SELF-EMPLOYED COLLABORATOR

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The self-employed collaborator is a self-employed person who provides services to an enterprise as if he were an employee, but without having the legal status of an employee. The The company contracts their services directly and pays a fee for them, but the self-employed collaborator maintains his self-employed status and his liability to social security. This model may be suitable in cases where your company requires greater flexibility or for workers you wish to hire who prefer to maintain their autonomy.

Who must register as a self-employed collaborator?

Traditionally, family members of employers, workers and self-employed professionals are obliged to pay contributions as self-employed collaborators. According to the Social Security, the requirements for paying contributions as a collaborating self-employed worker are as follows:

• Being a direct relative: spouse, descendant, ascendant and other relatives of the employer, by blood or marriage up to the second degree inclusive and, where applicable, by adoption.

Be employed at their workplace(s) on a regular basis. This should not be a one-off collaboration. In short, a collaborating self-employed person is an immediate family member of the incumbent self-employed worker who works for him/her. But beware, the self-employed (see TIP) who only carry out their activity through their limited liability company may not contract. It is important to note that the Self-Employment Statute establishes that minors under 16 years of age may not carry out self-employment or professional activity in general. Therefore, they will not be able to do it for their family members either.

REBATES ON CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED COLLABORATORS:

Self-employed collaborators of individual self-employed persons (excluding corporate self-employed persons who carry out their activity through a limited liability company) are entitled to the following bonuses, provided that they have not been registered as self-employed in the previous years. 5 years immediately preceding:

• 50% rebate on the self-employed contribution during the 18 months following registration.
• 25% bonus from month 19 to 24.

The aim of these bonuses is to encourage the contribution of family members of the self-employed, mainly spouses and children, who currently do not pay contributions despite working in the family business. 

How to register as a self-employed collaborator?

The procedure is simpler than that of a normal self-employed person. All you need to do is register with the Social Security as a contributing family member, no need to register with the tax authorities. To do this, you must present form TA 0521 (Application for registration in the special scheme for self-employed workers - Family collaborator of the owner of the holding) to the Social Security. Like supporting documentation You will need to provide the family record book, the DNI and a copy of the tax registration of the family member who is registered as self-employed and the owner of the business.

Taxation of the self-employed collaborator

The main advantage of being a self-employed collaborator is that, as you are not taxed by the tax authorities, you are exempt from quarterly tax obligations. In this way, it is not necessary to file quarterly VAT (form 303) and personal income tax returns (form 130), which are the obligation of the self-employed business owner.

Thus, the self-employed collaborator will only have to file their annual income tax return, like any other worker, and pay the corresponding taxes based on the income obtained, which must be justified by the corresponding receipts or pay slips.

Obligations of the self-employed holder

THE SELF-EMPLOYED HOLDER MUST COMPLY WITH THE SAME OBLIGATIONS AS OTHER WORKERS:

• Subsidiarily pay the social security contributions of the collaborating self-employed. Although the primary responsibility for the payment of the contribution lies with the collaborating self-employed, the self-employed holder may ultimately be held liable. In addition, it is possible to pay the contribution of the collaborating self-employed person by direct debit to the account of the self-employed holder.
• Pay your salary and give you the corresponding payroll. Depending on your professional category and the applicable agreement. You count these items as deductible business expenses for the purposes of calculating your income on your own tax returns. The tax liabilities do not change, just the additional expense is taken into account.

BONUS FOR THE HIRING OF FAMILY MEMBERS UNDER THE GENERAL REGIME

The 2017 Law on Urgent Reforms of Self-Employment introduced the possibility for a self-employed person to hire family members such as spouse, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, parents-in-law, grandchildren, sons and daughters-in-law with a rebate of 100% of the business contribution for common contingencies for 12 months in the case of indefinite hiring. In this way, these recruitments will no longer be limited by the number and profile of the employee. Among the requirements to be fulfilled, it is necessary that there has been no unfair dismissal in the previous 12 months and keep the contract for 6 months after the bonus period.