The flat-rate self-employed fee (tarifa plana) lasts 12 months, but it can be extended for another 12 if your net income during that first year stayed below the Spanish minimum wage (SMI). The extension is not automatic: if you do not apply for it, month 13 moves you straight onto the contribution bracket matching your real income, which for many autónomos means three or four times what they were paying. This guide covers who qualifies, how the income requirement is calculated, how to apply, and what happens if you are refused.
Updated: July 2026
The flat rate is the reduced social security contribution available when you register as autónomo for the first time, or after a qualifying period without being registered. It lasts 12 calendar months from your registration date.
The extension continues that same reduced contribution for a further 12 months, bringing the total to 24. It is not a new benefit or a separate scheme: it is the continuation of the one you already have, conditional on your first-year income being low.
If you have never had the flat rate and are working out whether you qualify at all, start with autonomo social security reduced rate. This guide assumes you are already in year one and want to know whether you can continue.
There is only one condition for extending: your net income (rendimientos netos) during the first 12 months of activity must have been below the annual minimum wage in force.
What counts as net income here:
Points that commonly cause confusion:
How verification works: when you apply for the extension, you declare that you expect not to exceed the SMI. Social Security verifies this afterwards by cross-checking with AEAT once your annual tax return has been filed. If the cross-check shows you did exceed the SMI, they reclaim the difference between what you paid on the flat rate and what you should have paid.
The application is filed through Importass, the online portal of the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social. You need a digital certificate, Cl@ve, or electronic DNI.
>>> SCREENSHOT: Importass portal showing the reduced-contribution extension application section <<<
Alt text: How to apply to extend the flat-rate self-employed fee in Importass: Spanish Social Security portal
When to apply: before your first 12-month period ends. Do not leave it to the last day. If the deadline passes without an application, you move automatically to the standard contribution and there is no retroactive recovery.
If your net income in year one exceeded the SMI, you cannot extend. From month 13 you contribute according to the bracket matching your real income, under the real-income contribution system.
The jump can be significant. Moving from a reduced fee to your actual bracket often triples the monthly payment. Plan for it: review your net income around month 9 or 10 so you know whether the extension is available and can adjust your cash flow forecast accordingly.
To work out what you would pay without the flat rate, see autonomo social security contributions: the real-income system.
Certain groups have a more favourable regime, with longer reduced-contribution periods:
For these groups, both the initial reduced-fee period and the subsequent extension are longer, still subject to the requirement that net income stays below the SMI. Evidence of the qualifying condition must be submitted with the application: a disability certificate, a court order, or the relevant supporting document.
Check the exact amounts and durations applicable to your case directly with Social Security, as they vary by group and are updated periodically.
No. Meeting the income requirement gives you the right to apply, but you must submit the application yourself through Importass before your first 12-month period ends. Without an application there is no extension, however low your income was.
It depends on how your reduced-fee period was counted. Deregistering and re-registering within the same period can either interrupt or continue the count depending on the circumstances. Check your specific situation with Social Security before assuming the clock kept running.
Verification is done on the period as a whole, not month by month. If the regularisation shows you exceeded the SMI during the extended year, Social Security will reclaim the difference between the reduced fee you paid and the contribution matching your actual income.
Yes. During the reduced-fee period you contribute on the minimum base, which means those months count towards your qualifying period but at a low base. If maximising your future pension is the priority, you can decline the flat rate and contribute on a higher base, although for most autónomos in their early years the cost reduction outweighs it.
Yes, but a qualifying number of years must pass without being registered in RETA. The required gap is longer if you have already benefited from the flat rate before than if you never had it. Verify the applicable period for your case before deregistering with the intention of returning.
Yes. Corporate autónomos can access the flat rate and its extension on the same terms, with the difference that the hard-to-justify expenses deduction used to calculate net income is 3% rather than 7%.
