Help Available for Self-employed in 2023

Anyone who is self-employed in Spain knows it's tough. Fortunately, there are several grants and benefits available to autónomos and small businesses this year to help you out.

There are 3,329,863 autónomos or self-employed people in Spain, but according to the Asociación de Trabajadores Autónomos, Spain’s self-employed union, more than 2 million self-employed workers (which is 63 percent of them) have an income that is below Spain’s Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMI).

With self-employed workers earning so little and having to pay very high monthly social security payments, which go down €200 a month for lower earners and progressively higher – up to €590 a month for higher earners, many may be forced to look for support where they can.

What benefits and help are available?

Spain offers a whole host of benefits and help for self-employed people, including the following, which are all available this year.

Investment subsidies

There is also aid to help you finance investments. The subsidies work out equivalent to a 4 percent reduction on the interest rate set by the body or business that grants the loan, with the subsidy limit being a maximum of €10,000.

Starting a new company

Grants of up €10,000 are available to people to help them launch a new business or company. The exact amount varies, and they are aimed at helping unemployed young people aged 30 years or younger, unemployed women, unemployed people with disabilities, and unemployed women with disabilities.

In the case of victims of gender violence, grants can be boosted by 10 percent.

Training

If a self-employed person wishes to undertake some extra training to improve their business or career prospects, they can apply for aid that covers up to 75 percent of the cost up to a maximum of €3,000.

Digitalisation

The Spanish government also offers a so-called ‘Digital Kit’, which can be accessed through grants of up to €2,000 to help ‘digitalise’ a business to make it more competitive. These grants are intended for things such as creating a website or e-commerce platform, managing social networks, installing cybersecurity or upgrading systems.

The ‘zero quota’

As many of you probably already know, in Spain self-employed people not only pay quarterly income tax (IRPF in Spain) but must also pay a monthly social security payment. You can read all about that and upcoming changes to the system here, but note that some regions offer to waive this fee in order to promote entrepreneurism.

Madrid, Andalusia and Murcia all do, and the Balearic Islands will do it for self-employed people under 35 and for women entrepreneurs. These grants effectively mean the region picks up the tab for your monthly fee. It is available for one year and extendable by another 12 months if the recipient’s net income is lower than the SMI.

Minimum Vital Income

Since January, the number of self-employed people who can access the Minimum Vital Income has also increased. This benefit is compatible with income from self-employment and has also been increased. If you qualify, you could get an extra €565.37 per month for a single person without kids and more if you have children. You can find out more about it here.

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