more than three million self-employment they will start a bidding system January 1, 2023. If so far each self-employed person has chosen how much quota to pay each month, now You will need to contribute based on the amount of income you have. The consulted associations agree that the new system will force the self-employed to keep their balance sheets up to date so they can make adjustments if they pay more or less during the year, thus avoiding surprises as they close the year. Breathtaking among the self-employed some concerns about the news and they argue that a greater contribution effort means real access to social protections similar to those enjoyed by wage earners.
“I see it as a logical process, it was inevitable that we would pay more. You’ve seen this with many freelancers. they had used the minimum quota all their lives and suffered when they retired.“, To explain Jordi Del Cacho, a 54-year-old pharmacist who has already started to turn to numbers, considering retirement. So far, eight out of 10 have been quoted for the minimum base. Some because they do not give much income, some because they apply the logic of ‘In my pocket rather than the state’. And the thing is, unlike wage earners, there were no contributions.
“Relax, the self-employed should continue to bid as they have so far and change their quotas in the coming months. But it’s a change of mindset and workers need to follow their accounts to find out if they need to change division”, states Pimec Autonoms president, Elizabeth Bach.
The new system, designed by Minister José Luis Escrivá, tracks 15 parts of net income (income minus expenses) and the minimum wage. 230 euros and maximum 590 euros. Self-employed paying today fixed price are kept until their maturity and for new ones. 80 euros monthly unless net earnings above the minimum interprofessional salary are recorded. According to official calculations, two out of three self-employed people will pay the same or less, and the remaining one-third more. Coming back to Del Cacho and his pharmacy in the center of Terrassa, which has a history of 26 years, he is one of those who would have had to pay more if it weren’t for the fact that he had already voluntarily bid above the minimum price.
“I see the next few months as a probationary period, I still want to see how that happens,” Del Chacho continues. This pharmacist does not specify what fee he will pay from January 1 – “I high fringe”-, but he suggests that he plans to take advantage of the temporary situation authorized by the Government to overprice, thereby creating a buffer and providing a decent pension in the future. “I want to go quiet,” he says. It is not surprising that self-employed pensions are 40% lower than those of workers.
The most directly beneficiaries of the reform will be the self-employed, those with the lowest incomes, and those who represent a high percentage of their total minimum wage bills. This situation Maria Jose Dominguez, acupuncturist. “Now I pay 290 Euros. [la mínima sin tarifa plana]230 euros in January,” he says. This 58-year-old self-employed person is also an employee and president of Societat d’Acupuntors de Catalunya; this means that the entire working day is self-employed, and therefore his income is in the lower range via this route. “People who start a business will benefit,” he thinks. Moreover praises the six windows during which a worker will have to change his quota during the year, especially in the context of current economic uncertainty. Despite admitting that there will be more paperwork and those who can’t afford a manager to get it should take the time to update the numbers and have no surprises at the end of the year.
Initial fears that Escrivá’s reform would be a ‘trick’ for the collective for both high and low income earners largely dissipated once the rule was agreed with all organizations representing the collective. However, according to the sources consulted, the specter of ‘they will charge me more and get nothing in return’ has not completely disappeared. “We must begin to understand that not everything that is paid is paid. taxesbut what part is going pensionfor him cessation of activity or for low temporary disability. We saw how important it is to contribute in the pandemic process,” said the spokesperson of UGT-CTAC, daniel garcia. “Access to benefits must be real, it’s still not clear to us,” insists Pimec’s Bach.