Obligation to file income tax returns in 2024 for self-employed workers

• The new year comes loaded with tax news that directly affects the self-employed
• The first big novelty is the obligation to declare income in 2024

All self-employed people will be obliged to pay personal income tax

With this new regulation, the exemption that existed to date is eliminated: the self-employed only had to make the declaration if they had obtained an annual net income equal to or greater than 1,000 euros.

Thus, The income corresponding to the year 2023 must be presented in any case, regardless of having obtained profits or even losses in the annual balance sheet.

This novelty is reflected in the Royal Decree Law 13/2022, of July 26, which establishes a new contribution system for self-employed or self-employed workers and improves protection for cessation of activity.

With the entry into force of this rule, article 96.2 of the Personal Income Tax Law is modified to establish that "all those natural persons who at any time during the tax period would have been registered as workers will be obliged to declare self-employed, in the Special Regime for Self-Employed or Self-Employed Workers, or in the Special Social Security Regime for Sea Workers.

More than 200,000 self-employed workers will have to file the declaration

According to data from Social Security and the Tax Agency, this novelty would affect the 200,000 self-employed workers who were not required to make the declaration. This year a total of 22,889,072 taxpayers submitted their income tax return, which is almost 4 % more than the previous year. Of this figure, more than 6 million had a result to be entered into the Treasury.

In the case of not filing the respective income tax return in a timely manner, the fines or sanctions can range between 200 euros and the payment of between 50 and 150 % of the debt. Another aspect to take into account is that the Tax Agency has a period of 4 years to review the declarations and notify any errors.

In addition, self-employed workers who pay taxes by objective estimation, known as the module system, will also be affected in 2024 in the tax benefit they enjoyed. Specifically, they will go from the reduction of 10 % that was applied to them in 2022 to 5 %, common since 2009.

In summary, the arrival of 2024 entails this new tax obligation for all self-employed people, without any type of exception in the presentation: the obligation to declare income.