Register in the Business Census – IAE (Economic Activities Tax)

To register as a sole trader with the Agencia Tributaria (Spanish Tax Agency) you must complete and submit form 036 or 037 (at any Tax Agency office). You can download the form online here or buy it at the office (in 2014 it cost €2.50).

Instructions

The Tax Agency has long published a practical guide to completing forms 036/037. Highly recommended—read it beforehand or ask for it at any Tax Agency office.

Which form should I file: 036 or 037?

Form 037 is the simplified version and 036 is the standard version. As a rule, for translators and other liberal professions it is advisable to file 036, because it allows you to obtain, free of charge, an intra-Community VAT number, so you can invoice clients in other EU countries without charging Spanish VAT.

Filing deadline

Before you start your activity.

Key field: place where the activity is carried out

You must state the premises in which you will carry out your activity, directly or indirectly. You may also indicate the percentage of your home dedicated to the activity. For example, if you work from a home office, enter your address and calculate the percentage represented by the office floor area over the total dwelling. You can also declare other premises such as storage rooms or parking spaces.

This field matters because it will later allow you to deduct certain expenses (rent, homeowners’ association fees, property tax—IBI—, etc.).

Note: once you are registered as self-employed, you must file several periodic tax returns. The most common forms for self-employed professionals (including translators) are:

• Modelo 130. Personal Income Tax—quarterly payment on account (unless more than 70% of your invoices are subject to withholding, in which case it is usually not required; if you have no activity in a quarter you still need to submit a nil return if applicable).
  
  

• Modelo 303. VAT return. As a sole trader you recover the VAT on your business expenses and pay the VAT charged to your clients. This is usually a quarterly return.
  
  

• Modelo 390. Annual VAT summary.
  
  

• Modelo 347. Annual informative return for transactions with third parties. You must list clients and suppliers with whom your transactions exceeded €3,005.06 in the year.
  
  

• Modelo 349. Recapitulative statement of intra-Community transactions. Mandatory if the total value of supplies and services exceeds €35,000 and if the value of exempt intra-Community supplies of goods exceeds €15,000. Usually an annual return.

© 2014 Alejandro Moreno Ramos, www.ingenierotraductor.com