Most autonomos will not fit the criteria, but I have just discovered that in certain circumstances you don't have to pay the 250 odd euros per month for the cuota autonoma to the Seguridad Social.

I quote:

"Deben causar alta en el régimen especial de trabajadores por cuenta propia o autónomos quienes realicen, DE FORMA HABITUAL, personal y directa una actividad económica a título lucrativo, sin sujeción por ella a contrato de trabajo y aunque utilice el servicio remunerado de otras personas.

El Tribunal Supremo, ante la ausencia de concreción normativa, entiende que una actividad económica se ejerce con habitualidad cuando el rendimiento anual supera el importe del salario mínimo interprofesional, que para el año 2005 está fijado en 7,182.00 euros".

In summary, you only have to do the alta in the SS if you carry out an economic activity "ON A REGULAR BASIS". "On a regular basis" is defined by if you have an income in excess of the annual minimum salary which in 2005 was 7,182 euros.

I'm not sure what the minimum salary is now but I guess it is not too different.

So, for example, if you are a web designer and you only work sporadically and your annual income is less than 7182 euros then you don't need to pay the 250 euros per month to the SS. Or if you are just starting out in business not having to pay the 250 euros should help you get going.

However, you do need to do the alta in the Hacienda and pay IVA/IRPF, etc. You should also go to the SS and inform them that you don't intend to pay the SS (I think they give you some kind of exemption certificate but I'm not too sure on this point).

Great information and thank you for sharing!

Here to help

That is very interesting and I've not heard of that.
If you have the exemption cert does that mean you will still be entitled to state help though , as in health and pension rights.

Many thanks for this. Any chance of posting where your info came from ?

If you google it is posted in various places. I quoted from www.jerezserviciosempresariales.com.

I'm a bit vague on the exemption certificate (or form, or entry on a computer, or whatever it is).

I seriously doubt you will be contributing towards your pension rights. Don't know about health.

Since the state pension is calculated on monthly contributions into the Social Security, it may well be affected . Health cover is a lot more complicated since it depends (in part) on which region you live in. Over the last couple of years several Regional Governments have introduced new laws to either make their system universal or maintain health cover for people whose health cover has expired under the State SS.

very helpful post, thank you!

...any more info? If, for example, i was in this position, and although autonomo, not earning anything and not paying the 250 a month, and i became ill during that period, would i still be covered by the healthcare?

btw, someone told me that if you pay a bit extra than the 250 or whatever it is, on top of, maybe only about another 30 euros or something, you get Life insurance thrown in?

Or was i dreaming that?

Good information. Every body who comes on here wanting to work autonomo is told that they have to pay the 250 Euros whether they make any money or not. This should put that myth to rest.

Well yes, but I would have thought most people starting up as autonomo would be seeking to make far more than 7182 in one year, and would budget accordingly, including the 250 Euros fee. Great if you know in advance you're going to earn less (well, poor words, sorry not so great) than 7182. Otherwise best to assume you'll be paying 250 a month? Still, I agree it's very good information; a lot of people sadly must have come under the 7182 figure in the last year.

Under this "scheme" as I understand it, you are exempt from having to pay the SS contributions and so you wouldn't of course be entitled to any associated benefits that come with paying autonomo SS - no healthcare etc. You would still have to contract that privately (which is cheaper anyway) and make your own arrangements for a pension (maybe pay voluntary NI to the UK eg.)
It would be interesting to find out if that figure of 7182€ has increased since 2005...

If you live in Valencia and were affiliated to the Security System, your health cover should (I believe) continue indefinitely. In 2008 the Generalitat passed a law that extends health cover indefinitely for anyone in situation of "baja" from any one the Social Security regimes.

When I found out about this I kind of assumed that it would only be for people who were:

a) just setting out in business (so were presumably previously unemployed and wouldn't have had the SS health cover anyway).
b) work very sporadically and were therefore most probably doing it in black (so wouldn't have had the health cover either).

I think that most people who would qualify for this are unlikely to "lose" their free health entitlement as they probably didn't have it beforehand. However judging by some of the responses I guess it could be interesting to all categproes of people, not just the ones I had imagined.

Re health cover....private health cover is way cheaper than 250 euros a month so it's a bit of a no brainer.

Yes, I'm sure they do. However they can do the alta at the Hacienda (but not SS), continue working until such time as they have invoiced up to the minimum salary amount and then do the alta at the SS and start paying the 250 euros. It just makes the first few months of business much cheaper.