already a first image of the adjustment through which the State is adapting the contributions that the self-employed pay each month to their real net income. Today, the General Treasury of Social Security has donated to publish the first results of the annual regularization process of the quotes of the self-employed corresponding to the 2023 exercise, which will last until the end of April 2025. It has arrived after a review of the results. contributions and the guanys declarations in 2023, that is, after creating the data of the Social Security and the Tax Agency.
The first conclusion is that of the 3.7 million self-employed workers who have been registered with Social Security at some point in 2023, 50.7% will have to regularize, that is, adjust their contribution. Of these, 27% (almost one million self-employed workers) will have to do so because they have contributed above the bracket that corresponded to them, while 23.85% (about 880,000 self-employed workers) have contributed below and, therefore, will have to return the necessary amount to Social Security. Those self-employed workers who are entitled to request a refund because they have paid more than they were entitled to may also choose to maintain the higher contribution base, which will have a direct impact on the improvement of their future benefits.
The other half of the self-employed will not suffer any change because in this adjustment process either they have adapted to the quota that corresponds to them taking into account their real income, or they are not affected by the reform due to the type of rate they have. This is the case of self-employed workers with a flat rate.
Reform to improve future benefits
The new contribution system for the self-employed came into force in January 2023, after the Ministry of Social Security reached an agreement with the social agents and associations of this group. Thus, 15 different brackets were established according to income and up to six bracket changes are allowed per year. In the first bracket are self-employed workers with an income of less than 670 euros per month, with a monthly fee of 200 euros, and in the last bracket are workers who earn more than 6,000 euros, with a fee of 590 euros.
The aim of adapting to real net income is to leave behind the fact of paying contributions in the lowest bracket (many self-employed workers chose this). However, this has had a direct impact on future social benefits (from pensions to maternity or sick leave). For example, current pensions for self-employed workers are much lower than the pensions of a worker affiliated to the general scheme. The aim is to homogenise these benefits.