Can companies pay their employees with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in Spain?
You've probably read news about politicians and athletes who are receiving their salaries in Bitcoin. It's nothing new, Francis Suarez, mayor of Miami, or Eric Adams, his counterpart in New York, They already receive their salary (or part of it) in BTC. Some NBA stars like Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala also receive their salaries in cryptocurrencies.
But not only in the United States, in Europe we also have some cases like that of Messi, who received a part of his signing bonus in fan tokens PSG, or Southampton, a Premier League team that will pay its players' bonuses in Bitcoin.
In Asia, cryptocurrency payments are more common, and we have examples in some Japanese companies that, since 2017, allow all interested workers to collect their salaries.
With all this, it is normal that the question arises: Is it possible to collect your salary in Bitcoin in Spain?
Spanish legislation and cryptocurrencies
In Spain There is no regulation for cryptocurrencies. Currently, the legal framework for the settlement and payment of wages is set out in Article 29,4 of the Workers' Statute and states the following:
“The salary, as well as the delegated payment of Social Security benefits, may It must be made by the entrepreneur in legal currency or by check or other similar payment method through credit institutions, after informing the company committee or staff representatives.”
Since cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Spain and cannot be considered as a similar payment method (since they are not managed by credit institutions), It is not possible to collect the floor in Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies.
Collect salary in kind or cash
So, is it impossible to collect your salary in Bitcoin in Spain? The truth is that it is not, since we have some options… Even though article 29,4 of the Workers' Statute makes it very clear that you cannot pay your salary in Bitcoin, Article 26 allows payment in cash or in kind.
Does this mean that you can collect your salary in Bitcoin if you request it? Yes and no. As Clara Mañoso, a lawyer at Araoz & Rueda, points out, Bitcoin can be considered as a salary in kindHowever, in this case it is not possible to collect the entire salary in cryptocurrencies and only 30% of it is allowed to be collected in this way.
However, we would have a problem when assessing this percentage due to the volatility of its prices and the fact that its value changes slightly from one exchange to another. This makes it very complicated to calculate the Social Security contribution of this part, as well as the corresponding personal income tax, since the Remuneration must be derived directly from the employment relationship.
We must also take into account the fact that in 2019, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that Bitcoin is not money. Therefore, the payment (even if only part of) of the salary in Bitcoin raises many legal doubts, so it would be necessary for the worker to have expressly accepted the payment of part of the salary in cryptocurrencies.
On the other hand, if we take as an example the politicians and athletes who They receive their salary in Bitcoin In the US, they are actually receiving their salary in dollars, but they exchange it for Bitcoin after payment. In this sense, nothing prevents a worker in Spain from convert your entire salary to cryptocurrencies once they have cashed out using a third-party exchange. In fact, it would even be possible for companies to facilitate the exchange for the worker.
The problem of volatility
The problem at this point is that Article 26 explicitly states that the payment of wages in cash or in kind can never “lead to a reduction in the full monetary amount of the minimum interprofessional wage.”
Therefore, it raises serious questions such as: What happens if at the time of collecting the Bitcoin has lost 20% of its valueWhat price should be taken into account when paying? And when paying taxes? If we take into account the payment of shares, here the price of the share is taken into account on the date it is delivered to the worker, so we could use it as an example.
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