Uatae proposes that Social Security subsidize contributions for self-employed workers who earn less than the SMI and with intermediate incomes

The Uatae self-employed association—linked to Workers’ Commissions—proposes to the Government that Self-employed workers with net income below the minimum wage or intermediate income have subsidized contributions. This would result in Social Security assuming a part of the payment that would correspond to them so that this group can continue with their contribution base and, consequently, maintain the same social protection.

The idea that Uatae pursues in the negotiation to set the new social quotas for 2026 is that this bonus is regressive. That is to say, that benefits the lowest income brackets the most and is reduced as the worker’s performance increases. The association defends that this formula would help reduce the gender gap in the pensions of the self-employed, given that there are more women than men in those lower performance brackets.

To finance this measure, The organization proposes that the funds that are currently used to subsidize the reduced fee of 80 euros per month be allocated to this policy. that self-employed people pay in their first two years of registration. From Uatae they criticize that the flat rate of 80 euros represents an annual cost of more than 1,000 million to the public coffers, despite being “an ineffective measure for promoting self-employment, which is what it was designed for.”

In fact, they maintain that It is used in “deviant uses”, such as for companies that hire “false self-employed” to save expenses on Social Security contributions. The flat rate, they argue, has been configured “as a precarious element of self-employment, used by companies to hire false self-employed workers.”

Beyond the bonuses for the most modest self-employed, Uatae is in favor of continuing to deploy the new contribution system. A formula that seeks, ultimately, for the self-employed to contribute for what they really earn (as is currently the case with employees). In particular, They demand an “even greater” step for the self-employed with higher incomeswho are the furthest from paying a fee that truly reflects what they earn.

They calculate that, if the self-employed who occupy the highest rank of the 15 income brackets that exist (6,000 euros or more) paid according to their real income, the collection would increase to 2.7 billion euros. A figure that would grow to 4,700 if the penultimate section is also included (between 4,050 and 6,000 euros of net income per month).

Besides, They argue that the self-employed who earn more have more room to deduct Social Security contributions in their personal income tax return, something that is more difficult for self-employed people with lower incomes because they often do not pay taxes. This ends up translating, according to Uatae estimates, in that a self-employed person with a net income of 500 euros per month bears a fee of 41.05% of his income, while in the case of a self-employed person who earns 6,000 euros net the effort barely reaches 5.55%.

‘Unemployment’ of the self-employed and subsidies

Beyond the quotes, In Uatae they also demand an improvement in access to benefits for cessation of activity —known as the ‘self-employed unemployment’ and that the unemployment subsidy be extended to those over 52 years of age also to the group. Demands that they also share in this case with ATA, the sectoral organization of the self-employed that is part of CEOE.

Regarding the benefit for cessation of activity, the organization defends that “it is not fulfilling its function of guaranteeing income in situations of unemployment” because it demands “impossible requirements that make it totally inaccessible.” The organization highlights that more than half of the applications (54%) are denied and that only 25% of the funds collected in contributions for this concept are allocated to benefits.