Many expats who come to Spain work for themselves for a variety of reasons - entrepeneurial spirit, inability to find work, language barrier etc. The truth is however, that it can be a very expensive business between set-up costs, accountants fees, social security payments... particularly in the few couple of years when you are setting up.
It takes time to build up a client database, during which your level of income is likely to be relatively low. If you are registered as autonomo (self-employed) you will be liable for social security payments (approximately €235 minimum) per month, plus you will have to submit quarterly and yearly tax returns whether you are earning or not.
An alternative to autonomo is to register as a Freelance with a company such as www.freelance.es. As a freelancer, you only pay for the days that you actually work e.g. if you are web designer and have a project that lasts two weeks, you only pay tax and social security for those two weeks. In addition, Freelance takes care of all the administrative headaches for you saving you hours of visits to the Seguridad Social and will process your tax returns for you.
While their website is in Spanish, they do speak English so if you have any specific questions you can email them at info@freelance.es.
It could save you a lot of time and money!
" The Doing Business project...provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 178 countries. The team works closely with thousands of professionals around the world."
A good source of information on starting a business around the world (select Spain for country specific details), it provides information on topics such as: Starting a Business, Dealing with licences, Employing workers, Getting credit, Paying Taxes and more.
In addition the website is looking for local partners to contribute to research on a pro bono basis. While unpaid it has the potential to make you some very good contacts with a large network of professionals around the world and raise your profile. Find out more at: DoingBusiness.org
Trading Across Borders
Lists the procedures necessary to import and exports a standardized cargo of goods in Spain. The documents required to export and import the goods are also shown.
Starting a Business in Spain
Starting a Business in Spain - lays out the steps involved in starting a business and the time it should take (in theory!)
