A retiree must return 10,027.66 euros of his retirement pension to Social Security after the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León confirmed that these were improper charges for receiving the 100% of the pension while he continued to be registered in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA), although without carrying out any activity. The court agrees with the Administration by pointing out that it incurred an incompatibility as regulated by the General Social Security Law.
As stated in the ruling itself, it all begins when in May 2019 this retiree begins to collect his retirement pension within the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) in the form of active retirementthat is, it makes the pension compatible with self-employment. Months later, he informed Social Security of his intention to cease activity to recover 100% of the pension as of January 1, 2020.
But the problem arises because, although he reported the termination, he never processed his withdrawal from the RETA, remaining registered as self-employed and paying the corresponding fees until August 2020, the date on which he again requested active retirement. This is important and key in this ruling, since for the General Treasury of Social Security, this situation meant that he was improperly collecting his pension, since working and collecting the pension are incompatible, except in certain cases, such as flexible retirement.
For this reason, Social Security asked this retiree to return what was improperly collected, the amount of which was 10,027.66 euros. This pensioner explained that he had not really worked or received income during that period, and that it was Social Security that should have processed his withdrawal. Since they did not agree with him, he decided to go to court.
The pension is incompatible with remaining registered in the RETA
After several judicial processes, the dispute reached the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León, which ruled in favor of Social Security, which is why this retiree failed to comply with the provisions of article 214 of the General Law of Social Security. The court explained that, although he communicated the cessation of his activity to begin collecting 100% of the pension, the truth is that “during the period from 01/01/2020 to 08/02/2020 he was registered as a self-employed worker according to the files of the General Treasury of Social Security”, in addition to paying the contributions.
The Chamber explains that the determining factor was not that he had actually worked or received income, but rather the fact that “in addition to having been registered, he timely paid the RETA contributions, without any contrary statement on his part, which shows that he was perfectly aware of his situation and made his retirement pension compatible with his registration in the RETA during the questioned period.” Therefore, the decision of Social Security to claim the refund was and is in accordance with the law.
It is not enough to notify the termination, the discharge had to be completed
The key to the ruling is that the retiree thought that it was enough to notify Social Security of the cessation of his activity to recover the full pension. Now, the court remembers that the regulations require something more and that is, effectively causing withdrawal from the RETA. In the words of the resolution, “the proven facts assume that he remained registered with the RETA and paid the contributions, which implies that he improperly made the pension compatible with self-employed activity.”
This means that it did not matter that he claimed not to have worked or earned money, since what was relevant was his administrative situation in Social Security. As long as he was registered in the RETA, even if it was without effective activity, he was in an absolute incompatibility to receive the full pension.