Autónomos
Starting a small business in Spain: Registering as an "Autónomo"
If you are living in Spain and wish to start your own unincorporated business here, you need to register as self employed (autónomo) for income tax and Social Security.
Registering at the Tax Office (Agencia Tributaria)
You may already be registered for tax (for instance if have
already purchased and sold a property here). Please tell us your
NIE number and we will check if you are on the Tax Office’s
database.
If you are, we can proceed to register your autónomo business
for tax online without the need for further documentation. If
this is not the case, we will prepare the registration form
(Modelo 030) for you to present at your local Tax Office along
with the following documents:
NIE, Passport and Certificado de Empadronamiento (to be obtained
from your local Ayuntamiento - Town Hall).
Our charge for preparation of this form is 40 Euros + VAT.
Registering your autónomo business for tax
This can be done by presenting a form (Modelo 037) in person at the Tax Office, or online if you have an electronic certificate. We present all of our clients' returns online with our accountant's electronic certificate.
Our
charge to submit your autonomo tax registration online is 80
Euros + VAT.
Social Security registration
We can prepare your registration forms for you to present in person at your local Social Security office. Our current charge is 90 Euros + VAT.
Social Security contributions
The general minimum contribution is around 250 Euros per month.
However incentives have been recently introduced for newly registered autonomos, under which the monthly contribution is reduced to 53 Euros per month on commencement, increasing to 184 Euros in months 12-18.
After registration, the Social Security Office will charge the payments automatically to your bank account each month.
What happens after registration?
Once you are registered, you or your accountant must submit quarterly income tax returns and payments on account. If you are supplying goods or services which are subject to VAT (called IVA in Spain), it is also necessary to file quarterly and annual returns.