News

Aid for the compulsory replacement of tachographs ends 30 June

06/06/2024

- Until last February, only 15% of the budget of more than 110 million euros that the Ministry of Transport approved at the end of 2022 to help hauliers to digitise had been requested, among others, the replacement of the tachograph, which is compulsory for hauliers carrying out international transport.

- Fenadismer reminds hauliers that the deadline for applying for this ‘modernisation aid’, which is managed by the Autonomous Communities, expires on 30 June and to date only 10% of lorries have already replaced their tachographs.

As FENADISMER has been reporting, since the middle of last year all the Autonomous Communities have had open the line of aid aimed at the modernisation and digitalisation of transport companies, both for goods and passengers, which is articulated through the so-called ‘Cheque Moderniza’, in execution of Royal Decree 902/2022 approved by the central government at the end of 2022, with a total estimated budget of 110 million euros, and promoted under the European Next Generation Funds.

However, despite the significant budget earmarked for this aid, which can be used for various digital solutions, including the implementation of the electronic control document, the updating of company management systems, the implementation of ERP systems and the installation of the new second generation intelligent tachograph, according to information provided by the Ministry of Transport, as of 29 February, only 15% of the total budget had been requested on average in the whole of Spain. In fact, by regions, the low percentage of funds used in Autonomous Communities with a strong presence of international transport fleets is particularly worrying, as is the case in Madrid with only 4.08%, Andalusia with 4.79%, the Valencian Community with 5.07%, Murcia with 5.22% and Catalonia with 10.45%. On the opposite side are Asturias with more than 100% of the budget already requested and Galicia with 75.69%.

Therefore, FENADISMER insists on encouraging all self-employed and transport companies that have not yet done so, to apply for aid as soon as possible, especially those who are obliged to replace the tachographs of their vehicles for international transport, taking into account that the deadline to apply for them ends on 30 June.

All the information on the grants can be found at this link:
https://www.transportes.gob.es/ministerio/proyectos-singulares/prtr/transporte/programa-de-modernizacion-de-empresas-privadas-pymes-de-transporte-de-viajeros-y-mercancias-por-carretera

Specifically, all vehicles that have an analogue or non-intelligent digital tachograph installed, i.e. all those prior to June 2019, will be obliged to install a second-generation intelligent tachograph before the end of December 2024, extending this deadline by a further 8 months for vehicles that have a first-generation intelligent tachograph installed.

However, and despite the fact that there are less than 8 months left until the deadline, according to FENADISMER estimates, to date only around 10% of the vehicles affected have carried out the process of replacing their tachographs, despite the fact that the fleet affected is around 130,000 trucks and 10,000 buses, hence the advisability for hauliers to start this process as soon as possible to avoid their vehicles being paralysed from January onwards due to not having been able to carry out the ‘retrofit’ on their vehicles in advance.

Subsidies from the Generalitat of Catalonia to promote self-employment for young people

05/06/2024
Entrepreneurship and Business Growth

What are the subsidy lines?
Two subsidy lines are established in the self-employment initiative for young people within the FSE+ Program framework:

Line 1, for young people with their fiscal domicile located in a microtown in Catalonia. For these purposes, microtowns are considered municipalities with fewer than 500 inhabitants, which can be consulted in the annex of the call resolution.
Line 2, for young people with their fiscal domicile located outside a microtown in Catalonia.

Self-employed individuals with a fiscal domicile in a microtown in Catalonia can apply, in a single application form, for assistance for both lines, but will only be entitled to one, with priority given to Line 1. In case of a lack of available budget in Line 1, they will opt for Line 2, according to the evaluation criteria established in base 11.1 of the regulatory bases of these aids.

Who could be a beneficiary of the subsidy?
Young people between 18 and 29 years old who want to start activity as self-employed workers can be beneficiaries of the subsidy.

The following individuals cannot be beneficiaries if they meet any of the following circumstances at the time of submitting the application or during the subsidizable period:

Partners of commercial companies, worker cooperatives, labor companies, or private civil societies; nor members of communities of goods or entities without legal personality.
Collaborating self-employed workers.

Self-employed workers who have carried out the same or similar economic activity on their own in the six months prior to the start date of the economic activity for which they are applying for aid.
Self-employed workers who, from the start of their activity and for the next 18 months, have been employed by others. For these purposes, the simultaneity with employment by others is excepted according to the following limits:
Self-employment can be combined with employment by others for a maximum of 18 stays in an 18-month period. In case of early termination as a self-employed worker, according to base 23.3.b) of the regulatory bases of these aids, the limit of 18 stays will be prorated based on the months they have been registered.
For this section, one stay corresponds to a full day in a situation of registration in Social Security as an employee.
Self-employed workers who have been beneficiaries of this or similar aid, as specified in the corresponding call.
What is the amount of the subsidy?
This call, co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus, has a budget of 13 million euros in subsidies of 15,876 euros. Additionally, a line of 500,000 euros is reserved for young people with a fiscal domicile in a microtown (one of the 337 municipalities with fewer than 500 inhabitants currently in Catalonia).

What is the deadline to submit subsidy applications?
The deadline to apply for the subsidy is from May 15, 2024, at 09:00 h, until July 15, 2024, at 14:00 h.

Electronic Invoicing for Public Administrations

04/06/2024

If you are a supplier of goods or services to Public Administrations, we provide information here on how to comply with the obligation to issue electronic invoices in contractual relations with Public Administrations.

Obligation for Administration to Accept Electronic Invoices
Law 25/2013, of December 27, promotes electronic invoicing and the creation of a registry of invoices in the public sector. According to Article 2 of the Law, it applies to invoices issued within the framework of legal relations between suppliers of goods and services and Public Administrations. For this purpose, Public Administrations include the entities, organizations, and entities referred to in Article 3.2 of the Consolidated Text of the Public Sector Contracts Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 3/2011, of November 14, as well as mutual insurance companies for work-related accidents and occupational diseases in the exercise of their collaborative role in the management of Social Security.

In summary, the following are required to accept electronic invoices:

The General State Administration, the Administrations of the Autonomous Communities, and the Entities that make up the Local Administration.
Managing entities and common services of Social Security.
Autonomous bodies.
Public Universities.
Public entities that, with functional independence or with special autonomy recognized by law, have regulatory or control functions of an external nature over a specific sector or activity.
Public entities linked to or dependent on one or more Public Administrations that meet any of the following characteristics:
Their main activity is not the production in a market regime of goods and services for individual or collective consumption, or they carry out income and national wealth redistribution operations, always without profit, or
They are not mainly financed by income, of any nature, obtained in return for the delivery of goods or the provision of services.
Nevertheless, state public business entities and similar bodies dependent on the Autonomous Communities and Local Entities, commercial companies, nor state, regional, or local public foundations are not considered Public Administrations and therefore are not obligated to accept electronic invoices.
Additionally, competent bodies of the Congress of Deputies, the Senate, the General Council of the Judiciary, the Constitutional Court, the Court of Auditors, the Ombudsman, the Legislative Assemblies of the Autonomous Communities, and institutions analogous to the Court of Auditors and the Ombudsman, with respect to their contracting activity, are subject to this obligation. The Foral Deputations and the General Assemblies of the Historical Territories of the Basque Country are also required to comply with this obligation concerning their contracting activity. Similarly, mutual insurance companies for work-related accidents and occupational diseases of Social Security are subject to this requirement as specified in the Law.
As a result, state public business entities and similar bodies dependent on the Autonomous Communities and Local Entities, commercial companies, and state, regional, or local public foundations are not included within the scope of the Law and, therefore, are not required to accept electronic invoices.