Autónomo in Spain for Britons: Who May, RETA, Taxes and HMRC

Working as an autónomo in Spain, the Spanish status of a self-employed person, starts with one question for a Briton: did you live in Spain before 2021? If so, the Withdrawal Agreement lets you work for yourself as before. If not, you need a residence and work authorization first. After that, everyone follows the same Spanish steps: a tax registration, a Social Security registration before the first day of work, monthly contributions and quarterly returns. The UK side needs closing too. This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice; verify current requirements with the relevant Spanish authority or a licensed professional.

Are you allowed to work for yourself in Spain?

It depends on when you settled. Two groups of Britons live under different rules, and the Spanish pages do not always say which group they address.

Resident before January 1, 2021. The Spanish Ministry of Inclusion’s Brexit questions and answers guide, dated September 2024, says Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries need no work authorization and can keep working as before without any extra procedure. GOV.UK’s Living in Spain page agrees: you need no work permit or visa if you have lived in Spain legally since before January 1, 2021. The FCDO’s Withdrawal Agreement page adds that you keep broadly the same entitlement to work as before Brexit, and that, before 5 years of residence, you must spend at least 6 months in any 12 in your EU country to keep your residence rights; after 5 years you gain permanent residence, lost only by more than 5 years in a row outside it. When a self-employed beneficiary applies for the residence document, the Ministry guide accepts proof of self-employment such as the tax census, the Registro Mercantil (the companies register) or the Social Security registration. The guide to the Withdrawal Agreement residence card covers that card.

Arrived from January 1, 2021. The same Ministry guide says the UK is a third country for all purposes from that date, and that Britons arriving later who are not beneficiaries must apply for the visa or residence authorization required by Spain’s general foreigners law. For self-employment, the main route is the initial authorization for residence and self-employed work, described below.

Where the pages differ. The Social Security Treasury’s registration page says the self-employed registration is for Spaniards resident in Spain or foreigners with a work permit, and its practical guide asks a non-EU national for an NIE (the foreigner identification number), a NUSS (the Social Security number) and a residence and work permit. Those pages do not mention the Withdrawal Agreement, and no official page read for this guide says which document a beneficiary shows at registration. The Ministry guide governs on the right itself; in practice, bring your Withdrawal Agreement residence card and passport, and ask the office if it requests a permit.

Routes for a newcomer

• Self-employed authorization. The Ministry’s Hoja 14, last updated in May 2025, is for a foreigner not resident in Spain. It asks you to show that the planned investment is sufficient, that you hold the required qualification or proven experience (and professional association membership where required), and that you have no criminal record in Spain or in the countries where you lived for the last five years. You apply in person at the Spanish consulate for your place of residence on form EX-07, and the fees are paid on Modelo 790 under codes 052 and 062. The page says it is guidance only and that the rules in force on the day you apply govern.
• Entrepreneur route. The Ministry’s large companies unit handles foreigners over 18 with an innovative business of special economic interest to Spain. It needs a favorable report from ENISA, the state company for innovation, and sets no minimum investment or job creation.

The guide to visa options for Britons compares these routes with the others.

The Department for Business and Trade’s Travel to Spain for work page, last updated March 19, 2026, describes the self-employed permit differently: it says you must incorporate a company in Spain, that the permit takes 6 to 8 months, lasts up to 1 year and can be extended up to 4 years. Hoja 14 asks for no company and gives a three-month decision period. The same GOV.UK page says it is being updated after a Spanish government announcement. Plan on the Spanish ministry’s page, which sets out the Spanish rules.

The steps, deadlines and offices

Each step answers to a different office with its own clock. The rows for newcomers come from Hoja 14; Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries start at the tax registration.

If you need an NIE before any of this, the guide to the NIE number covers the Spanish procedure.

What Social Security costs in 2026

Registration is compulsory for anyone doing an economic activity personally and habitually, whatever the income, according to the registration page. The online registration asks for your IAE activity code, your CNAE code, the start date, your expected income, the base you choose, a mutual insurer (mutua) and a bank account.

Contributions follow your expected net income. The new contribution system page says net annual income from all activities counts, less a 7 percent deduction for general expenses (3 percent for certain company partners). You then choose a base between the minimum and maximum of your income bracket. The RETA contributions page gives the 2026 figures:

The rates applied to the base are 28.30 percent for common contingencies, 1.30 percent for occupational contingencies, 0.9 percent for cessation of activity, 0.1 percent for vocational training and 0.9 percent for the MEI, the intergenerational equity mechanism. The tables are the 2025 ones, carried into 2026 by Royal Decree-law 3/2026 until Spain passes a budget law, except that the maximum of the top two brackets rises to 5,101.20 euros, the figure Order PJC/297/2026 sets as the maximum base whatever your income.

The flat rate: check the amount on the day

The Social Security Treasury’s guide still describes the tarifa plana, the reduced fee for new autónomos, as 80 euros a month for the first 12 months, or 88.64 euros with the MEI. The system page gives the same figure but dates it “during the period 2023 to 2025”. It applies to people with no self-employed registration in the two previous years, or three if they used the reduction before, and a second 12 months is possible when expected net income stays below the annual minimum wage.

Royal Decree-law 13/2022 set 80 euros only for 2023 to 2025 and left later years to each year’s budget law. Neither RDL 3/2026 nor Order PJC/297/2026 gives a flat-rate figure, and no official page read for this guide sets a 2026 amount. The RETA page says the reduction must be requested at registration. Ask for it then, and check the amount the system shows before you rely on it.

Registering late

The practical guide gives two readings of a late registration. One answer says the registration date becomes the first day of the month and the whole month’s contribution is due. Another says the period from your start day to the end of the month in which you report is charged on the general table’s minimum base, 950.98 euros a month in 2026. Both come from the same page, which also says a late registration loses any discount on the fee; the safe plan is to register before your first day of work.

Spanish tax filings: Modelo 036, 130 and 303

The Agencia Tributaria’s Modelo 036 page asks for the census declaration before you start the activity. Order HAC/1526/2024 abolished the simplified Modelo 037 from February 3, 2025, so everyone files Modelo 036.

Under direct assessment, the quarterly instalments page sets four Modelo 130 payments a year of 20 percent of net income from January 1 to the end of the quarter. A quarter with nothing to pay still needs a nil return. Professionals skip Modelo 130 when at least 70 percent of the previous year’s income carried withholding. An extra reduction of 25, 50, 75 or 100 euros applies when the previous year’s net business income was 12,000, 11,000, 10,000 or 9,000 euros or less.

VAT goes on Modelo 303, with quarterly returns from the 1st to the 20th of April, July and October, and the fourth quarter from January 1 to 30, according to the Modelo 303 deadline page.

Many Britons keep UK clients. The official pages read for this guide do not cover how VAT or income tax withholding applies to services billed to UK businesses; that is a question for a tax adviser before your first invoice. The guide for American autónomos covers withholding by Spanish clients and the annual VAT summary, which apply in the same way to Britons.

Closing the UK side

Tell HMRC. GOV.UK’s Stop being self-employed page says you must tell HMRC when you stop trading as a sole trader and send a final tax return, and it offers an online service for the notice. Someone earning £1,000 or less in a tax year as a sole trader does not need to be registered, though they may stay registered by choice. The guide to leaving UK tax residence covers the wider tax exit.

One social security system at a time. The FCDO’s Withdrawal Agreement page says you only pay into one system at a time. HMRC’s page on National Insurance in the EU says you usually pay in the country where you work, and keeps UK contributions only with a certificate of coverage, for example for someone self-employed in the UK doing similar work temporarily in an EU country for up to 2 years. HMRC’s general page on working abroad says the same. A Briton settled in Spain as an autónomo therefore pays RETA contributions. HMRC applies these rules to anyone who leaves the UK to work in the EU; the Withdrawal Agreement matters only for asking, in exceptional circumstances, to stay in the UK system without meeting those conditions.

Voluntary UK contributions. HMRC’s page on voluntary National Insurance abroad says that from the 2026 to 2027 tax year you cannot pay voluntary Class 2 for time abroad. Voluntary Class 3 for time abroad after April 5, 2026 needs either 10 years of UK residence in a row or 10 years of qualifying contributions in total. Before that date the bar was 3 years, and the page says some people may still use the previous rules. You apply on form CF83.

GOV.UK also notes that the UK and Spain have a double taxation agreement, so the same income is not taxed twice.

Your first move as a British autónomo

Start with your status. If you lived in Spain before 2021, find your Withdrawal Agreement residence card; if you arrived later, your first step is the self-employed authorization at the Spanish consulate, filed before you move. Then file Modelo 036 and the RETA registration before your first day of work, ask for the flat rate at that moment, and put the quarterly dates in your calendar.

You can do the RETA registration and the quarterly returns yourself if your Spanish is good and your activity is simple. Get help for the authorization file, for UK clients and VAT, and for the HMRC exit. GOV.UK points out that a gestor, a private professional agent, can handle your tax and accounts.

The Spain Navigator puts every step of your move to Spain in order, from the visa to settling in.