The module system among the self-employed is an option considered anomalous by the Tax Agency, but it has been with us for years. The self-employed who have been using this system for years pay taxes without taking into account their real income.
But the time has come to stop swimming against the current, the deadline for the self-employed to apply for access to the objective estimation system or the special VAT box system for 2024 will generally begin on December 1.
The objective estimation regime or the well-known system of modules should disappear.
To begin with, it is a system that is outdated and, moreover, it is unfair compared to the rest of the self-employed.
The objective estimation system allows self-employed workers to pay a single quota in RENTA depending on some parameters such as the size of their premises or the electrical power contracted.
It is not relevant how much they earn each year, the taxes to be paid are always the same.
Cash VAT and a system just as peculiar as that of modules
In Spain, the cash criterion was implemented on January 1, 2014, as part of other tax measures for SMEs and the self-employed.
However, that same year, Cristóbal Montoro, Minister of Finance, confessed that it had been a failure due to the difficulty for SMEs and the self-employed to apply it, especially those who carried out operations with large companies, since they could not deduct these operations until they were paid and decided not to do business with these companies.
Deadline for the self-employed to opt for or renounce to the module regime and the VAT cash regime
The deadline for the self-employed to apply for access to the objective estimation regime or to the special VAT cash system for 2024 will begin, as a general rule, on December 1.
In the particular case of the cash VAT system, the application for access, which would take effect from January 1, 2024, will open on December 1, unless they have just started their activity.
The Treasury will also open on December 1 the period to request the waiver to the modules or to the VAT by cash criterion, in case the self-employed is no longer interested in paying tax in any of these two systems.
Many self-employed workers under the module system prefer to say goodbye.
They have been trying to eliminate the module system for years, so it is likely that many self-employed workers who are under this system will not wait for another extension because it is not worth it.
Today, self-employed workers can access or remain in the module system as long as they have not exceeded the threshold of 250,000 euros in 2023, in the case of self-employed workers who sell directly to individuals.
If they invoice companies, the threshold must not exceed €150,000 per year in 2023.
If these limits are not extended, the maximum would be set at €150,000 per year or €75,000 for self-employed individuals who invoice directly to companies.