Some benefit for the self-employed from Spain's new fiscal measures

Measures will apply from next year

Spain's finance minister, Maria Jesús Montero. | Fernando Villar

Andrew EdePalma30/09/2022 09:43

It will probably only offer a small amount of comfort for the 100,000 or so self-employed in the Balearics, but the package of fiscal measures announced by Spain's finance minister, María Jesús Montero, envisages a five per cent reduction in income tax in 2023 and an increase in deductible expenses ("difficult to justify") to seven per cent.

For the Spanish government, the self-employed are a "priority group" among others for whom the tax burden will be lightened. For workers on the minimum wage, the threshold for someone without children excluded from having to pay income tax will rise to 15,000 euros. There will also be greater tax reductions for people with gross salaries no higher than 21,000 euros.

Montero's package "allows progress towards a fairer tax system" by contemplating a greater contribution from the wealthy and large companies, with tax cuts benefiting those on low incomes, the self-employed and small to medium-sized enterprises. "Our tax system is fairer and more progressive than at the beginning of the administration," says the minister.

There is to be a "solidarity tax" on individuals with assets of three million euros and more, the percentages increasing between three and ten million. Intended to be a temporary state tax for 2023 and 2024, there is provision for review to see if it will be necessary to maintain or eliminate it.