Retired cannot recover 47,813.82 euros from Social Security for not having requested leave as a self-employed worker: court confirmed

A Spanish pensioner stopped working, but did not treat his administrative leave as an independent worker. Years later, already retired, he tried to recover almost 48 thousand euros in contributions paid to Spanish Social Security. The court was clear: there is no refund.

According to the Spanish website Noticias Trabajo, specialized in legal and labor matters, which cites the ruling, the case was decided by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, which confirmed the position of Social Security in a case in which the beneficiary claimed the return of 47,813.82 euros paid while he remained registered in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA), despite claiming that he was no longer self-employed.

The request to the General Treasury of Social Security (TGSS) dates back to December 2019. According to , the interested party requested that the date of withdrawal from RETA be retroactively changed to March 2012, when he was terminated as administrator of a company in insolvency proceedings, or, alternatively, to June 2013, the date on which he wrote off the Economic Activities Tax.

The central problem, highlighted in the documents that reproduce excerpts from the ruling, was different: despite saying that he was not self-employed, he never formally presented the request for leave at RETA.

On the contrary, it continued to rise and, through its advisor/accountant, requested several changes to the contribution bases between 2012 and 2014.

For the court, these acts are incompatible with the thesis of a simple oversight. According to the same sentence cited by both publications, maintaining the regime was not an error and, therefore, the case was not treated as “undue payments” subject to refund.

The quotas also had an impact on the pension calculation

There is also one point that the court considered decisive: according to the excerpts cited by the same source, the contributions that the retiree wanted to recover were taken into account when calculating his old-age pension.

The decision itself states that, if the refund request were successful, the pension would end up being harmed.

The sentence also recalls that there was a firm resolution from the TGSS, dated July 2019, which established the write-off on that date and which was not challenged at the appropriate time, consolidating the administrative situation.

A warning for those who work on their own

The case reinforces a practical rule with legal weight: it is not enough to cease the activity “in practice”. In terms of contributions, regularization depends on completing administrative procedures at the right time.

In Spain, the return of quotas is only permitted in very specific scenarios and, in general terms, the right to return “undue proceeds” of quotas is subject to legal deadlines (Reglamento General de Recaudación, Royal Decree 1415/2004).

And in Portugal?

In Portugal, ceasing to be classified as a self-employed worker also requires that the situation be duly regularized, but the law provides, as a rule, mechanisms for unofficial communication by exchanging information with the tax administration.

Ordinance No. 121/2007 eliminated the autonomous participation of independent workers in starting, suspending or ceasing activity, providing for this information to be processed ex officio through the Tax Authority.

In accordance with the Code of Contributory Regimes (Law no. 110/2009), the termination of the framework is, as a rule, carried out ex officio based on this exchange of information, and takes effect from the 1st day of the month following the cessation of the activity.

Even so, if there are discrepancies between what was communicated in Finance and what appears in Social Security, the practical recommendation is to confirm the situation with Direct Social Security and, if necessary, request correction/termination of the framework to avoid charges and surprises years later.

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