A retiree born in 1929 will not have to return the 4,637.55 euros that Social Security claimed from him (one month’s pension), for having worked two days as a self-employed economist. The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has confirmed the annulment of that claim, since it was the third time that he had registered as self-employed that year and not the fourth, so the registration only counted for the days in which he worked.
The man received a retirement pension of 2,890.11 euros and in 2023 and at more than 90 years old, he continued to do odd jobs as an economist, and every time he had one he submitted to Social Security a “communication about the start of work activity simultaneous to the status of pensioner”, in the form of active retirement, asking that his pension be suspended during those days.
The first time was in January, when he worked three days (from the 23rd to the 25th) and Social Security declared 296.02 euros unpaid. In April he worked another two days and it was 203.92 euros. That is to say, on those two occasions each day of work cost him about 100 euros in pension.
The problem came with the third job, which he did on May 31 and June 1. This time the Social Security declared “as improperly received” the amount of 4,637.55 euros, which was the pension from May 31 to June 30, according to the ruling (available in the Judiciary). The non-compliant retiree complained, but Social Security rejected it, so he had to go to court.
He explains that to do each of these jobs, this retiree registered as self-employed, and the rule that regulates these registrations (article 46 of Royal Decree 84/1996) says that “up to three registrations within each calendar year will have effects from the day” on which work begins. From the fourth, the registration counts “from the first day of the calendar month” and the withdrawal does not arrive until the last day of that month, even if only one day has been worked.
A court in Madrid agreed with him in March 2026 and annulled the claim, so Social Security appealed, defending that the retiree had already been registered three times that year, so the one on May 31 was the fourth and he had to be registered until June 30.
The one on May 31 was his third discharge of the year
The TSJ of Madrid has reviewed the dates and only finds three communications in 2023 (January, April and May), since there is no evidence that there was another registration between April and May 31. Therefore, it concludes that the latter “would give rise to a third discharge and not a fourth discharge as the defendant seems to allege.”
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The Chamber explains that, “there is no evidence that the actor has carried out an activity on his own account” beyond those two days, the court’s decision is in accordance with the law, so the claim for 4,637.55 euros is annulled.