In the Spanish system, all self-employed pay a contribution to Social security, towards their assistance in the public health system and their future pension.
This contribution is colloquially named “autonomo”, which is the Spanish word for self-employed.
Until now, that contribution was not dependent on the income of the self-employed, so someone with a very healthy income, or someone struggling or even having losses, their contributions were exactly the same, and in the region of 300 euros per month after the second year of registration.
From January 2023 a new system will come into effect, by which the contribution will be linked to the average and net monthly income.
There will be fifteen different bands, which we itemize below, and if the self-employed have an average net income in the bracket shown in the left column, they will pay a monthly contribution as shown in the following columns during 2023, 2024 and 2025
| Net Income Per Month | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| < = 670€ | 230€ | 225€ | 200€ |
| 671-900€ | 260€ | 250€ | 240€ |
| 901-1.166,70€ | 275€ | 267€ | 260€ |
| 1.166,71-1.300€ | 291€ | 291€ | 291€ |
| 1.301-1.500€ | 294€ | 294€ | 294€ |
| 1.501-1.700€ | 294€ | 294€ | 294€ |
| 1.701-1.850€ | 310€ | 320€ | 350€ |
| 1.851-2.030€ | 315€ | 325€ | 370€ |
| 2.031-2.330€ | 320€ | 330€ | 390€ |
| 2.331-2.760€ | 330€ | 340€ | 415€ |
| 2.761-3.190€ | 350€ | 360€ | 440€ |
| 3.191-3.620€ | 370€ | 380€ | 465€ |
| 3.621-4.050€ | 390€ | 400€ | 490€ |
| 4.051-6.000€ | 420€ | 445€ | 530€ |
| > 6.000€ | 500€ | 530€ | 590€ |
Source: Social security, please note this might be subject to legal changes.
As you will see, in the lower bands the contributions in 2023 will be lower than the contributions of 2022, and there is no increase for the years 2024 and 2025.
But in the medium and higher bands, the contribution is higher than the one for 2022, and it increases in the following years.
This change of system means that the Tax agency will report the annual income to Social security, and if a self-employed has been paying a lower amount than the one corresponding to the net income, social security will request at a later stage to top-up the contribution.
Likewise, if the contribution has been higher than the one corresponding to the final income, Social security shall refund the contribution paid in excess.
Accordingly, it is essential that your accountant reports to Social security the forecast of your income, in order that you are in the right bracket of contribution, or at least not far from it, as otherwise retrospective social security “top-ups” may mean an unpleasant and expensive surprise.