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Date Published: 02/02/2023

ARCHIVED - Nasty shock for self-employed in Spain as thousands overcharged in January

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

Newly registered autonomos in Spain paid 220 euros extra due to a Social Security error

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Nasty shock for self-employed in Spain as thousands overcharged in January

It’s no secret that it’s expensive being a freelancer in Spain but thousands of self-employed workers will have had a nasty shock when they checked their bank balances at the beginning of the week. For many, their January contribution will have been as much as 8.6% higher than previous months and for some, as much as 220 euros extra was charged.

A bitter pill to swallow during the normally slow off-season, but the Ministry of Inclusion has provided some answers for these unexpected increases.

Firstly, many self-employed people, or their account managers, were not aware that their contribution bases would be automatically updated under the new Social Security regulations. The contribution base is the net income on which the monthly fee is calculated, so those who didn’t manually submit their details will have automatically ended up paying an additional 8.6% regardless of how much they earned.

The second reason was actually a Social Security glitch. Newly-registered self-employed workers are entitled to a discount on their monthly payments, but a head office error means that around 8,000 people who become autonomo between January 1 and 9 were mistakenly charged 220 euros. The authorities have confirmed that the overcharged amount will be refunded this month.

Most of the complaints, though, are coming from freelancers who have seen their payment skyrocket due to the automatic uploading of their bases, as those who (knowingly or unknowingly) checked the ‘automatic update box’ will have paid around 31 euros more than normal.

Last year, the minimum fee for the self-employed (without taking discounts into account) was 294 euros, while in 2023 it has risen to 299. However, those who have automatically updated their contribution bases have now started to pay 325 euros.

Social Security sources have been quick to point out that in this case "there has been no disparity or error."

For self-employed that saw their bases automatically updated and end up paying too much as a result, a refund of the difference will be issued but not until the end of the fiscal year, which is May 31, 2024.

On the other hand, the rest of the autonomos with minimum bases, but who did not check the automatic update box, will see their quota increase by only five euros (from 294 to 299 euros).

In other news: Plogging: the eco-friendly sport taking Spain by storm

Image: Pixabay

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