To the usual stress that normally characterizes self-employed workers due to the instability of their income and, on occasions, their exhausting work days, one more variable has now been added. I am referring to the implementation of the new contribution system for self-employed workers through royal decree-law 13/2022, whose entry into force took place on January 1, and which is based on the contribution for the real net income obtained by the self-employed.
We are talking about a standard that will be implemented gradually and that has its origin in the recommendations of the Pact of Toledo in order to create a contribution system for the self-employed that advances towards the convergence of regimes. This measure is committed to Brussels and has enormous significance since it affects a significant part of the income of our pension system.
Although during the gestation of the norm there were some differences between the Executive and the social agents, finally there was a certain consensus on this change of model aware of the reality of this group, whose majority (80%) have historically contributed for the minimum base . To calculate the new contributions, from now on, the self-employed worker, based on his forecast of returns, will select the provisional contribution base from among 15 tranches on which the quotas to be paid month by month will be calculated, and, a posteriori, the General Treasury of the Social Security will regularize the contribution annually, prior information from the Tax Administration of the computable net income.
Well, just over three months before the deadline (October 31) to request the last change to readjust the base of the current year and the fee to be paid this year, less than 30% of The approximately 3,300,000 self-employed people in Spain (more than 550,000 of them in Catalonia, only slightly surpassed by Andalusia) have communicated their income forecast.
Possibly, the self-employed are being reluctant to adapt their quotas due to the excessive bureaucracy required for the processing, in view of the many complaints that are being received for the requirement of data that, in some cases, are already in the records of the administration. This fact highlights the interference that is taking place in the communication channels between the General Treasury of Social Security and the AEAT, something for which, of course, the taxpayer is not at fault and which we hope will be resolved as soon as possible. .
If not, the self-employed will resist making an estimate of their returns and bases, and will wait for the regularization that Social Security will do next year. Can you imagine the social response that there may be from the thousands of freelancers who have not adapted to the new system when they receive the final settlement and, where appropriate, have to pay more than they did up to now? I leave it there.
