BarcelonaThe committee of experts that advises the Spanish government on the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) has proposed raising it by 2026 by 37 euros per month (1,221 euros per month in 14 payments) if it is decided that it will continue to be exempt from taxation, or by 56 euros per month (up to 1,240 euros), if it is opted for taxation in the personal income tax, as advanced this Thursday The Country. Currently, the minimum wage is set at 1,184 euros per month in 14 payments.
In percentage terms, these increases would be 3.1% in the first case (without taxation) and 4.7% in the second (with taxation). The committee proposes to apply these increases so that the SMI represents at least 60% of the average salary, as established by the European Social Charter and the Spanish government committed. The experts’ proposal differs from that presented by the CCOO and UGT unions, which aspired to raise it by 7.5% (1,273 gross euros per month in 14 payments and with personal income tax), and also from that of the CEOE and Cepyme unions, which proposed a 1.5% increase (which means staying at 1,202 gross euros per month).
The second vice-president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, had asked the experts to make two approaches to amounts, one remaining exempt from taxation and another applying the corresponding marginal rate, with the aim of meeting 60% of the average net salary. Last year, with the 4.4% increase that placed the SMI at 1,184 gross monthly euros, the Ministry of Finance advocated for it to start paying taxes, but Treball opposed it and the dispute was settled with a temporary solution in the form of an exemption for this financial year.
The increase in the SMI has rekindled the dispute with employers, who reject the calculation made by the Spanish government to set it. As employers have defended, data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) show that the SMI would have already exceeded 60% of the average net salary used by the ministry led by Yolanda Díaz as a criterion. The CEOE estimates that its proposal to raise the SMI by 1.5% in 2026 would have a gross cost of 862 million euros for companies, since each point of salary increase implies a cost of 575 million euros.
