From 1 October the Statute for Professionals in the Cultural Area (approved by Decree-Law no. 105/2021, of 29 November, recently amended by Decree-Law no. 64/2022, of 27 September) comes fully into force, i.e. cultural professionals who complete the legal guarantee period foreseen (180 days of activity provision) will be entitled to receive the new cultural activity suspension allowance.
It should be noted that only professionals who are registered in the Registo dos Profissionais da Área da Cultura (RPAC) (Register of Professionals in the Cultural Area) will benefit from this new contribution regime, and consequently, only these professionals will have to pay the new contribution rates foreseen in the Statute, i.e. 11% in the case of workers with a very short term employment contract, 21.4% in the case of independent workers and 25.2% in the case of sole proprietors.
But the biggest change as of October first will be for contractors of cultural professionals who hold one of the economic activity codes (CAE) or personal income tax codes (CIRS) set out in the annex to the RPAC ordinance (Ordinance 29-B/2022 of January 11). The new contribution rates of the Statute will be applied to the contractors of these professionals regardless of whether or not they are registered with the RPAC, that is, as long as these professionals hold one of the CAE`s or CIRS set out in the RPAC Ministerial Order, the contractors will always have to bear the new applicable rates, i.e. 26.1% in the case of workers with a very short term employment contract, 5.1% in the case of independent workers, and 5.1% in the case of sole traders.
Therefore, we call your attention to the fact that as of October 1st this year, any company (even if not in the cultural sector) will have to pay the new contribution rates foreseen in the Statute.
Ana Paula Santiago @ DCM | Littler
