Social Security is obliged to count towards the pension the contributions of self-employed workers paid without being registered, even if the registration was before 1994, if the retirement is from 2022

The self-employed who worked and paid their contributions without being registered in the RETA (the self-employed regime) have the right to have those months count towards the future retirement pension, as well as for the rest of the benefits (permanent disability or widowhood).

This is explained in article 319 of the General Social Security Law, where it states that these contributions “will produce effects with respect to benefits, once they have been entered with the legally applicable surcharges.”

The problem is that, until 2021, this article was only valid for those who had registered as of January 1, 1994. That is, workers who started earlier could pay for those periods, but Social Security left them out when applying the method of calculating the retirement pension, so those who retired in that case received a lower percentage than what really corresponded to them.

With the arrival of Law 22/2021, which was the one with which the General State Budgets for 2022 were approved, the twentieth transitional provision of the General Social Security Law was changed to include them. Thus, since then, in registrations prior to 1994, article 319 applies “to benefits accrued since January 1, 2022”, that is, to pensions that have been generated from that date.

Which self-employed people can benefit

For these quotas to count, three conditions must be met at the same time, and the first is that the person met the requirements in those years to be in the self-employed regime, that is, that they worked independently on a regular basis even if they were not registered. The second, that the fees are effectively paid, with the corresponding surcharges. And the third, if the discharge is prior to 1994, the pension has been accrued since January 1, 2022, so anyone who retired before that date is outside the rule.

This is what has happened with a self-employed person who was forced by the General Treasury of Social Security to continue contributing until 1992 because it considered that he had requested withdrawal out of time in 1986. When he retired in December 2023, Social Security did not count the years between 1987 and 1992 and recognized 93.92% of his regulatory base of 2,568.68 euros. The Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León, in its ruling against which there was an appeal, has recognized 100% plus 4% for delaying retirement, about 259 euros more per month.

How to check if Social Security has taken them into account

Anyone who has retired since 2022 with a self-employment registration prior to 1994 and paid periods without registration can review in their pension resolution how many years Social Security has calculated, since the percentage that is applied on the regulatory basis depends on that total, as explained in this pension calculation method. It is advisable to have proof of payment of these fees on hand, because they can be used as proof that they were paid.

If they do not appear, the step prior to going to court is the prior claim before Social Security itself, which must be presented within 30 days of notification of the resolution, according to article 71 of the Law regulating social jurisdiction.