RDL 11/2021: Article 7

To those workers who:

• Intend to continue with their professional activity .
• They estimate a bad result in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2021.
• Count on a sufficient lack of contingency of cessation of activity.

Previous access requirements: 

1. Lack of access. It may be understood as fulfilled in two ways:
   a) Direct access: when there is a minimum of 12 months of contributions at the cessation of continuous activity and immediately prior to the application that have not been taken into account for the recognition of a benefit for cessation of previous activity.
   b) Access by extension of the previous benefit: when on May 31, 2021 they were collecting the benefit regulated in art. 7 of Royal Decree-Law 2/2021, of January 26 (POECATA III) and have not yet exhausted the benefit periods provided for in art. 338.1 of the TRLGSS. In these cases they could access POECATA IV, as an extension of the previous POECATA III.
2. In the case of direct access, not having been a beneficiary of the cessation of ordinary activity benefit in the 18 months prior to the request.
3. Be registered in the Special Regime.
4. Be up to date with the payment of contributions to the Special Regime (otherwise, the Mutual Fund will invite you to be up to date, within a non-extendable period of 30 days).
5. If you have employees in charge, you must be up to date with all labor obligations and social security with your workers.
6. Not having the ordinary age and the necessary deficiency to access the retirement benefit.

Conditional access requirements:

1. Accredit a reduction in taxable income from self-employed activity in billing in the second and third quarter of 2021 of more than 50% in relation to those in the same period of 2019 ⁽¹⁾.
2. Do not obtain during the second and third quarters ⁽²⁾ of 2021 taxable net returns greater than €7,980. (€1,330/month).

⁽¹⁾ To calculate the reduction in income, the period of registration in the 2nd and 3rd ^er quarter of 2019 will be taken into account and will be compared with the income in the same period of 2021.

⁽²⁾ In the case of definitively ceasing the activity before September 30, 2021, the limit of €7,980 will be taken proportionally to the duration of the activity (computing in its entirety the month in which the withdrawal from the special regime occurs).

Compliance with the deficiency requirement to access the POECATA IV can occur in two ways and therefore its calculation is different depending on whether it is accessed through one or the other path.

Calculation of the gap to access directly:

1. Add the contributions for cessation of activity prior to the month in which the requested benefit would accrue (which will depend on the date of submission of the application). Stop adding when any contribution has been computed for the prior recognition of an ordinary cessation of activity benefit.
2. 12 monthly payments will be subtracted from the value obtained for each POECATA II or POECATA III benefit of which the self-employed person has been a beneficiary (0 if he has not been a beneficiary of either, 12 if he has been a beneficiary of only one of them and 24 if he has been a beneficiary of both).
3. If the result obtained is greater than 12 unconsumed monthly cessation payments, there would be enough CATA contributions to access POECATA IV directly (as long as you have not been a beneficiary of the ordinary cessation benefit in the previous 18 months). Otherwise, it would be necessary to see if the conditions to access through the extension are met.

Calculation of the waiting period to access by extension:

1. Verify that on May 31, 2021 you were receiving the POECATA III benefit, otherwise you would never be able to access by extension.
2. Add the contributions for cessation of activity prior to the month in which the accrual of the POECATA III benefit began (regulated in art. 7 RDL 2/2021). Stop adding when any contribution has been computed for the prior recognition of an ordinary cessation of activity benefit.
3. 12 monthly payments will be subtracted from the value obtained if the self-employed person was also a beneficiary of the POECATA II benefit and nothing will be subtracted otherwise.
4. The result obtained will allow you to know the months of protection to which you are entitled in accordance with the provisions of art. 338.1 of the TRLGSS.

If by adding the months of protection to the date on which the accrual of the POECATA III benefit began and the end date was later than June 1, the new benefit (POECATA IV) could be accessed through the extension of the POECATA III benefit. Otherwise, access to POECATA IV would not be possible.

From Fraternidad-Muprespa we put at your disposal a tool to facilitate the verification of these requirements.

This benefit consists of 2 financial aids:

1. The payment of one   economic benefit ⁽³⁾. The amount of the benefit will be the same as that received in POECATA III when it is accessed through the extension of this and in case of direct access it will be calculated by applying 70% of the average of the contribution bases of the last 12 months , with the application of the maximum and minimum limits calculated on the IPREM based on the number of dependent children.
2. The payment corresponding to the contribution of the fee for common contingencies .

⁽³⁾ In the case of pluriactivity , that is, that self-employment is being made compatible with work as an employee (if the conditions detailed below are met), the economic benefit will be calculated by applying the 50% of the minimum contribution base for the activity  in which the self-employed worker is included (the maximum or minimum limits depending on the number of dependent children do not apply).

Conditions  that must be met simultaneously:

• The income from self-employment must not exceed the SMI by 1.25.
• The sum of self-employed and self-employed income does not exceed the SMI by 2.2.

If these limits are exceeded, self-employment will be incompatible with receiving the benefit.

Yes. As long as you receive the benefit and remain registered in the Special Regime, you have the obligation to   pay all the corresponding contributions ⁽⁴⁾  enter an ordinary situation.

⁽⁴⁾ The fact that this benefit includes help equivalent to the proportional part of the fee that you must pay for common contingencies, does not exonerate you from the obligation to pay it. The aforementioned aid should be understood as “compensation” for the expense that is still required to be made in connection with contributions to the Special Regime.

The benefit will have a maximum duration of until September 30, 2021 , provided that there is no prior cause for termination.

The time of receipt of this benefit will WILL reduce the benefit periods for cessation of ordinary activity  to which the beneficiary may be entitled in the future.

This benefit is  incompatible  with:

• Any Social Security benefit that was being received, unless it was compatible with self-employment activity.
• The performance of work as an employee when the income derived from it exceeds 1.25 times the SMI, or when added to the income derived from self-employment it exceeds 2.2 times the SMI.
• Receive aid for fleet paralysis.

They will cause the termination of the benefit:

• Reach the maximum duration planned for the benefit (September 30, 2021).
• The withdrawal from the Special Social Security Regime.
• Compliance with the ordinary age and the rest of the requirements to access the retirement benefit.
• The death of the beneficiary.

This benefit can be requested from June 1, 2021 to August 31, 2021, with the following effects:

• Applications submitted until June 21 (inclusive): will accrue the right to the benefit from June 1.
• Applications submitted after June 22 (inclusive): will accrue the right to the benefit from the 1st of the month following the month of submission of the application.

We put at your disposal two digital channels that will facilitate and guide you in your request. You can choose one or the other depending on whether you are already a registered user of our Digital Office or if you are not yet registered and do not want to create one.

Yes, the self-employed person who has requested payment of this benefit can:

• Resign  to the benefit at any time before August 31, 2021, with the resignation taking effect the month following its communication.
• Return the benefit on your own initiative  for cessation of activity without having to wait for the claim Mutual, when it considers that it has not complied - or will not comply - with the access requirements conditional on the economic result of the first half of 2021.

(*) The annotations in red correspond to clarifications or issues subject to interpretation.