Urgent aid for farming hit by drought and costs

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1. Farm companies and self-employed farm workers can request a deferral of their Social Security contributions. The deferral carries a reduced 0.5 percent interest and is repaid in monthly installments, up to a total of 12.
2. Seasonal farm workers in Andalusia and Extremadura need only 20 days of contributions, instead of 35, to receive unemployment benefits or the farm allowance. This applies to applications filed through December 31, 2022.
3. Farm and livestock activities using the objective estimation method get a 20 percent reduction in their net income for personal income taxincome tax The personal income tax (IRPF in Spain): what people pay on what they earn from work, business or savings. purposes, for the year 2021.
4. Rural properties used for farm or livestock operations are exempt from the 2022 property tax if the operation lost at least 20 percent of income (30 percent outside areas with natural constraints). Those who already paid can request a refund.
5. A new aid line called "LÍNEA ICO MAPA SAECA" subsidizes loans for farm operation holders, with an initial budget of €10 million. The cost of SAECA loan guarantees is also subsidized, with €2.7 million.
6. For 2022, affordable prices per cubic meter are set for desalinated water and for water from the Júcar-Vinalopó pipeline that irrigators in the southeast must pay.
7. In the Guadalquivir and Guadiana river basins, water supplies can be reduced or suspended, use priorities changed and irrigation conditions modified. Users whose water allocation is cut by at least 40 percent get reductions of the regulation levy and water use fee, of up to 100 percent.
8. The drought measures remain in force until December 31, 2022. Breaking them is a punishable offense, and provisional measures such as sealing wells or temporarily suspending activities can be adopted.

Who it affects

• Farm operation holders: Can defer Social Security contributions and apply for subsidized loans.
• Seasonal farm workers in Andalusia and Extremadura: Need fewer contribution days (20 instead of 35) to receive the unemployment benefit or farm allowance.
• Farmers and livestock breeders with income losses: Pay less income tax under the objective estimation method and may be exempt from rural property tax.
• Irrigators in the Guadalquivir and Guadiana basins and in the southeast: Pay an affordable price for desalinated water and face irrigation restrictions, with levy reductions if their allocation is cut.

Words worth knowing

Estimación objetiva (objective estimation)

A way for some self-employed people to calculate income tax using fixed indexes set by the Tax Agency, instead of recording actual income and expenses.

Canon de regulación (regulation levy)

A payment made by those who use water from public works such as reservoirs.

Aval (guarantee)

A guarantee given by an entity (here SAECA) so the bank grants a loan if the applicant cannot repay it.

Ayuda de mínimis (de minimis aid)

Small public aid the European Union allows without special procedures, subject to a maximum amount per beneficiary.

UTE (Unidad Territorial de Escasez)

A zone within a river basin monitored separately to decide whether there is a drought alert or emergency.

income tax

The personal income tax (IRPF in Spain): what people pay on what they earn from work, business or savings.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries