Late payment is one of the biggest problems in self-employed businesses and small companies. One in four companies that close do so due to non-payments, this occurs in southern European countries and the EU has said enough.
The draft with the new regulation is now ready, and it will toughen the conditions for all those who are late in paying their bills.
End to pay in 60 days to a self-employed person
With this new Regulation, the deadlines are shortened, because once it is approved, it comes into force and is a rule that is fully applicable throughout the EU.
A measure that will be very well received is the imposition of a new maximum payment period for commercial agreements and contracts with the Administration, which will be limited to 30 days.
There are many self-employed workers who have problems getting paid by the Administration once the project or order is completed. With this new regulation, long waits to get paid for the work done will end.
A new automatic late payment interest
In addition to the good intentions of paying the self-employed in 30 days, a new automatic late payment interest is established, which will amount to the reference rate of the European Central Bank (ECB) more than 8%.
This measure has been under study since September, but its final measure depends on the European Parliament. For this reason, it is believed that its approval may occur in February or perhaps be delayed for a few more months.
Suppliers and clients of the self-employed are the objective of the new regulations
The new regulation, whose objective is to combat delays in payments for commercial operations, includes measures that will affect self-employed workers and businesses that sign contracts with other companies – both suppliers and clients – and, as we mentioned, with the Administration, which tends to pay your invoices several months and even a year after having issued them.
60 days, no thanks
Current legislation in our country allows 60 days to be used as an excuse for delaying payment.
However, moving to a maximum of 30 days, with the high level of digitalization that exists and thinking about the electronic invoice, which will be mandatory in 2026 for all self-employed workers, it is possible to carry out this change.
There is only one doubt, if both parties agree to consider a longer period when paying the invoices, perhaps it could be extended by a few days, but it does not seem like a good option.
Even if it is a gentlemen’s agreement, there will always be a dominant position and it is surely not about the small business or the self-employed.