Your 2025 tax return just set your 2026 social security bill — and for most self-employed workers in Andorra, that bill went up 4.4% this year. The standard monthly CASS quota rose from 563.42 euros to 587.95 euros, which adds almost 300 euros a year before you earn a single euro of new income. And if you contribute on the reduced 50% base, your increase was nearly twice as large, because that tier tracks the minimum wage through two separate hikes.
This guide explains what changed in 2026, how Andorra's notional-base system turns last year's net income into this year's monthly quota, which of the seven contribution tiers you belong in, and the bookkeeping habits that keep you on the right one.
What Changed in 2026
Andorra does not tax self-employed social security on what you actually earn month to month. Instead, the CASS (Caixa Andorrana de Seguretat Social) publishes a reference base each year — the average monthly global salary of the previous year — and every self-employed quota is a percentage of that base, charged at a flat 22%. For 2026 the reference base is 2,672.52 euros per month, up about 4.4% from roughly 2,561 euros in 2025. Every tier moved with it:
| Tier (share of reference base) | 2025 monthly quota | 2026 monthly quota | Yearly cost in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25% | 140.86 euros | 146.99 euros | 1,763.88 euros |
| 50% (minimum-wage floor) | 318.41 euros | 345.11 euros | 4,141.32 euros |
| 62.5% | 352.14 euros | 367.47 euros | 4,409.64 euros |
| 75% | 422.56 euros | 440.97 euros | 5,291.64 euros |
| 100% (standard) | 563.42 euros | 587.95 euros | 7,055.40 euros |
| 125% | 704.27 euros | 734.94 euros | 8,819.28 euros |
| 137.5% | 774.70 euros | 808.44 euros | 9,701.28 euros |
Two things stand out. First, the standard 100% quota costs 24.53 euros more per month, or 294.36 euros more per year. Second, the 50% tier jumped 8.4%, not 4.4% — because when half the reference base falls below the official minimum wage, the minimum wage becomes the base instead, and the minimum wage itself rose twice: from 1,447.33 euros in 2025 to 1,525.33 euros in January 2026, then to 1,568.67 euros in July 2026. If you sit on the 50% tier, your quota followed the wage floor up both steps.
How Your Quota Is Calculated
The machinery comes from Llei 11/2023, which replaced a one-size-fits-all quota with seven notional bases — 25%, 50%, 62.5%, 75%, 100%, 125% and 137.5% of the prior year's average monthly global salary. Your tier depends on two figures from the previous financial year:
- Renda neta (net income): your net business or professional income as defined by the personal income tax (IRPF) law, plus any deductible payments to people who work with you or live with you without an employment relationship.
- Xifra de negoci (turnover): the sum of your gross business income. This second test applies mainly to company administrators, as explained below.
The 22% rate splits into two branches: 10% to the general branch (healthcare, sick leave, maternity and paternity benefits) and 12% to the retirement branch (your pension points). On the standard base that means 267.25 euros for the general branch and 320.70 euros for retirement each month.
Three rules govern which tier you pay:
- Tiers at or above 100% are mandatory. If your income meets the threshold, you must declare that base to the CASS. There is no opting down.
- Tiers below 100% are optional. You can request a reduced base if your prior-year income and turnover meet the requirements — but you must ask; the reduction is not automatic.
- You can always volunteer upward. Anyone may declare a higher base than their income requires, which buys proportionally higher retirement points.
The obligation runs from the day your activity starts until the day it ends. If you are setting up a new company, the clock starts 30 calendar days after the company is registered in the Registre de Societats — a short grace period, not an exemption.
The Seven Tiers: Which One Is Yours
For licensed professionals, shop and industry owners, farmers and ranchers, and registered artists, the tier follows prior-year net income alone:
- 25% — 146.99 euros/month: net income below 6,000 euros, combined with salaried work at minimum wage, a CASS or treaty-country retirement pension, or a qualifying disability pension. Also available for the first 12 months of any new activity (see below).
- 50% — 345.11 euros/month: net income below 12,000 euros, without meeting the 25% conditions. Calculated on the minimum-wage floor of 1,568.67 euros.
- 62.5% — 367.47 euros/month: net income from 12,000 up to 18,000 euros.
- 75% — 440.97 euros/month: net income from 18,000 up to 24,000 euros.
- 100% — 587.95 euros/month: the default. Anyone who does not qualify for (or request) a reduced base, and every company administrator who meets none of the reduction tests, lands here.
- 125% — 734.94 euros/month: net income above 40,000 euros. Mandatory.
- 137.5% — 808.44 euros/month: net income above 50,000 euros. Mandatory.
Notice the gap between 24,000 and 40,000 euros of net income: earn anywhere in that band and you pay the standard 100% quota. The system is kind to genuine low earners and to starters, flat through the middle, and progressively heavier once net income passes 40,000 euros.
Company Administrators Face a Second Test
If you administer a company, your net income alone does not decide your tier — the company's turnover is tested too, and the thresholds depend on what kind of activity the company performs. Andorran law distinguishes professional and business activities (services, everything that is not commercial) from commercial activities (delivering goods without transforming them first). Commercial businesses get higher turnover allowances, reflecting their thinner margins:
| Tier | Net income test | Turnover test (professional/business) | Turnover test (other, incl. commercial) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25% | Below 6,000 euros (sole or family-company administrators) | Below 300,000 euros | Below 600,000 euros |
| 50% | 6,000 to 12,000 euros | Below 300,000 euros | Below 600,000 euros |
| 62.5% | 12,000 to 18,000 euros | Below 300,000 euros | Below 600,000 euros |
| 75% | 18,000 to 24,000 euros | Below 300,000 euros | Below 600,000 euros |
| 125% | Above 40,000 euros, or turnover above | 400,000 euros | 800,000 euros |
| 137.5% | Above 50,000 euros, or turnover above | 500,000 euros | 900,000 euros |
Two traps hide in this table. First, at the top end the turnover test is an or: a company with 450,000 euros of service turnover pushes its administrator to the 125% tier even if net income is modest. Second, if you run several activities at once, the CASS adds the net incomes together, and for mixed professional-plus-commercial portfolios the combined figure is treated as professional — the stricter column. A side business that looks harmless on its own can tip your total into a higher tier.
First-Year Relief: Start at 25%
New activity gets the lightest quota in the system. During the first 12 months from your start date, you can request the 25% base — 146.99 euros a month — whatever you expect to earn. For company administrators the start date is the company's registration date. The request goes to the CASS Administrative Control Area on form CASS-0178, and it is worth filing promptly: a full year at 25% instead of 100% saves about 5,290 euros.
The same 25% base is available for 12 months when you resume activity after maternity, paternity or adoption leave, after gender-violence leave, or after a long medical absence (12 months of sick leave if you are between 30 and 50, 6 months if you are older than 50 or younger than 30, 3 months with a recognized disability). If you run more than one self-employed activity, every activity must meet the start-up condition for the relief to apply.
What the Money Buys
Self-employed contributions are not a fee for nothing: they fund the same two branches employees belong to. The general branch (your 10%) covers medical expense reimbursement, sick-leave benefits, and maternity, paternity and adoption payments. The retirement branch (your 12%) accumulates pension points on your personal extract, which determine your future retirement benefit — one reason some freelancers voluntarily declare a higher base than required.
Contributions also matter downstream. CASS payments are deductible when computing your IRPF taxable income, so every euro of quota reduces the income Andorra taxes at the standard 10% rate above the 24,000-euro personal exemption. And affiliation itself is a precondition, not an option: self-employed residency in Andorra requires CASS registration from the start of your activity, alongside the usual physical-presence requirements. Budgeting the quota is part of budgeting the move.
A Practical Playbook for Freelancers
Know your tier before January. Your 2026 quota was decided by your 2025 books, and your 2027 quota is being decided right now. Once your net income for the year is reasonably clear — say, in November — map it against the bands above so there are no surprises.
Track net income and turnover separately, per activity. The CASS tests renda neta and xifra de negoci independently, and multi-activity filers must aggregate correctly. Keep each activity's gross takings and deductible expenses in its own ledger so the year-end figures fall out cleanly instead of requiring a forensic reconstruction. The Beancount documentation on getting started shows how plain-text ledgers keep parallel activities separated without spreadsheet sprawl.
File the reduced-base request; it is not automatic. If your income qualifies you for a tier below 100%, submit the declaration to the CASS — and new starters should file form CASS-0178 as soon as activity begins rather than paying the full quota and asking later.
Watch the turnover tripwire if you administer a company. Service businesses cross into mandatory 125% territory at 400,000 euros of turnover regardless of profit. If a big contract lands late in the year, model next year's quota before you celebrate.
Recheck the 50% tier after July. Because it is pegged to the minimum wage, mid-year wage decrees change it outside the annual cycle — exactly what happened in July 2026. Anyone on this tier should confirm the current figure rather than assuming January's number still holds.
Keep proof of deductible expenses. Since your IRPF net income sets next year's base, every legitimate deductible expense does double duty: it lowers this year's income tax and can lower next year's quota tier. Receipts, mileage logs and home-office records are quota planning, not just tax planning.
Keep Your Freelance Finances Organized
As your freelance practice grows across borders and tax years, maintaining clear financial records is what keeps surprise quotas, missed filings and overpaid tax away. Beancount.io provides plain-text accounting that gives you complete transparency and control over your financial data — no black boxes, no vendor lock-in. Get started for free and see why developers and finance professionals are switching to plain-text accounting.
