Social Security and Finance measures for the self-employed

Below we detail the Social Security and Finance measures that have been taken which affect the self-employed.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED (SOCIAL SECURITY)

Beneficiaries

Professional freelancers with activity directly suspended by Royal Decree 346/2020 (state of emergency), for example, shops, restaurants, bars, etc.
Professional freelancers without activity directly suspended by Royal Decree 346/2020 (state of emergency) but whose turnover has been reduced by 75%.
Independent companies, administrators, cooperative members, property release partners, collaborating family members, etc.

All self-employed people in these situations will be exempt from paying Social Security contributions and will receive a benefit equivalent to 70% of their regulatory base, which means a minimum of € 661 (and which applies to those in situations 1, 2 and 3 above).

Requirements to obtain the benefit

Be registered with Social Security on the date of the declaration of the state of emergency (March 14, 2020).
It is not necessary to have coverage for the cessation of self-employed activity.
Those with discounted contributions are also entitled to the benefit.
It is not necessary to process the withdrawal in the Treasury with the model 036 or 037.
Be up to date with all Social Security obligations, otherwise, payment must be made.
If you have employees, an ERTE must be completed.

Benefit

The benefit will be 70% of the regulatory base. If there is a shortfall, the minimum contribution base (€ 944.35) will be taken into account to calculate the benefit to be received.
The duration is one month and it is extendable until the state of emergency ends.

To consider

Start date of the benefit: the day after the declaration of the state of emergency.
End date: the same day that the Government declares the end of the state of emergency.
Payment of the benefit: a month in arrears, therefore in April the first instalment would be paid.
Processing: the mutuals will take over the processing if you do not inform us, otherwise we will do the process.

TAX MEASURES AIMED AT SELF-EMPLOYED

Before analysing these measures, the self-employed must be reminded that the State Tax Agency has not foreseen any kind of postponement regarding the deadlines for filing tax returns: all returns related to the 1st quarter of 2020 must be filed between 1-20 April 2020.

Now, as of the date of this newsletter, the main tax measures taken by the different administrations are:

State-level

Deferral of tax debts

The most important measure to consider is the flexibilisation of deferrals of tax debts directed specifically at the self-employed. Deferrals will automatically be granted for all those tax declarations and self-assessments with a filing period between 13 March 2020 and May 30, 2020. Unlike the regulations in force until the declaration of the state of emergency, which permitted the postponement of VAT (Form 303) or instalment payments (Form 130), there is now the possibility of postponing taxes that until now were not postponable, such as those related to deductions for workers and professionals (Form 111), rents (Form 115) and other deductions (Form 123). The total deferral amount requested by each self-employed person for all taxes cannot exceed € 30,000.00.

The conditions of granting postponement will be as follows:

The term will be for six months.
There will be no interest for late payment during the first three months of deferment.

Measures regarding deadlines

The Royal Decree approved last Wednesday, March 18, includes these measures, among others:

Suspension of the computations of the term of the procedures processed by the Tax Agency, from March 18 to April 30, 2020. For example, to meet requirements, prosecution and other requests for information with tax significance, to make allegations in open procedures (review or sanction) or refund of undue income.
Suspension of the calculation of the expiration and prescription periods indicated in article 66 of the General Tax Law, from March 18 to April 30, 2020.
Extension, until next April 30, 2020, of the payment terms for settlements opened before March 18, 2020, and which had not yet concluded by that date.
Extension, until April 30, 2020, of the payment periods for debts in a period of pressure opened prior to March 18, 2020, and that had not yet concluded by that date.
In enforcement procedures, non-execution of guarantees that fall on the property from March 18 to April 30, 2020.
Extension until May 20 or, if later, until the date granted by the general term, of certain periods that open from March 18, 2020.
The term to file economic administrative appeals or claims begins on March 1, 2020, or starts from the date established by the general rule if the notification of the act to be travelled had occurred after April 30, 2020.

Autonomous and local level

On March 19, 2020, the Generalitat published Decree-Law 7/2020, which, in the scope of the taxes of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the assigned taxes, establishes the suspension of the presentation of self-assessments and payment of the aforementioned tributes until the state of emergency decreed on March 14 is nullified.

At the local level, the municipalities are preparing plans to support self-employed people and entrepreneurs who carry out their activity within their jurisdiction. Let us take as an example of the measures taken by the Barcelona City Council:

It makes the terms and procedures for the collection of municipal taxes and fees flexible for all citizens and will facilitate deferment or instalments with individualised plans.
The ‘tasa de terrazas’ will be refunded on the days that it has not been possible to do the activity and neither this rate nor the public price of commercial and industrial waste will be charged to shops, restaurants, self-employed and companies on days that they cannot open under the state of emergency
In a second phase, changes to the licenses will be studied so that restaurateurs can adjust the rate to their actual 2020 activity.
As a support measure for the tourism sector, the collection of the Tourist Accommodation Tax (IEET) is postponed until September 2020.

HELP FROM THE GENERALITAT OF CATALUNYA FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED

Amount

Up to € 2,000 in the form of a single payment.

Beneficiaries

Professional self-employed: A drastic and involuntary reduction of your income as a consequence of the effects of the Coronavirus must be accredited Self-employed people will qualify provided they are registered in activities for which the health authorities have decreed closure and do not have other alternative sources of income.
Excluded: Self-employed members of mercantile companies, cooperatives or labour companies, self-employed collaborators, members of company administration bodies, as well as family members and religious members.

Requirements

Be registered with Social Security (RETA), the special scheme for self-employed..
Have fiscal domicile in Catalonia.
Demonstrate economic losses during the month of March 2020 compared to the month of March 2019. In the case of self-employed workers with a RETA seniority of less than one year, the comparison will be made with the average monthly billing from the date on which it registered with RETA.

Maximum amount

The Department of Labour will grant this aid through a competitive procedure until the end of the allocated budget (based on published information, it appears to be 7.5 million euros).

Incompatibilities

With any other aid destined for the same purpose (extraordinary state aid of RD-Law 8/2020).

Applications

From April 1, 2020, since to prove the economic losses, the income of March 2020 will be compared with that of March 2019.
Online, through the link that will soon be activated on the Generalitat website.
Prerequisite: THIS PROCEDURE CAN ONLY BE DONE WITH YOUR DIGITAL CERTIFICATE.

Our Labour Department can take care of all the necessary procedures, with a personalised budget for each situation.