Self-employed associations propose to review the viability of the activity to be undertaken or the income of the beneficiaries
The Ministry of Labour will reform the flat rate of 50 euros for new self-employed workers with the aim of improving its effectiveness and promoting sustainable self-employment, since only 15.5% of those who have benefited from the measure since its implementation continue to work in the system.
Data from the Ministry of Labour show that the increase in membership in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) between December 2013, when the measure was launched, and June 2018 is only equivalent to 15.54 % of the total number of self-employed workers who have benefited from the flat rate in that period.
This means, therefore, that there is a disproportion between the beneficiaries of the flat rate and the evolution of RETA members, so sources from the Ministry have pointed out that, despite the fact that the application of flat rates has been beneficial and will be maintained, formulas will have to be found to ensure that they meet the objective of creating lasting self-employment.
On this point there is an agreement between the Labour Department and the self-employed associations, the same sources point out, adding that after the summer they will begin to work on "corrective measures" to increase the impact of the measure's durability.
1.4 million beneficiaries
The flat rate of 50 euros came into force in 2013 with an initial duration of six months for those starting their own business, although in January 2018 it was extended to one year for new self-employed workers, a measure from which a total of 1,473,774 people have benefited in these five years.
Data provided by the Labour Office indicate that more than half of those under 30 who are deregistered had been registered for less than a year, while those over 30 have a high percentage of short stays.
Specifically, when they deregistered, those under 30 years of age had been affiliated with RETA for an average of 426 days, while those aged 30 or older had been affiliated for an average of 1,433 days.
By communities, the region with the highest percentage increase in RETA members in relation to the self-employed who have benefited from the flat rate is the Balearic Islands, with 40.7 %, while the impact in Castilla y León has been negative (-2.13 %).
Viability and income
Self-employed associations agree on the need to review flat rates, although there are differences between them.
The general secretary of the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA), Eduardo Abad, points out that the flat rate has contributed to the "entrepreneurship bubble" and that it is necessary to analyse the viability of the activity that the new self-employed person intends to develop before offering assistance.
For its part, the Association of Self-Employed Workers (ATA) plans to analyse and review with Labour the incentives for those self-employed workers who, after the first year, already have sufficient turnover or net income.
"It doesn't seem logical that a self-employed person who already has a net income of 30,000 or 40,000 euros in the first year and we continue to give him Social Security contributions," says the general secretary of the association, Lorenzo Amor.
For its part, the Union of Associations of Self-Employed Workers and Entrepreneurs (UATAE) points out that the flat rate should be a one-off measure to increase new memberships, but maintaining it in the long term increases the emergence of the drama of "false self-employed workers."
In addition, ATA is calling for the implementation "as soon as possible" of the flat rate for up to 24 months to help entrepreneurs in rural areas that aim to end depopulation in municipalities with fewer than five thousand inhabitants.
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