The subsidy for over 52 years is a benefit that is charged indefinitely until finding employment or reaching the ordinary retirement age. To maintain this aid and being assistance aid, the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) requires all its beneficiaries that their income or income does not exceed 75% of the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI), which is 888 euros per month. Therefore, those who exceed this level of income, the SEPE will be able to suspend the subsidy and force
To get the unemployed to comply with this requirement, the beneficiaries must submit an annual declaration of income to the SEPE. To this procedure another is joined and it is the obligation to submit the declaration corresponding to the Income Tax of the natural persons (IRPF) before the Treasury regardless of the level of income. This is regulated in the reform of unemployment subsidies regulated under Royal Decree 2/2024 (which can be consulted in this BOE).
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As for the annual income statement or give it is a procedure that all beneficiaries of the subsidy must do for over 52 years. This statement must be submitted once a year, that is, every time twelve months have elapsed since the date of the birth of law or from its last resumption, within fifteen business days following the fulfillment of this period.
The SEPE will suspend the subsidy for over 52 years
To access and maintain the subsidy for over 52 years, beneficiaries must demonstrate a situation of economic vulnerability, which is legally known as “lack of income.” For this, the SEPE establishes a clear threshold: the beneficiary’s own income cannot exceed 75 % of the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) in force at all times. Since the SMI are 1,184 euros per month, 75 % equals 888 euros per month.
In case of exceeding this income limit, or even if it is only expected to be overcome, it is mandatory to immediately communicate it to the SEPE. Although the managing entity already requires submitting an annual declaration of income, any specific increase in income, such as receiving an inheritance, must be notified at the time it occurs to avoid improper charges.
If the threshold is exceeded, the SEPE will suspend the subsidy until the income limit is fulfilled again. It is important to clarify that the subsidy is not lost definitively (which would be considered an extinction), but that it is a temporary suspension. If the breach lasts less than twelve months, once the unemployed is below the limit, you may request the reactivation of the benefit.
This condition is due to the fact that unemployment subsidies are assistance aids, that is, they do not function as the contributory benefit (unemployment), which is based on a minimum of previous contributions. Instead, the SEPE grants them to guarantee a minimum of income while the person actively seeks employment.
For this reason, unemployment can access any worker who has quoted enough, while unemployment subsidies are only available for those who prove a situation of economic vulnerability.
The SEPE can request the return of the subsidy if variation in the income level is not communicated
If a variation in the income level occurs and does not communicate, the SEPE may demand the return of the amounts perceived unduly. For example, if a person receives an inheritance of 50,000 euros and does not notify it, the SEPE, when checking the income statement, will detect an increase in assets, which could lead to the opening of a regulatory file and the request for return of the amounts collected unduly.
Not only that, but, in certain cases, said procedure may be a sanctioner and entail the extinction of the subsidy for people over 52 years, as established in article 25.3 of the Law of Infractions and Sanctions in the Social Order (smooth). In fact, there are precedents, such as the judgment of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid, which determined the extinction of the subsidy for a beneficiary who did not communicate the money received from an inheritance.