MADRID, 10 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

57.5% of the self-employed believe that their business will grow or remain the same throughout the year, according to the results of the XVII Barometer of the Association of Self-Employed Workers (ATA), presented this Monday.

That 57.5% is divided between 37.8% who predict that it will remain the same in 2023 and 19.7% who affirm that it will grow. For their part, 32% foresee a decrease in the evolution of their business and 10.5% do not know or do not answer.

The evolution of their activities throughout this first quarter has been stable for 45.6% of those surveyed, while for 20.8% it has grown. However, 33.6% admit that their business has fallen in these first three months of 2023.

The self-employed are not very optimistic with the performance of the Spanish economy for this year. Almost 80% have a negative or very negative perception, and only 22.1% believe that it will be positive or very positive.

Except for 4.6% of those surveyed who ensure that their expenses have been reduced, and 10.2% who point out that they have remained the same, the rest of the self-employed acknowledge that their expenses have increased during this time.

The most repeated increase in expenses is between 10% and 20%, as supported by 39.4% of the self-employed, followed by increases in expenses of between 20% and 30%, with 26.6% of the answers.

With regard to turnover, this has suffered for 38.1% of the self-employed, who affirm that it decreased between 10% and more than 20%. However, in a similar proportion, 38% of the self-employed state that their turnover has remained the same.

On the other hand, for 19.8%, billing increased from 10% to over 20%.

ATA has also asked its self-employed workers about the impact of inflation in this Barometer. Thus, 68.1% admit that they have had to raise prices compared to the previous year compared to 27.6% who have left them the same.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, 65.5% of the self-employed predict that they will have to continue raising prices, and only 17.1% rule it out. There is also 17.4% of respondents who do not know or do not answer.

Among the causes of these price rises, ATA cites, according to the responses of its respondents, inflation, followed by contributions and taxes, the rise in fuel prices and the cost of raw materials.

4.1% of the self-employed have increased their workforce in the last year and 4% plan to increase it in the coming months.

However, 11% had to cut the number of workers last year and 10% plan to follow the same path in 2023.

Despite these data, 33.3% will keep their employees, as 38.4% of those surveyed already did in 2022.

Regarding the payment of the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI), only 16.4% of the self-employed pay it to their workers.

On the other hand, late payment, both public and private, has been a problem for the self-employed, as stated by 38.3% of those surveyed. 6.4% of them by public entities only, 7.9% both public and private and 24% by other private companies. Likewise, 58.2% of the self-employed surveyed from ATA say they are not currently affected by late payment.

Financing is another fundamental aspect for the self-employed group. Loans are a common form of financing for the self-employed. In the last year, 60.8% have not gone to a bank to request financing compared to one in three, 36.9% who have requested it. Of those, 5.2% have been denied.

Of the 60.8% of the self-employed who state that they have not applied for financing over the last year, 27.6% point out that they did not do so because they cannot borrow more and 33.2% indicate that they have not needed it.

42.8% of the self-employed surveyed pay rent in their business, and of those, 70% have had their rent raised.

For 20%, the increase has been less than 4%, while 35.1% affirm that their rent has risen between 4% and 8%. 16.9% of the self-employed with rent indicate that the increase has been above 8%.

Likewise, 25% of the self-employed, one in four, have managed to keep their rent unchanged.

On the other hand, 16.8% of the self-employed have a mortgage on their business. With the increase in interest rates, only 10.8% affirm that their quota has not increased. However, the rest have had increases from less than 300 euros per month to 1,000 euros per month.

With the entry into force of the new Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) on January 1, only 12.5% ​​of the self-employed surveyed have communicated their income forecast for the coming months and thus adjust their self-employed quota to their actual income. .

Of that 12.5% ​​who claim to have communicated their income, one in two, 53.1%, assures that their quota has decreased compared to one in three self-employed workers, 33.6%, who affirm that the amount has increased.

60.3% of the self-employed surveyed have not done so and 22.5% say they are very puzzled by the new listing and say they do not know whether or not they have made said communication.

For their part, of the 60.3% who have not transferred their income forecast, 13.2% do plan to do so, but 54.5% have no intention of doing so.

The ATA Barometer also asks in this edition about the Digital Kit, for which only 20.3% of those surveyed have started the procedures. 62.4% have not asked for it and 17.3% of the self-employed chose not to answer this question.

Another of the issues that it includes is the impression of the self-employed on the reform of the pension system, of which only 8.2% are in favor. On the contrary, 48.1% believe that this new pension system will harm their competitiveness, and 29.1% believe that they will not be able to assume the new charges that the regulation entails.

The last question of the barometer refers to the next elections. Regarding the management of recent years, the self-employed approve the autonomous communities, give an insufficient rating to the local administration and a deficient rating to the Central Administration.