One of the great challenges facing the pension system is sustainability. The retirements of the baby boom generation are now arriving and must be sustained with an increasingly weakened piggy bank.
That is why the different reforms, especially the last one approved by the former Minister of Social Security José Luis Escrivá, have been in line with fatten that piggy bank, impacting the workers’ payrolls. In 2025, the three ‘concepts’ to take into account are the unstopping of the contribution bases, the update of the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI) and the so-called ‘solidarity fee’.
This solidarity fee does not generate retirement rights, so it is a tax. It will affect the highest salaries, those of more than 59,000 euros. The self-employed will be exempt.
It is an additional contribution that comes into effect from January 1 for salaries that exceed the maximum contribution base. In practice, as BBVA explains, income that was not previously subject to Social Security contributions They will now be quoted in a progressive system.
In 2025 it will be between 0.92% and 1.17%. In 2045, when the formula has been fully deployed, it will reach between 5.5 and 7%. It must be taken into account that this fee will be contributed by the employer and the worker, with the former contributing 83.4% and the latter 16.6%.
This is how the solidarity quota is applied in 2025
For 2025, calculations place this maximum base around 59,000 euros per year. This year that begins is based on three sections. The solidarity quota in 2025 is 0.92% for the part of the salary that exceeds the maximum base by up to 10%; 1% for the part of the salary that is between the additional 10% of the base and 50%, and 1.17% for the salary bracket that exceeds the maximum base by more than 50%.
In the first case (exceeding by a 10% maximum base), to the excess a 0.92% of quota. In a practical case: if this year the maximum base is 59,000 euros, those who exceed that maximum by 10% (that is, by 5,900 euros reaching 64,900) will have 0.92% applied to that surplus.
To those who surpass between 10 and 50% of the maximum base (up to 88,500 euros) will be applied two sections. 0.92% on the first 10% of surplus and 1% on the remaining. Those who have the double the maximum base (up to 118,000 euros) will be quoted in three sections: 0.92% on the first surplus, 1% on the second and 1.17 on the third.
The solidarity quota in practical examples
Looking at the figures, the maximum contribution base is 4,909 euros per month and this is how the contributions would be based on the salary.
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Salaries higher by 10% of the maximum base: 5,400 euros. They are taxed with an additional contribution of 0.92% on the ‘extra’ 491 euros. That is, 4.5 euros more per month or 54 per year.
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Salaries that exceed the maximum base by between 10 and 50%: a maximum of 7,363.5 euros. It is applied in two sections. The first 491 are taxed with an additional contribution of 0.92% and the remaining 1963.5 are taxed at 1%. That is, 24.13 euros per month or 289.56 per year.
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Salaries that exceed the maximum base by 50%: greater than 7,363.5 euros. They are applied in three sections. The first 491 are taxed with an additional contribution of 0.92%, the remaining 1963.5 are taxed at 1% and the rest at 1.17 in their corresponding sections.
It must be taken into account that the contribution bases have risen by 2.8% due to the year-on-year variation in the CPI between December 2023 and November 2024, plus 1.2% due to the unstopping of the bases that began in 2024.
MEI update
It is not the only blow to salaries during 2025, although it is the most innovative thing about this year that has just begun. For the third year the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI).
This mechanism was defined, in the words of the Government, to “preserve the balance between generations and strengthen the sustainability of the Social Security system in the long term.” That is, a kind of ‘sustainability tax’ whose amount goes directly to the pension piggy bank.
In 2024, the MEI was 0.7% (0.58% borne by the employer and 0.12% by the worker). This year the MEI rises to 0.8% with 0.67% borne by employers and 0.13% borne by workers. This mechanism applies to all payrolls regardless of salary level.
To see it with a practical example, taking as reference a list of 1,500 euros per monththe worker will contribute 0.13%, that is, 1.95 euros. The businessman will contribute 0.67%, that is, 10.05 euros. In total, the effect on the payroll that will go to the pension ‘piggy bank’ will be, in this case, 12 euros monthly. For a salary of 3,000 euros per month, the worker will contribute 3.9 euros and the employer 20.1, with the total contribution being 24 euros.
Thus, the amount – and therefore the effort they will have to assume – will vary depending on the salary level despite applying that 0.8% to all workers.
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