Next year 2025 comes with changes for the workers assigned to the RETA, or what is the same, to the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers. Starting next January 1, the fees will vary for people who regularly, personally and directly carry out an economic activity on a rotating basis. So the Government is preparing a new self-employed quota system with the aim of trying to establish greater equity between people who are within this group.
Self-employed workers are one of the most forgotten workers in Spain and starting next year 2025 they will stop choosing their contribution base, as has been happening in recent years. As of January 1, the Government will impose quotas on the Social security depending on the income they generate with the aim of seeking greater equity among all workers affiliated with RETA. This Executive proposal started in 2023 and by 2025 it will affect all workers who in this last year have not yet changed to the new contribution model.
These new changes have had and will have an impact on the 3,358,836 self-employed workers in Spain according to the latest data provided in March 2024. As of January 1, 2025, all workers assigned to the RETA They will begin to pay self-employment fees based on the income they generate, so conditions will change for hundreds of thousands of people who will have to pay more to Social Security.
Changes in self-employed quotas
According to the specialized portal Infoautonomousstarting next 2025 three new developments will arrive regarding self-employed quotas. One will be the adjustment based on the income received, another will be the increase in Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI) and the increase in fees in general, which will be what happens to the three million self-employed workers in Spain.
The first is the most important and has to do with the adjustment to the contribution base based on the annual income of the self-employed worker. For this the Social security In 2023, it enabled a channel in which the majority of RET workers have been registering in recent months. For this purpose, the “Modification of self-employment data” service was enabled so that in 2025 all workers have confirmed to the authorities their income forecast for the year. So from this forecast the Social security will set a quota for the worker that can be changed up to six times throughout the year depending on the variation in the income of the person in question.
Depending on income, 15 sections will be established based on monthly net income, which can range from 670 to 6,000 euros per month. The fees established in recent years range from 230 to 500 euros and from 2025 they will be from 200 to 590 euros. So those with the least income per month will have to pay 30 euros less while those with the most income will have to pay up to 90 euros more for the self-employed fee.
A woman working with her computer.
To this we must add the increase in the MEI, which is the Intergenerational Equity Mechanismwith which the Government wants to seek to guarantee the sustainability of the pension system. So by 2025 it will go from 0.7% to 0.8% of the contribution base.
So according to this specialized website, by 2025 there will be a change in the installments of less than 30 euros (from 230 to 200) for those who have a minimum monthly income while those who contribute for the minimum base and earn between 1,300 and 1,700 euros will hardly change. This represents the largest number of self-employed from Spain. For their part, the cost will be higher for people who have a net monthly income of 1,700 euros, who will pay between 30 and 90 euros more at least, which can mean an annual cost of between 360 and 1,080 euros.
This represents a new situation for millions of Spaniards who will have to pay a higher self-employment fee for an income of 1,700 net monthly income, a small amount considering how expensive life is in Spain today. Because, despite Pedro Sánchez saying that the Spanish economy is going like a rocket, the truth is that millions of people have economic problems due to the high increase in prices, which have risen by a greater percentage than salaries.
