Autónomo Claro

Home › Cuota y Seguridad Social

Tarifa Plana Autónomo Requirements 2026: Who Qualifies for €80

By CHANGE-ME Your Name · Updated

Quick answer: To qualify for the reduced €80 autónomo quota in 2026 you need an alta inicial in RETA, or no RETA registration in the two years before (three years if you already used the reduction), and you must request it inside the alta itself. The real charge is €88,64/month once the MEI is added. The usual deal-breakers are a recent RETA alta, being a familiar colaborador, a late alta, and missing the forward-looking application for the second 12 months — being a socio or administrador of an SL has not been a disqualifier since 2023.

What the "tarifa plana" is in 2026 — and what it is actually called

The thing everyone calls tarifa plana no longer exists under that name in Spanish law. Since 1 January 2023 it is the "cuota reducida por inicio de una actividad por cuenta propia", in article 38 ter de la Ley 20/2007 (Estatuto del Trabajo Autónomo), added by RDL 13/2022 and amended by RDL 14/2022.

That matters for a practical reason: the old articles (31, 31 bis, 32 and 32 bis LETA) were expressly repealed by RDL 13/2022 (disposición derogatoria única). Pre-2023 beneficiaries stay on the old rules until their periods run out (DT tercera), but everyone starting now is under art. 38 ter. Most outdated blog posts, forum answers and even some gestoría pages are describing the repealed regime. If a page tells you administradores of an SL are excluded, or that you need to be debt-free, it is working from the pre-2023 text.

Per the BOE "Análisis" tab, art. 38 ter has not been amended since 2022 — the only 2026 change to Ley 20/2007 is RDL 22/2026, which touches art. 36. The requirements below are the current ones.

What you pay: €80 on paper, €88,64 in the bank

Art. 38 ter.1 creates one reduced quota covering contingencias comunes and profesionales, and exempts you from cese de actividad (0,90%) and formación profesional (0,10%). The €80/month figure itself comes from disposición transitoria quinta of RDL 13/2022 — which matters more than it sounds, for reasons two sections down.

The MEI (Mecanismo de Equidad Intergeneracional, 0,9% in 2026) is not covered by that exemption, so it is added on top. The real direct debit in 2026 is €88,64/month, the figure published in the Import@ss Guía práctica de Trabajo Autónomo.

A note on that number: your notional base while on the flat rate is €950,98/month (minimum of tramo 1 of the tabla general, 2026 figures as published by the TGSS), and 0,9% of that is €8,56, which would give €88,56. You'll see €88,56 and €88,72 quoted around the web. The official TGSS figure is €88,64 and the discrepancy is unexplained — if a cent matters to you, check your own cuota in Import@ss.

For scale: the ordinary 2026 RETA rate is 31,40% of base (CC 28,30% + CP 1,30% + cese 0,90% + FP 0,10% + MEI 0,90%), with the tabla general starting at €950,98 and the maximum base at €5.101,20. See our full 2026 cuota tables by income bracket.

Legacy rates still being paid out: €60/month for reductions recognised before 1/1/2023, and €50/month for agrarian self-employed.

The part nobody mentions: €80 is, strictly speaking, a 2023–2025 figure

DT quinta of RDL 13/2022 fixes €80 "durante el periodo comprendido entre los años 2023 y 2025" and then adds: "A partir del año 2026, el importe de dichas cuotas será fijado por la Ley de Presupuestos Generales del Estado de cada ejercicio."

There is no Presupuestos Generales del Estado for 2026. I could find no 2025 or 2026 BOE norm extending DT quinta, and art. 38 ter was not touched. The TGSS nonetheless publishes and charges €80 (€88,64 with MEI) for 2026.

So: treat €88,64 as authoritative in practice — it is what Import@ss says and what gets charged — but understand that the continuity rests on administrative practice and rolled-over budgets, not on a 2026 statute. The same caveat applies to the 2026 tramos and bases: the published tables are numerically the 2025 tables, and the seg-social cotización page still carries a "contenido en proceso de actualización" notice.

The requirements, in one paragraph

Art. 38 ter.1 asks for only this: an alta inicial in RETA, or not having been registered in RETA during the two years immediately preceding the effective date of the new alta. You request the reduction at the moment of the alta. That's it. Everything else is a disqualifier, not an extra requirement.

The disqualifiers people actually hit

1. You were in RETA recently — two years, or three

Two years out of RETA is the general rule. But art. 38 ter.4 adds a second clock: you need three years out "cuando los trabajadores autónomos hubieran disfrutado de dichas reducciones en su anterior período de alta". If you already used the flat rate before, it's three years, not two.

Same article: if you take a baja during a benefit period, the right is extinguished. You don't pause it and resume it later. Deregister in month 7, come back in month 10, and you pay the ordinary quota — and because you already enjoyed the reduction in that previous alta, you're now on the three-year clock.

2. Being a socio or administrador of an SL — no longer a disqualifier

This is the single most common piece of outdated advice. Art. 38 ter.9 expressly includes socios de sociedades de capital (the classic autónomo societario), socios de sociedades laborales, and socios trabajadores de cooperativas de trabajo asociado in grupo primero.

That reverses the pre-2023 TGSS practice and makes the old litigation (STS 1669/2019, 286/2020, 315/2020) historical — it was about the repealed art. 31. If a page still frames this as an open question, it's three years stale.

One genuine grey area: art. 38 ter.9 names socios. A remunerated, controlling administrador who holds no shares is in RETA under art. 305.2 LGSS, and art. 38 ter.1 is drafted generally, so inclusion is the better reading — but it is not spelled out. Ask the TGSS before you plan around it.

3. Pluriactividad — you have to choose

Art. 38 ter contains no express incompatibility with pluriactividad; the old express rule lived in the repealed arts. 31/32. However, the official Import@ss guide states that if you are simultaneously registered in another Social Security régimen you must choose between the tarifa plana and the pluriactividad benefits (the art. 313 LGSS refund of 50% of excess common-contingency contributions, paid by the TGSS within four months of the annual regularización).

Being straight with you: this is an administrative criterion I could verify only in the Import@ss guide, not a clause I could read in the current statute — I could not retrieve the operative text of art. 313 LGSS from the BOE consolidated version. Practically it rarely bites: on an €80 quota you would almost never generate enough excess contribution to beat the flat rate, so the choice is usually academic. But check the guide before you assume.

4. Familiares colaboradores are excluded — and get something else

Art. 38 ter.11 excludes the spouse and relatives by consanguinidad or afinidad up to the second degree, or by adoption, of an existing autónomo. Most pages stop there. The alternative is art. 35 LETA: a 50% bonificación on the tramo-1 minimum base for months 1–18 and 25% for months 19–24, conditional on no RETA/RETM alta in the previous five years.

Art. 38 ter.11 also excludes members of institutos de vida consagrada de la Iglesia Católica.

5. A late alta

Import@ss is blunt: the alta must be requested before you start the activity (and can be filed up to 60 days in advance). An alta filed after you began trading is "fuera de plazo a todos los efectos", and such periods also show up on the Import@ss list of periods excluded from the annual regularización. Our step-by-step registration guide walks through the order of operations.

Two things that are NOT disqualifiers

The second year: 12 more months, but only if you ask in advance

Period 1 Period 2
Length (general) 12 months from effective date of alta 12 further months
Condition None beyond eligibility Annual rendimientos netos below the annual SMI
Request At the moment of the alta Before period 2 begins, with a declaration of expected sub-SMI returns
Regularización Never regularised Only the year(s) in which returns exceeded the SMI

SMI 2026: €1.221/month in 14 payments = €17.094/year (Real Decreto 126/2026, de 18 de febrero). The 2025 reference was €16.576/year.

Three traps here:

  1. It is not automatic. Art. 38 ter.3 requires a prior, forward-looking application. Import@ss has a dedicated service, "Prórroga de la tarifa plana"; it must be filed before the initial 12 (or 24) months end, and the extension runs from the day after period 1 ends. Miss the window and you go onto the ordinary quota. Gestor associations say a missed prórroga cannot be recovered retroactively; I found no official TGSS confirmation either way, so treat the deadline as hard.
  2. The two-calendar-year test. If months 13–24 straddle 2026 and 2027, art. 38 ter.2 requires the sub-SMI condition to be met in each calendar year separately, against each year's SMI.
  3. You must file your IRPF return. Import@ss states that if you don't, the definitive contribution base for the regularisable year is set at €1.000.

If you overshoot the SMI in one of those years, that year gets regularised (art. 38 ter.6) using returns apportioned to the affected months — you pay the difference. Refunds from the annual regularización are paid automatically, without interest, before 30 April; amounts owed are due by the last day of the month following notification, with a 10% surcharge if paid in the following month and 20% after that.

You can also expressly waive the reduction at any point (Import@ss service "Renuncia a tu tarifa plana").

The real cost of €80: your benefits shrink

Art. 38 ter.5: while you're on the reduced quota, your prestaciones are calculated on the base mínima del tramo inferior de la tabla general. In 2026 that is €950,98.

Translated: low baja por enfermedad pay, low maternity/paternity pay, and up to two years of minimal pension accrual. If you're planning a pregnancy, have a chronic condition, or are late in your working life, the €80 is not free money — run the numbers before you take it.

Up to five years for enhanced collectives

Art. 38 ter.10: autónomos with a disability ≥33%, victims of gender violence and victims of terrorism get 24 months for period 1 and 36 months for period 2 — up to five years total. Under the 2023–2025 amounts in RDL 13/2022 DT quinta, that is €80/month for the first 24 months and €160/month from month 25. Many pages state this as "24 + 12". It is 24 + 36.

Startup founders: art. 38 quinquies

If you have control efectivo of an empresa emergente under Ley 28/2022 and simultaneously work as an employee, art. 38 quinquies LETA gives a 100% bonificación of the quota on the general minimum base, for as long as the pluriactividad lasts, max. three years from the alta. It extinguishes when the pluriactividad ends and cannot be restarted.

Open question: art. 38 quinquies declares itself incompatible with the benefits of arts. 31 and 32 — articles repealed by RDL 13/2022. Whether that incompatibility now reads across to art. 38 ter is legally ambiguous. Don't assume either answer.

"Cuota cero" is a different animal

Several autonomous communities (Madrid, Andalucía, Murcia and others) top up the state reduction so your net cost falls to zero. Those are regional grants, with their own application processes and — unlike art. 38 ter — real "al corriente de pago" conditions. The Ministerio de Inclusión has also announced a three-year reduced quota for new autónomos in Cuenca, Soria and Teruel. I haven't verified the regional terms against each región's own official texts here, so check yours directly; none of it is covered by the BOE norms above.

Quick self-check before you file

FAQ

How much is the tarifa plana in 2026 — €80 or €88,64?

Both, depending on what you mean. Art. 38 ter.1 of Ley 20/2007 creates a reduced quota (and exempts you from cese de actividad and formación profesional), and the €80/month amount comes from disposición transitoria quinta of RDL 13/2022. The MEI contribution (0,9% in 2026) is added on top, so the actual direct debit published by Import@ss is €88,64/month. Note that DT quinta only fixed €80 for 2023–2025 and delegated 2026 onwards to the annual PGE — and there is no PGE for 2026, so the figure continues as administrative practice.

Is it two years or three years out of RETA to qualify again?

Two years as a general rule (art. 38 ter.1). Three years if you already enjoyed the reduction during your previous period of alta (art. 38 ter.4). And if you took a baja in the middle of a benefit period, the right is extinguished — you don't resume it later, and you're on the three-year clock.

Can I get the €80 rate as a socio or administrador of an SL?

Yes. Art. 38 ter.9 expressly includes socios de sociedades de capital, socios de sociedades laborales and socios trabajadores de cooperativas de trabajo asociado in grupo primero. This reversed the pre-2023 TGSS practice, so any page saying otherwise (or citing the old STS 1669/2019, 286/2020 and 315/2020 litigation as live) is out of date. A controlling administrador who holds no shares is a grey area the text doesn't spell out — he or she is in RETA under art. 305.2 LGSS and inclusion is the better reading, but confirm with the TGSS.

Can I combine the tarifa plana with a salaried job (pluriactividad)?

Art. 38 ter contains no express incompatibility, but the Import@ss guide says that if you are also registered in another Social Security régimen you must choose between the tarifa plana and the pluriactividad benefits (the art. 313 LGSS refund of 50% of excess common-contingency contributions, paid within four months of the annual regularización). I could only verify this in the Import@ss guide, not in the statute. In practice the €80 quota almost never generates enough excess contribution for the refund to win, so the choice is usually academic.

Is the second year of tarifa plana automatic if I earn under the SMI?

No. Art. 38 ter.3 requires a prior application, filed before the second period begins, including a declaration that your expected net returns will be below the annual SMI (€17.094 in 2026: €1.221 × 14, per RD 126/2026, de 18 de febrero). Import@ss has a dedicated "Prórroga de la tarifa plana" service and the extension runs from the day after the first period ends. Miss the window and you move onto the ordinary quota — gestor associations say it can't be recovered retroactively, though I found no official TGSS confirmation either way.

What happens if I earn more than the SMI during the second year?

That year gets regularised (art. 38 ter.6) using your net returns apportioned to the affected months, and you pay the difference. Period 1 is never regularised. If months 13–24 straddle two calendar years, the sub-SMI test applies to each year separately against that year's SMI, so only the year you overshot is regularised. Amounts owed are due by the last day of the month following notification, with a 10% surcharge if paid in the following month and 20% after that; refunds are paid automatically, without interest, before 30 April.

Does hiring an employee kill the tarifa plana?

No. Art. 38 ter.7 states explicitly that hiring employees does not cost you the reduced quota.

Can I request the tarifa plana after my alta if I forgot to tick the box?

No — art. 38 ter.3 requires the request at the moment of the alta, and in Import@ss it is done inside the alta flow itself (with Cl@ve, certificado electrónico or DNIe, or with personal data plus a selfie and a photo of your ID). File the alta before you start the activity; you can do it up to 60 days in advance, and an alta filed after you started trading is "fuera de plazo a todos los efectos".

Can autónomos colaboradores (family members) get the €80 rate?

No. Art. 38 ter.11 excludes the spouse and relatives up to the second degree by consanguinidad, afinidad or adoption (it also excludes members of institutos de vida consagrada de la Iglesia Católica). Instead, art. 35 LETA gives colaboradores a 50% bonificación on the tramo-1 minimum base for months 1–18 and 25% for months 19–24, provided they have had no RETA/RETM alta in the previous five years.

Do I lose the flat rate if I don't file my IRPF return?

The reduction itself isn't the penalty — the base is. Import@ss states that if you don't file your IRPF return, the definitive contribution base for the regularisable year is set at €1.000. Filing is a requirement attached to the second-period prórroga, so don't skip it.

Who can keep the reduced quota for five years?

Autónomos with a disability of 33% or more, victims of gender violence and victims of terrorism (art. 38 ter.10): 24 months for the first period and 36 months for the second, up to 60 months in total. Under the 2023–2025 amounts in RDL 13/2022 DT quinta that is €80/month for the first 24 months and €160/month from month 25. It is 24 + 36, not the "24 + 12" many pages claim.

How does the flat rate affect my sick pay, maternity leave and pension?

Art. 38 ter.5 sets your benefit base at the minimum of the lowest tramo of the tabla general (€950,98/month in 2026) for the whole duration of the reduced quota. That means low sick pay, low maternity/paternity pay and minimal pension accrual — the real price of the €80.

What is "cuota cero" and how does it differ from the tarifa plana?

Cuota cero schemes are regional grants (Madrid, Andalucía, Murcia and others) that top up the state reduction so your net cost falls to zero; the Ministerio de Inclusión has also announced a three-year reduced quota for new autónomos in Cuenca, Soria and Teruel. They have their own application processes and, unlike art. 38 ter, real "al corriente de pago" conditions. Check your región's own terms — they are not governed by the BOE norms behind the state reduction.

Will the €80 rate rise in 2027?

Unknown, and the legal position is genuinely unresolved. RDL 13/2022 DT quinta fixed €80 only for 2023–2025 and says that from 2026 the amount is to be set by each year's Ley de Presupuestos Generales del Estado. There is no PGE for 2026, no BOE norm extending DT quinta that I could find, and art. 38 ter has not been amended since 2022 — the TGSS simply keeps charging €80 (€88,64 with MEI). Any future PGE could set a different figure.

Official sources

For information only. Not a substitute for advice from a qualified gestor or tax adviser. Always check current rules at the official source.

Related guides