How to register as a freelance in Spain

To register as a self-employed worker may seem complicated but they are simpler and faster than what is generally believed. That is why we propose a simple guide to not miss any step.
It is essential to know that the worker is responsible for communicating their registration, cancellation or any variation in their data to the administration and knowing if there is an obligation to register as self-employed or not.
For this, Social Security defines the self-employed, as one who regularly, personally and directly performs an economic activity on a lucrative basis, without being subject to it through a work contract and even if he uses the remunerated service of other people, whether or not the owner of an individual or family company. Despite this, there are many nuances, so Social Security details which workers will be considered as self-employed.

1.-Process the registration in the Treasury
Once we know that we are going to carry out an activity considered as autonomous work, we must register. The first step is to start the procedures in the Treasury.
For this, the census declaration must be presented through model 036 or 037 (simplified version of model 036). The census declaration includes personal data, the activity that will be carried out, the location of the business and the taxes that we will have to pay.
It is important to know that to declare the activity, one of the sections of the Economic Activities Tax (IAE) must be selected, which includes extensive lists of business and professional activities.
In addition, if the self-employed performs the activity from home, the square meters of the dwelling dedicated to the development of the profession must be reflected. In this way it is possible to deduct the corresponding VAT percentage from the total household expenses. Of course, bills and rent must be in the name of the self-employed so that the expenses of supplies are deductible. The documents can be presented at any of the offices of the Tax Agency or from its electronic headquarters on the Internet (if you have a digital certificate or electronic ID).

2.-Process registration in Social Security
The next step is to go to the Social Security to process the registration in the Special Regime of Self-Employed Workers (RETA). To do this, the form TA.0521 must be presented in one of the offices of the General Treasury of the Social Security (TGSS) together with a photocopy of the DNI or NIE and the registration form in the Treasury. The term is 30 days from the communication of the beginning of the activity to the Tax Agency.
In the TA0521 model the personal data, the activity, the location of the business, the self-employed quota that we will have to pay, the mutual with which we will work in case of sick leave are notified. In addition, the optional coverages will be notified and quoted (contingencies of accidents at work and occupational diseases, in some cases, and the cessation of activity).
The self-employed quota is a percentage that is calculated on the basis of contribution. The minimum contribution base for self-employed workers is set at 2018 at € 919.80 and the maximum at € 3,751.20.
At this point, it is interesting to know that there are a number of bonuses, such as the flat rate for new self-employed people. The bonuses will always be requested at the time of registration and not after.

3- Registration at City Hall
If we are going to proceed with the opening of a place where the economic activity is going to be carried out, we will have to process the opening license through the City Council (normally in the area of urban planning or the environment). We will also have to go to the Town Hall if what we need is a building license to be able to perform conditioning or improvement tasks in our premises, office or warehouse.
The cost of the opening license is calculated for each location taking into account three factors: commercial relevance of the street, size of the premises and type of activity. There are two types of licenses depending on the activity: the innocuous ones (those that do not generate discomfort, environmental impact or risk for goods or people), and qualified (those considered annoying, unhealthy, harmful and / or dangerous). There are also exempt activities for which we will not have to request an opening license. These are the ones made at home when there is no attention to the public or inconvenience to neighbours.

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