04-01-2023

Measures to alleviate the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine

In order to contain prices and support the most affected citizens and companies, RDL 20/2022 has been approved, which includes support measures applicable, among others, in the field of energy, industry, transport and the food sector.

Taxation

Within these support measures, for tax purposes, the following is established:

VAT

Until 31-12-2023, the tax rate of 5% applies to:

All components of the invoice for the supply of natural gas, as well as the supply of briquettes or pellets from biomass and wood for firewood used as fuel in heating systems (The applicable equivalence surcharge rate is 0.625%).
Deliveries, imports and intra-Community acquisitions of electrical energy made to holders of electricity supply contracts whose contracted power (fixed power term) is less than or equal to 10 kW and holders of electricity supply contracts who are recipients of the electricity social bonus and are recognised as being severely vulnerable or severely vulnerable and at risk of social exclusion.

Until 30-6-2023, the following tax rates apply to:

Disposable surgical masks: 4% (equivalence surcharge rate: 0.625%).
Goods and services necessary to combat the effects of COVID-19: 0%.
Olive and seed oils: 5% (Equivalence surcharge rate: 0.625%) (*).
Pasta: 5% (Equivalence surcharge rate: 0.625%)(*) .
Plain bread, as well as frozen plain bread dough and frozen plain bread intended exclusively for the production of plain bread: 0% (**).
Bread-making flour: 0% (**).
Milk produced by any animal species: natural, certified, pasteurised, concentrated, skimmed, sterilised, UHT, evaporated and powdered: 0% (**).
Cheese: 0% (**).
Eggs: 0% (**).
Fruit, vegetables, pulses, tubers and cereals, which have the status of natural products: 0% (**).

(*) From 1-5-2023, the applicable tax rate will be 10% in the event that the year-on-year rate of underlying inflation for the month of March, published in April, is less than 5.5%. In this case, the rate of the equivalence surcharge applicable to these transactions will be 1.4%.

(**) As from 1-5-2023, the applicable tax rate will be 4%, in the event that the year-on-year rate of underlying inflation for the month of March, published in April, is below 5.5%. In this case, the rate of the equivalence surcharge applicable to these transactions will be 0.5%.

IRPF

With effect from 1-1-2023, the possibility of taking the IRPF deduction for maternity is maintained, even if one of the parents is entitled to the child allowance in respect of the same descendant, provided that the rest of the requirements are met.

Electricity

The measure consisting of the application of the 0.5% tax rate of the Special Tax on Electricity is extended until 31-12-2023.

Labour

The following measures have been adopted in the social and labour field:

From 1-1-2023 and for the whole of that year, an extraordinary increase is applied consisting of the result of applying a percentage to the amount of the pension established on 1-1-2022 that complements that established in the LPGE 2023 until reaching the 15% increase.

Non-contributory retirement and disability pensions

Minimum Vital Income:

An extraordinary increase in the benefit is established. It is applied to the amount of the guaranteed income to an individual beneficiary or cohabitation unit at 1-1-2022 until an extraordinary increase of 15% is reached. The child supplement is increased by the same percentage.
The regulation on reimbursement of unduly received benefits is modified. To this effect, amounts not exceeding 65% of the monthly amount of non-contributory pensions will not be demandable when at least one minor beneficiary is included in the cohabitation unit. In the case of proceedings for the reimbursement of benefits unduly received prior to 28-2-2022, the legislation in force on the date of the decision by which the declaration and demand of such benefits was agreed shall be applied.

SMI

The SMI established for 2022 (1,000 euros/month in 14 payments) is extended.

Measures to support workers, applicable until 30-6-2023:

Companies benefiting from the direct aid provided for in RDL 20/2022 will not be able to justify objective dismissals based on the increase in energy costs. Failure to comply with this provision will lead to the reimbursement of the aid received.
Companies that avail themselves of the measures to reduce working hours or suspend contracts for ETOP reasons or force majeure related to the invasion of Ukraine and that benefit from public support cannot use these reasons to make redundancies.

Partial retirement for industry

The possibility of partial retirement at the same time as a relief contract, in force before the entry into force of RDL 27/2011, is extended to pensions accrued before 1-1-2024, provided that the following requirements are met:

Of the worker requesting partial retirement:

directly perform duties requiring physical effort or a high degree of attention in manufacturing, processing or transformation tasks, as well as in the specialised assembly, commissioning, maintenance and repair of industrial machinery and equipment in companies classified as manufacturing industry;

have been with the company for at least 6 years immediately prior to the date of partial retirement (with periods being taken into account in cases of company succession);
- that the reduction in the working hours of the partial retiree is between a minimum of 25% and a maximum of 67%, or 80% when the worker is hired on a full-time basis under a contract of indefinite duration (referring to the working hours of a comparable full-time worker);
- that he/she accredits a contribution period of 33 years on the date of the event causing the partial retirement (25 years in the case of persons with a disability equal to or greater than 25%).

From the company: at the time of the event giving rise to the partial retirement, the percentage of workers in the company whose employment contract is for an indefinite period exceeds 70% of the total workforce.

There must be a correspondence between the contribution bases of the worker taking over and the partial retiree, so that the contribution base of the worker taking over cannot be less than 65% of the average of the contribution bases corresponding to the last 6 months of the period of the regulatory base of the partial retirement pension.

Agriculture and fisheries sector

Extraordinary and temporary aid is approved to cover the price of diesel consumed by agricultural producers, consisting of 0.20 euros for each litre of diesel purchased in 2022 and intended exclusively for agricultural use for which the beneficiary obtains a refund of the quotas of the Tax on Hydrocarbons.

Aid is approved for the increase in farmers’ costs due to the use of fertiliser products. The maximum total amount of aid will be granted per eligible hectare, with the following maximum unit amounts, up to a maximum of 300 hectares per beneficiary:
- Rainfed area EUR 22 per hectare
- Irrigated area EUR 55 per hectare.

A subsidy is approved for companies owning fishing vessels and traps to compensate for the increase in production costs caused by the increase in the price of fuel.

Transport sector

The following aid is approved in the transport sector:

Aid for passenger maritime transport services, or passenger and ro-ro cargo under the passenger regime, on regular cabotage line sailings declared to be of public interest of state competence and on those inter-island maritime lines of analogous regime of autonomous competence, consisting of 0.1375266 euro cents per mile sailed per gross tonnage (GT), calculated for each of the passenger vessels, or passenger and ro-ro cargo vessels under the passenger regime, that operate the line.

Extraordinary and temporary aid to cover the price of certain energy products for road transport companies that are entitled to a partial refund of the tax on hydrocarbons for diesel for professional use, which amounts to 0.20 euros for each litre of diesel for general use used as fuel in the engines of vehicles registered in Spain for supplies made between 1-1-2023 and 31-3-2023, and 0.10 euros for supplies made between 1-4-2023 and 30-6-2023.

Extraordinary and temporary direct aid to cover the price of certain energy products for self-employed workers and companies with legal personality legally constituted in Spain who, on 28-12-2022, are holders of a transport authorisation of any of the VDE, VT, VTC, VSE, MDLE, and MDPE classes or holders of urban buses. The aid consists of:

Vehicle	Amount (€.)
Heavy goods. Truck. MDPE with MMA≥7.5 t and fuel type LPG, CNG or LNG.	3.690
Heavy goods. MDPE with MMA≥7.5 t, diesel fuel type and domiciled in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla.	2.700
Heavy goods. Lorry. MDPE with MMA<7,5 t	1.000
Light goods. Van. MDLE.	450
VSE Ambulance.	450
Taxis. VT. with LPG, CNG or LNG fuel type.	410
Taxis. VT with diesel fuel type and domiciled in the Canary Islands or taxis domiciled in Ceuta or Melilla.	300
Vehicle for hire with driver. VTC.	300
Bus. VDE and fuel type LPG, CNG or LNG and City bus according to the classification by criteria of use of the General Vehicle Regulations and fuel type LPG, CNG or LNG.	2.050
City bus in accordance with the classification by criteria of use of the General Vehicle Regulations, diesel fuel type and domiciled in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla.	1.500

Between 1-2-2023 and 31-12-2023, recurrent users for a given origin-destination route of a public road transport service for which the General State Administration is responsible are entitled to a 100% discount on the price of the ticket.

Until 31-12-2023, Renfe Viajeros SME SA will reduce the price of season tickets and multi-journey tickets.

Other measures

Electricity, natural gas and water supply

Until 31-12-2023, the supply of electricity, natural gas and water may not be suspended to consumers who are vulnerable, severely vulnerable or at risk of social exclusion.

Electro-intensive industry

The reduction in electricity bills of 80% of the cost of access tolls to the electricity transmission and distribution networks applicable at any given time is extended until 30-6-2023.

Leases

Until 31-12-2023, the annual updating of the rent of residential rental contracts is limited. The tenant may negotiate with the landlord the increase to be applied in this annual rent update.

The rent increase will be that which results from the new agreement between the parties, without, in the event that the lessor is a large tenant, exceeding the result of applying the annual variation of the Competitiveness Guarantee Index on the date of said update, taking as the reference month for the update that which corresponds to the last index published on the date of updating the contract.

Until 30-6-2023, eviction and eviction proceedings are suspended for vulnerable households without a housing alternative, and for economically vulnerable people without a housing alternative in the cases of sections 2, 4 and 7 of article 250.1 of the LEC, and in those other cases in which the eviction is the result of criminal proceedings.

Landlords may request compensation for this suspension consisting of the average value that would correspond to a rental property in the area in which the property is located, determined on the basis of the reference indices of the rental price of housing or other objective references representative of the rental market, plus the current expenses of the property that the landlord proves to have assumed, for the period between the suspension being agreed and the time when the suspension is lifted by the Court or until 30-6-2023. The application for compensation may be submitted until 31-7-2023.

In habitual residence lease contracts in which, within the period from 28-12-2023 and 30-6-2023, the mandatory extension period ends, an extraordinary extension of the lease term of 6 months from the date of termination may be applied, upon request of the lessee, during which the terms and conditions established for the contract in force will continue to apply.

Aid of 200 euros

Aid of 200 euros is approved, in a single payment, for individuals who during the 2022 financial year have carried out an activity as self-employed or employed persons for which they are registered in the corresponding Social Security or mutual insurance scheme, or have been beneficiaries of unemployment benefit or subsidy, provided that in 2022 they have received full income of less than 27,000.00 euros per year, and have assets of less than 75,000.00 euros per year as at 31-12-2022. You can apply for this aid from 15-2-2023 to 31-3-2023.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES

Period 21-12-2022 to 30-12-2022

Grants and subsidies for SMEs and the self-employed have been published in:

State.
Autonomous Regions: Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile-La Mancha, Castile and Leon, Catalonia, Ceuta, Valencia, Extremadura, Galicia, Balearic Islands, La Rioja, Murcia, Navarre and the Basque Country.
Provinces: A Coruña, Álava, Ávila, Badajoz, Barcelona, Bizkaia, Cádiz, Córdoba, Gran Canaria, La Gomera and La Palma.

If you have any doubts regarding this subject, please do not hesitate to contact us, by telephone to Carles Monfort Codina or by e-mail to cmc@btsasociados.com, we will be delighted to help you.