The Council of Ministers has approved a Royal Decree that modifies the personal income tax regulation for artists to reduce withholdings from 15 to 2% of the minimum rate for those who are subject to a special employment relationship and from 15 to 7% for those who are taxed as self-employed with income of less than 15,000 euros. This was announced at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, by the Minister for Territorial Policy and the Government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez.
According to the Executive of Pedro Sánchez, these measures, agreed upon by the Interministerial Commission for the Development of the Artist’s Statute, have been approved in order to comply with the measures contained in said regulation regarding withholdings. In this regard, Rodríguez has indicated that a total of 46 of the 58 agreed measures have been implemented, according to the inter-ministerial commission.
Specifically, the Ministry of Culture indicates that the first of the measures consists of reducing from 15% to 2% the minimum withholding rate applicable to work income derived from a special employment relationship of artists who develop their activity in the scenic, audiovisual and musical arts, as well as the people who carry out technical or auxiliary activities necessary for the development of said activity.
The withholding rate for artistic activities is reduced
Secondly, the withholding rate is reduced from 15% to 7% in relation to the economic activities carried out by the artists. For this, it will be necessary for the artist to have obtained in the previous tax period full returns from such activities that are less than economic activities and from the work obtained by the taxpayer in said year.
According to Rodríguez, the Government has taken over the creators’ commitments, such as the unemployment benefit that will benefit 70,000 artists, as he has assured. “In short, the objective is for professionals to be able to live mentally from their work, he stressed. On January 10, the Government finalized the Royal Decree that promoted “more stable” hiring in the cultural sector, a text that displays a benefit specifically for cultural workers, who despite their “intermittent” will have greater social protection.
The Royal Decree changed the ordinary social protection regime, according to the second second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, who assured that the beneficiaries will be able to access a “ductile” contribution system by accrediting 60 days of real contributions for in the artistic activity in the last 18 months for a total of 120 days or choose the unemployment system that reduces the need for contributions to 180 days within a period of six years prior to the legal situation of unemployment provided that they have not been taken into account for the recognition of a benefit previously.
