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Spanish councils set to impose new ‘rubbish tax’ but rules remain unclear

Local councils across Spain have until 2025 to introduce a new 'rubbish tax' to help create a local circular economy and save on waste. Many city officials are not happy about it, nor are they sure who is going to pay the tax and how it's going to work.

Published: 11 June 2024 09:42 CEST
SPAIN-RUBISH-TAX
It is unclear if and how exactly local authorities will enforce this rubbish tax. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

Local councils across Spain will soon be charging a ‘rubbish tax’ that reflects the cost of waste collection in towns and cities. The tax, or la tasa de basuras as it’s known in Spanish, must be introduced by local governments by April 8th 2025 at the latest.

However, not all of them are happy about implementing the rule and there’s still some confusion about how exactly to do it.

According to the official government BOE: the law “for the first time… expressly includes the obligation for local authorities to have a fee or, as the case may be, a non-tax public economic benefit, differentiated and specific for the services they must provide in relation to the waste under their jurisdiction, fees that should tend towards payment per generation.”

READ ALSO: How Spain’s new tax on plastics will affect you

This presents a challenge for some local councils because the new charge must be separated from pre-existing municipal taxes that cover waste collection.

The law draws on European legislation and enforces the principle of ‘the polluter pays’, meaning that, in theory, local residents (and in some cases town halls, for waste that can’t be recycled) should pay according to their wastage.

It is unclear if and how exactly local authorities will enforce this. Some in the Spanish media suggest it could even involve weighing wastage before depositing it.

The ‘Waste and Contaminated land law for a circular economy’, to give it its proper title, was passed by the Spanish government back in April 2022 and officially came into force last year. The law gave councils a grace period of three years to begin implementing the ‘rubbish tax’.

However, many town halls are still unsure about the proposals. Mayors in the Madrid municipalities of Alcorcón, Ciempozuelos, Fuentidueña de Tajo and Parla, among others, recently presented a joint proposal to the Madrid Federation of Municipalities (FMM) to ‘homogenise’ this tax and have it as a flat rate.

Some town halls are already charging the fee. Others are charging part of it but not the full amount to cover waste collection and treatment, while some say the fees are already covered by other pre-existing municipal taxes.

Jorge Anento, deputy director of Imedes, an environmental consultancy company based in Valencia, told Levante that waste collection fees are already integrated into other bills, such as the Property Tax (known as IBI in Spain), and that the new fee will in theory be dependent on the amount of rubbish generated. “Now it will have to be exclusive… if you generate €100, you will pay that amount, it must be fair,” he said.

The law also forces companies that use non-reusable plastic to pay an extra tax of 44 cents per kilogram, and landfill and incineration centres will be hit with a new tax that could range from €1.50 to €40 per metric tonne.

“For everything that the council cannot separate and treat properly and has to go to a landfill, it will be charged at €30 per tonne, managed through the Ministry of Finance, which will pass it on to each council,” Anento says.

READ ALSO: What are the recycling rules in Spain?

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WORKING IN SPAIN

What’s the law on having two jobs in Spain?

With the current cost of living crisis, working more than one job is becoming more and more common, but what are the rules on working multiple contracted jobs in Spain and the tax implications of this?

Published: 25 June 2024 13:24 CEST
What's the law on having two jobs in Spain?

Often it’s necessary to have more than one job at a time, particularly if they don’t pay well and you’re struggling to make ends meet.

In fact, historically that is part of the reason why establishments stay open so late and why siestas were so common – because people would have one job in the morning and then go home for a rest before starting their second.

This is still commonplace today and is in fact becoming more and more popular, with the rise in the cost of living, driving an increasing number of people to take up a second job.

Whatever your reasons for having two jobs or more – to save up more money or gain extra experience and work your way up, there are some financial implications you should be aware of.

What does the law say?

Currently in Spain, there is no restriction that prevents a person from having a second job, with two contracts in two different companies, for 80 hours a week.

According to data from the first quarter of this year from the Active Population Survey (EPA) prepared by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the number of people with a second job in Spain stands at 591,300, although according to affiliation data of Social Security, some 800,000 people have more than one position.

This trend has been seen in each quarter of the EPA since 2022 and, right now, is close to a historic number.

Categories you should be aware of

There are two types of categories when you work in multiple jobs in Spain – these are pluriempleo and pluriactividad. Pluriempleo literally means multiple employment. This is understood as a person who works as an employee in two or more companies under the same Social Security regime.

In this way, it differs from pluriactividad or multiple activities, which is when people work for others and have their own business at the same time or their second job is under a different social security regime.

For example, if you work as a hotel receptionist in the morning and then in a restaurant at night, these positions are considered to be part of the same regime, but if you work in a hotel in the morning and then as a nurse in a hospital at night, these are two different careers and therefore social security regimes.

If you’re self-employed as well as having a contract job, this is a slightly different situation. To find out more, read our guide below. 

READ ALSO – Self-employed in Spain: What are the tax rules if you do two or more jobs?

What are the tax and social security implications?

If you have two separate jobs, you are required by law to report your situation to Social Security, and to each of the companies you’re employed by.

When it comes to the Tax Agency, it’s important to note that you are obliged to submit your yearly Income Tax return (Renta), when you are paid by more than one employer and your income exceeds €22,000 per year.

READ ALSO – EXPLAINED: The key changes to Spain’s 2023/2024 annual tax return

In 2024, the maximum social security contribution base for employees has been set at €4,720.50 per month. This means, that regardless of whether your income from two positions exceeds this amount, the social security base will not be more than this.

The amount of IRPF (Personal Income Tax) must also be taken into account. If you are combining two contracts, it’s important to calculate the withholding tax.

This is because companies calculate personal income tax based on your annual compensation expectations. They do not take into account the existence of another job, so they apply the discount depending on what they are paying you only.

This means that they will keep less than what they should and when you’re filling out your Renta yearly income tax return, you will most likely have to pay the extra to make up the difference. 

In this case, you should request that both companies calculate personal income tax according to your earnings, so that you can get a good idea of the amount you have to pay working two positions.

You may also consider hiring a gestor or accountant to file your yearly tax return for you if you have a particularly complicated situation and work three or more jobs for example. 

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