Autónomo Taxes in Spain: Modelo 036, RETA, 130 and 303

~8 min read · Published 30 September 2026 Updated and checked against official sources 30 September 2026 Print / PDF

An autónomo (a self-employed person in Spain) pays Social Security contributions every month, IRPF and IVA advance payments every quarter, and files an annual return. This page sets out the registrations, forms, deadlines and legal basis for a Spanish tax resident, and how the client's country and type change the IVA on the invoice.

Contents

• Two registrations before the first invoice
• RETA contributions
• IRPF: Modelo 130
• Expenses
• IVA: Modelo 303 and the client
• Calendar
• Annual Renta return
• VeriFactu from 2027

Two registrations before the first invoice

An autónomo registers twice: with the tax authority and with Social Security. Both registrations share one deadline, before the activity starts.

Tax authority. Hacienda (the everyday name for the Spanish tax authority, officially the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria, AEAT) keeps the Censo de Empresarios, Profesionales y Retenedores, the register of everyone carrying on a business. Registration is filed on Modelo 036 before the activity starts (art. 9 RGAT). The first sale or purchase for the business, the first payment or the first hire counts as the start. The same form sets the type of activity, the IRPF and IVA regime and, for work with companies in other EU countries, registration in the ROI (Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios, the register of traders dealing within the EU). For a first registration AEAT offers a step-by-step service, Censos WEB, on the same page.

Social Security. Alta (registration) in RETA (Régimen Especial de Trabajadores Autónomos, the Social Security scheme for the self-employed) is filed through Import@ss, the portal of the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS). Deadline: before the activity starts and no earlier than 60 days ahead (art. 32 RD 84/1996). The first three altas in a year, filed on time, take effect from the day the activity starts. A late alta takes effect from the first day of the month, and contributions for the elapsed period are paid as late payments (art. 46 RD 84/1996).

A self-employed holder of the digital nomad visa registers in RETA immediately after obtaining the authorization. If a later review finds no registration, the authorization is terminated under DA 7ª Ley 14/2013, and the whole family loses the right to live and work in Spain (UGE teleworker FAQ, questions 6 and 7).

An autónomo holding the digital nomad status has a limit of their own: income from Spanish clients of no more than 20% (see changing from digital nomad status).

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RETA contributions

Since 2023 an autónomo’s contribution is based on actual net income from the activity (art. 308 LGSS). At the start of the year you choose a base from the table according to your expected average monthly income. After the year ends, TGSS receives the data from the tax authority and adjusts the contributions to actual income, up or down. The base can be changed up to six times a year, with effect from March 1, May 1, July 1 and so on under the calendar in art. 45 RD 2064/1995.

The contribution is debited from a bank account on the last working day of each month, and direct debit is the only way to pay (TGSS guide).

Reduced contribution (tarifa plana). A person registering for the first time, or not in RETA for the previous two years, gets a reduced contribution for the first 12 months under art. 38 ter Ley 20/2007. It is extended for another 12 months if net income from the activity for the year is below the annual SMI. Someone who has already used it needs a three-year gap to qualify again. The reduction is requested in the alta application itself. Contributions for the first 12 months are not adjusted at year end.

The amount is set by the budget act. For 2023 to 2025, DT 5ª RDL 13/2022 fixed it at €80 a month, and from 2026 the amount belongs to each year’s budget act. There is no budget act for 2026, and the 2023 budget remains extended. TGSS states the amount on the date of alta.

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IRPF: Modelo 130

An autónomo’s income is taxed under IRPF on the general progressive scale, with the state and regional parts set out on the regional rates page. During the year the tax is paid in advance through pagos fraccionados (quarterly payments on account).

Amount. 20% of net income from January 1 to the end of the quarter, less earlier quarters’ payments and the withholding made by clients (art. 110 RIRPF). The calculation is cumulative, so a loss-making quarter reduces the next payment. A quarter with nothing to pay is still declared with a nil return (art. 111 RIRPF).

Withholding instead of advance payment. A Spanish company or business paying a professional’s invoice withholds 15% IRPF and pays it to the tax authority itself (art. 95 RIRPF). In the year the activity starts and the two following years the rate is 7%, provided there was no professional activity in the previous year. The professional tells the client this in writing. Private individuals and foreign companies with no activity in Spain withhold nothing (art. 76 RIRPF).

Exemption from Modelo 130. A professional does not file Modelo 130 if at least 70% of last year’s income from the activity was subject to withholding (art. 109 RIRPF). A remote worker with foreign clients has no withholding and files Modelo 130 every quarter.

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Expenses

Most autónomos calculate income under estimación directa simplificada (the simplified direct assessment method). It applies by default where last year’s turnover did not exceed €600,000, unless the taxpayer opted out (art. 28 RIRPF). Business expenses are deducted from income, plus 5% of net income for hard-to-document expenses, capped at €2,000 a year (art. 30 RIRPF).

Two deductions in art. 30 LIRPF for working from home:

• Health insurance for yourself, your spouse and children under 25 living with you: up to €500 a year per person, up to €1,500 with a disability.
• Utilities for a home partly used for work: 30% of the share of floor area used. A study taking up 20% of the floor area gives a deduction of 6% of the electricity, water, gas, phone and internet bills.

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IVA: Modelo 303 and the client

IVA (Spanish VAT) at the standard rate of 21% (art. 90 LIVA) is declared on Modelo 303 every quarter. The form is filed even when there is no tax to pay, for example when all clients are abroad (art. 71 RIVA). In January the annual summary, Modelo 390, is added, unless the same article exempts you.

Spain has no general turnover exemption. Directive (EU) 2020/285 allows member states to exempt small businesses with turnover up to €85,000, the scheme is optional for states, and Ley 37/1992 does not contain it (version of February 28, 2026). The first invoice is taxable.

Whether a service is taxed in Spain depends on its place of supply under art. 69 LIVA. For services, that turns on who the client is and where.

Inversión del sujeto pasivo (reverse charge) means the client accounts for the tax in their own country, and the invoice shows the client’s NIF-IVA and that wording. Registration in the ROI is also needed by anyone buying business services from a foreign company under the reverse charge, such as a software subscription from a supplier in Ireland.

A translator invoices a German agency €3,000: no IVA on the invoice, and the agency accounts for German tax itself. The same translation for a Madrid studio: €3,000 plus €630 IVA less €450 IRPF withholding, €3,180 to pay.

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Calendar

The Q4 deadline is longer, 30 days instead of 20: both articles provide for it.

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Annual Renta return

An autónomo files the annual IRPF return (Renta) whatever the income from the activity. The filing thresholds in art. 96 LIRPF cover salary, capital income and imputed income, and business income is not on that list. There is one exception: total income for the year of no more than €1,000 and losses below €500. The return covers the whole year, and Modelo 130 payments and client withholding are credited against the tax. TGSS uses the same data to adjust the year’s RETA contributions.

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VeriFactu from 2027

VeriFactu is a set of requirements for invoicing software: each invoice record is protected against alteration and can be sent straight to AEAT. The regulation (RD 1007/2023) applies to everyone who issues invoices with software, even for only part of the business (art. 3 of the regulation).

The adaptation deadline is July 1, 2027 for autónomos and January 1, 2027 for corporate income tax payers. The dates were moved by RDL 15/2025 (BOE December 3, 2025, in force from December 4, 2025, ratified by Congress by resolution of December 11, 2025).

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Author Aleksandr Nazarov