Autónomo societario: classification, RETA registration and fee

Article 305.2.b) of the Ley General de la Seguridad Social (the Spanish General Social Security Act) obliges anyone who exercises management and administration functions as a director or administrator, or provides other services for a capital company on a regular, personal and direct basis for profit, to contribute to the RETA, provided they have effective control of the company, whether direct or indirect.

There is effective control in all cases when your shares reach 1/2 of the share capital. Furthermore, the law presumes it (unless proven otherwise) in 3 situations: that at least 1/2 of the capital is in the hands of family members you live with (spouse or relatives up to the 2nd degree), that you own at least 1/3 of the capital, or that you own at least 1/4 and exercise management and administration.

Control can be indirect: if you control the company through another intermediary company, the result is the same. The TGSS (the Spanish Social Security Treasury) looks at the reality of the control, not just the paperwork.

If there is no effective control, the classification changes: the administrator with remunerated executive functions goes to the General Regime as assimilated (without unemployment protection or FOGASA) and the ordinary working partner goes to the common General Regime. Getting this box right is exactly what a classification study resolves.

At least €448.69 per month. In 2026 the minimum base for the autónomo societario is €1,424.40, which is that of group 7 of the General Regime set by the Orden PJC/297/2026 (Order PJC/297/2026), and applying the total rate of 31.50% to it gives that fee, even if your real income is low.

This is the jump of the year: until 2025 a transitional floor of a €1,000 base applied. The rule is in article 308.1.a), rule 4, of the Ley General de la Seguridad Social, which refers to the minimum base for common contingencies of group 7 of the General Regime for autónomos included under letters b) and e) of article 305.2.

The 2026 contribution order allows you to provisionally maintain during the year the base that was applied in 2025. However, the final base after regularisation cannot fall below the societario floor, so anyone who continues paying for €1,000 will have to pay the difference when the Treasury regularises the financial year with data from the Agencia Tributaria (the Spanish Tax Agency).

Since 2023 all autónomos contribute based on their real net income, but the societario has its own rules. It computes all the income generated by your company: the payroll or remuneration for the position and capital yields, whether in cash or in kind. A 3% deduction for generic expenses is applied to that total, compared to 7% for the individual autónomo.

Within your bracket you can choose a higher base, up to the maximum RETA base, which in 2026 is €5,101.20 per month, and you can change it in 6 windows throughout the year to adjust to your income forecast.

Yes. For years the TGSS denied it to societarios, but the Supreme Court settled the issue in rulings from December 2019 and early 2020 and the Treasury changed its criteria: the societario accesses the start of activity benefits under the same conditions as any other autónomo.

The current flat rate is the reduced fee of article 38 ter of the Ley 20/2007 (Law 20/2007): €80 per month during the first 12 months of registration (the TGSS adds the MEI contribution). It can be extended for another 12 months if your expected net income is lower than the current minimum interprofessional wage.

Requirements: not having been registered in the RETA in the previous 2 years (3 if you already enjoyed the benefit before) and requesting it during the registration process itself. This last point matters: a registration submitted late can leave you without the reduced fee.

Upon exhausting the flat rate you will start contributing according to the bracket that corresponds to your real income, with the societario floor of a €1,424.40 base.

Registration in the RETA is prior to the start of the activity: it can be requested up to 60 calendar days before starting (article 46 of the Reglamento de afiliación (Affiliation Regulation), RD 84/1996). In the case of the societario, the start usually coincides with the acceptance of the position with executive functions or with the effective start of work for the company.

If the registration arrives late, the obligation to contribute does not disappear: the TGSS demands the fees from the real start of the activity, with a statute of limitations of 4 years, and applies the surcharges of article 30 of the LGSS (from 10 to 35% depending on the case) plus late payment interest.

Furthermore, the period worked without registration harms you: in practice you lose the reduced start of activity fee, and the lack of registration can lead to an administrative penalty apart from the surcharges.

Regularising voluntarily before the TGSS claims is always better: the surcharge is lower if the payment is made early and the risk of a penalty is reduced. Managora can prepare and submit the registration with correct effects and calculate what to expect.

The Treasury cross-references its data with the Mercantile Registry and with the AEAT (incorporation and appointment deeds, Corporate Tax, withholdings). When the cross-reference does not match the declared classification, it reviews the file ex officio and can carry out retroactive registration.

Typical errors: an administrator with effective control registered in the General Regime by the company (contributing in the wrong regime does not exempt from the retroactive payment of RETA fees); a spouse or cohabiting family member who together with you adds up to 1/2 of the capital and works in the company without being in the RETA; indirect control through another company that was not declared; and a formally unremunerated administrator who actually invoices or collects from the company.

The consequences of an erroneous classification go beyond the debt: retroactive fees with a surcharge, possible review of benefits recognised in the wrong regime and denial of benefits such as the flat rate.

The solution is not to wait for the letter from the TGSS. A classification study documents your capital percentage, kinship and real functions, concludes which regime corresponds and leaves the registration well done from the beginning.

Managora analyses your situation in the company (percentage of own capital and of cohabiting family members, position and management functions) and determines in a reasoned manner whether the RETA as an autónomo societario, the General Regime or the assimilated General Regime corresponds to you.

If registration is appropriate, we prepare and submit it to the General Treasury of the Social Security on your behalf, with the income forecast, the correct base and the request for the reduced fee when you are entitled to it.

The entire process is online: you complete the questionnaire, sign the mandate and we take care of the rest. You can see the updated amount of the service in the file for the Classification Study and RETA Registration for Autónomo Societario and start today.

The floor applies if you have been registered as a societario for at least 90 days during the year being regularised. This is stated in rule 4 of article 308.1.a) of the Ley General de la Seguridad Social: to apply this minimum base it is enough to have been registered for 90 days in any of these cases during the period to be regularised.

The practical consequence is what no one usually tells you: if you cease to have effective control halfway through the year, or if your registration as a societario lasts less than 90 days, the final base is not anchored at €1,424.40. The same 90 day threshold applies for the generic expenses deduction of 3% instead of 7%.

The floor also does not apply if your correct classification is not that of a societario. An administrator with executive functions but without effective control goes to the assimilated General Regime, and a partner who only works in the company goes to the ordinary General Regime. There is no valid minimum autónomo base there: what changes the fee is getting the box right, not negotiating it.

It is advisable not to confuse the other group that shares this same floor: the working partners of labour companies whose participation, added to that of their spouse and cohabiting relatives up to the 2nd degree, reaches at least 50%, from article 305.2.e). They are not the same as the administrator with effective control from article 305.2.b), although they contribute on the same minimum base.

If you are not clear about which box you are in, that is exactly the purpose of the classification study: to document your capital percentage, kinship and real functions, and to conclude in a reasoned manner which regime corresponds to you before the Treasury does it ex officio.