A practical guide to working and building a business in Spain as an American. This section covers the legal framework for remote work, the digital nomad visa and its income and employer conditions, the distinction between working for a U.S. employer and working for Spanish clients, and the visa implications of each. We explain the main routes for self-employment and business: registering as an autónomo, the monthly social security contribution and the reduced rate for new arrivals, invoicing and VAT, and setting up a Sociedad Limitada.
We also cover joining a Spanish company: employment contracts, the probation period, salaries and the 14-payment system, unemployment rights, and how to find work as an English speaker. On the tax side, we explain how self-employment income is taxed in Spain and reported to the IRS, the Beckham regime for employees, and the cases where a U.S. LLC is treated as a Spanish business.
A practical guide for Britons working and building a business in Spain. This section covers the routes that matter once the UK is outside the European Union: working for a Spanish employer and the permit that goes with it, registering as an autónomo and how the monthly social security contribution works, and who may use the Beckham law, the special tax regime for people who move to Spain for work, and what it taxes and what it leaves out.
We also cover the tax side from a British angle: how self-employment income is taxed in Spain and reported to HMRC, how pay, contracts and employment rights work under a Spanish employer, and where UK income and Spanish income meet on your tax return. Every figure is dated and linked to the official page it comes from, and we flag the cases where the answer depends on your visa, your residence status or your tax history.
Who may take a job in Spain, the two permit routes, the contract rules, minimum wage, Social Security registration, withholding, unemployment benefit and the UK side.
The self-employed permit or the telework route, the tax and Social Security registrations, contributions on real net income, the disputed 80 euro flat rate, and quarterly VAT and income tax.
The permit that comes first, written and oral contracts, the trial period, fixed-term limits, pay in 12 or 14 installments, payroll contributions, severance and unemployment benefit.
Who can use Spain's special impatriate regime after a move from the UK, the routes that open it, the rates, the six-month Modelo 149 deadline and what the treaty pages say about UK income.
Who qualifies after 5 years of non-residence, what the 24 percent rate covers, the 6-month Modelo 149 deadline, your spouse and children, and what the regime changes for an American's filings.
Who may work for themselves after Brexit, the Social Security and tax registrations, 2026 contributions, the uncertain flat rate, quarterly returns, and closing the UK side with HMRC.
Name certificate, NIEs, deed and registry with their deadlines and fee caps, the 2026 corporate tax rates, RETA for directors, permits, and the IRS forms an American owner files.
Which permits allow it, when U.S. clients pay Spanish VAT, the invoice and Modelo 303 boxes, Modelo 130 without withholding, the certificate that ends U.S. self-employment tax, and the U.S. forms.
Who qualifies for Spain's teleworker visa after a move from the UK, the 2026 income bar, what employees, freelancers and company owners must show, and the Social Security point most files turn on.
Who files, the ways around Spain's labor-market test, the employer's solvency proof, the 3-month decision and the string of short deadlines that follows approval.
The two versions of the permit, the salary and degree tests updated in June 2026, the 20-day UGE decision, and where the consulate's page and the ministry's sheet disagree.
What ENISA scores in a business plan, the 2026 money test, the two-stage filing at the UGE and the Washington consulate, and where entrepreneur files stall.
Homologation or equivalence under Royal Decree 889/2022, the apostille on U.S. documents, sworn translation, DELE B2, the 166.50 euro fee, the 6-month clock and where a PhD goes.
