To work in Spain, the following is needed by everyone:-
NIE Number
Social Security Number
Tax Adviser*
*This is not strictly necessary, however in the case of ‘autonomo’ (Self-Employed) the process is complicated and we recommend that you take advice from a registered Tax and Fiscal Adviser.
For residents of the European Community, there is currently no need to obtain a visa to work in Spain. However, in order to pay the obligatory amounts of National Insurance and Social Security, individual identification numbers have to be obtained for both of these.
Once you have obtained both your NIE and Social Security Numbers (which we can help you do), you must register with the ‘Hacienda’, the Spanish Tax department, that you are a tax payer in Spain. This must be done by all foreigners working in Spain, whether working under contract or working as a self-employed person.
When you are working for a company as an employee the process is relatively simple. Your employers will ask for these documents and prepare a work contract on your behalf. As with all legal paperwork in Spain, for the contract to be valid it must be written in Spanish, therefore if you are not sure what you are signing, you should ask someone to translate this for you. Your office is not obliged to do this for you and you may have to pay a translator for this. The level of tax payable is variable and is dependant on income and personal allowances and circumstances in terms of a contracted employee. All employees must complete a tax return annually.
Social Security payments are made on behalf of the employee, directly by the employer. The level of contributions is usually dependant on the salary and number of hours as stated on the contract.
If you are working as an ‘autonomo’ i.e. if you are self-employed, the process is more complicated. There are two forms to complete at the Hacienda, one to register as a tax payer, the other to notify the tax department of your ‘autonomo’ status. Again, the taxes liable are variable and are dependant on both income, personal allowances and also business allowances. These could be, for example, car expenses or office floor space. If you have registered as ‘autonomo’ with the facility to employ more members of staff and to offer contracts of employment to them, this can also affect the amount of tax paid. ‘Autonomo’ persons must pay VAT (Tax) and PAYE (Pay As You Earn) on a quarterly (3 months) basis.
With the Social Security payments for ‘autonomo’ persons, these will again be variable amounts and will be advised to you by the Tax department after registering. The usual amount must be paid every month, however, you can also elect to pay a higher amount than that which is required, in order to receive more benefits in the future. In order to make the contributions required, you should register with a Fiscal Representative who will calculate your tax liability.
Please contact us if we can be of any assistance.