Especially at the start of the activity?Yes. There, the social contributions of a self-employed person are still calculated on their income from the third previous year. It is impossible, of course for the beginner. We therefore operate with “provisional contributions”, which are subsequently regularized.

Warning

You are at the start of your activity for your social contributions as long as you do not have three full calendar years of self-employed activity. Your contributions being regularized for each of these years of the beginning, you are quickly in the fifth or sixth year before having no more regularization.

And beyond this start of activity? Those who change their status after years of self-employed status may also find themselves again in the provisional contributions scheme: e.g. if they switch from main to secondary profession, or vice versa, or have been ill for some time. Using the tax return calculator is important there now.

Never fully taxable?

First charged against what you paid! Social security contributions that are reimbursed to you are in fact deducted from those that you paid in the same year. Above all, a refund of contributions therefore reduces your deductible contributions. In 2012, for example, you paid € 4,000 in social security contributions in total. You have also been reimbursed € 1,000 for 2010. Your deductible social contributions for 2012, which you will include shortly in your tax return, will therefore only be € 3,000.

Only the excess can be taxable! If, for example, € 6,000 in contributions are refunded to you, you no longer have to deduct any for 2012, but you even end up with a surplus of € 2,000. They are the ones who are sometimes taxable, sometimes not.

Advice

The deduction of the 2010 contributions (in this example) is therefore not affected. What you overpaid at the time remains deductible.

Taxable or not, this excess?

Not if you are in society! If you are a manager or administrator, the excess social security contributions refunded to you are not taxable. The tax authorities made it clear in 1992 and confirmed it in a 2010 circular.

Good if you are in a personal name. There, the excess is added to your other taxable profits. In fact it always has been and it hasn’t changed a thing.

What if you are an assisting spouse?

You have also been liable for social security contributions since 2005 and can therefore also be reimbursed for a surplus. The circulars do not say anything about this, but since your income is not “profits”, but “remuneration”, as for a manager / administrator, it follows that such a surplus is not taxable.

If you are in a company, an excess of social security contributions that have been refunded to you is never taxable. The tax authorities have said so in two decisions. If you are in a personal name, such excess is taxable, but for you only, not for your assisting spouse.