Social Security Contributions: Registration, Obligations, and Responsibilities in Spain

Social Security Registrations and Deregistrations

Registrations (High) correspond to the beginning of a new job or a change of company for which an employee will provide services. They serve to establish the social security relationship for a protected individual.

Deregistrations (Low) correspond to the termination of professional activity that an employee had been developing, or the termination of the employment contract linking them with a particular company. They also apply to changes to a workplace located in different provinces, and even within the same province, if adherence to a different contribution account is required.

The Obligation to Contribute to Social Security

The main financial resources of the Social Security system come from state contributions and mandatory contributions from individuals. Indeed, the contribution rate on an activity, as part of the obligated, helps sustain the economic burdens of Social Security.

Contribution is required, both in the general scheme and in special regimes. This obligation arises when any of the following cases, as provided by law, occur:

• The beginning of the performance of work.
• Being in certain situations related to the activity of the subjects.
• The mere act of affiliation with the provincial office of the TGSS.

In Spain, there is a dual system of Social Security contributions:

• Contributions for common contingencies.
• Contributions derived from work accidents and occupational diseases.

Apart from these two modalities, entities must also pay contributions for other concepts known as joint fundraising. This creates a triple method of contribution in which fees are charged for:

• Common contingencies.
• Professional unemployment financing.
• The social fund.
• Vocational Training.

Obligated Parties and Responsible Entities

Those subject to the obligation to contribute to the general scheme of Social Security include workers (both employed and self-employed) within its scope, as well as the employers on whose behalf they work.

The General Treasury of Social Security (TGSS) is configured as the active subject of the obligation to contribute, assuming the legal position of creditor for claims related to Social Security contributions and other resources of the system.

Obligated parties are workers (both employed and self-employed) and related individuals who fall within the scope of the Social Security system, as well as the employers on whose behalf they work.

The employer is the party responsible for compliance with the obligation to contribute and for paying their own contributions and those of their workers in full.