The self-employed will have the termination benefit without proving lack of business

The self-employed may access the ordinary termination benefit without having to prove that their business is not viable. The General Law of Social Security, through Royal Decree-Law 21/2021, has just been modified so that self-employed workers can access the so-called unemployment of the self-employed, without the need to prove lack of viability.

In relation to this improvement, Declarando, the platform for tax advice to freelancers, points out in its Legal Observatory that this modification of the regulations is a simpler procedure to prove that the self-employed can access the benefit, while they can collect it if they suffer and prove that they have a force majeure situation, either permanently or temporarily, without unsubscribing in the Regime.

“Before this reform, the self-employed who wanted protection for cessation of activity, had to demonstrate that they had not been able to carry out their economic activity for a time and that, therefore, their income was zero,” he says Marta Zaragozá, CEO of Declarando and expert in tax law.

With the recent modification, means of proof are introduced to facilitate access to this service. Specifically, they have implemented performance improvements extraordinary for the self-employed affected by the eruption of the volcano on La Palma and a new procedure has been added for the rest of the Spanish territory.

The self-employed on La Palma have the right to receive five months of cessation of activity benefit without being deducted from the total months of official benefit. In addition, if they are registered, affiliated with the Reta and do not have debts with the Treasury or Social Security, receive 70% of the minimum contribution base. Similarly, while their activity is suspended, their activity will continue to be registered in the Challenge and they will not pay the contribution, considering this period as a settled debt. That is, the self-employed person will not have to return any amount in the future.

“In most cases, we were dealing with profitable businesses up to the time the misfortune occurred”

Marta Zaragozá comments that the unemployment benefit for the self-employed, which equivalent to 70% of the contribution base, “It was not accessible to many freelancers who were in force majeure situations, as they could not demonstrate the unviability of the previous business.” Zaragozá explains that “in most cases, we were dealing with profitable businesses until the moment when the misfortune occurred, but when this happened” suddenly “, a previous decrease in income could not be demonstrated,” he explains.

The expert points out that “the problem was that the self-employed person who did not fit into these causes of force majeure, had to justify this last reason with a file of temporary regulation of employment for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons, a process that is not easy “.