Modelo 036: registering as a business or professional in Spain
Modelo 036 is the census return with which a business owner or self-employed professional registers in the Spanish Tax Agency's register of businesses, professionals and withholding agents, then reports any later change and, on ceasing activity, deregisters. Registration is filed before the activity starts; changes, as a rule, within one month. Since 3 February 2025 modelo 037 no longer exists: its simplified version is offered within the 036 itself.
Up to date for 2026 — verified on September 26, 2026ActioFin templateGuide: about 40 min
This content is part of the path: Managing VAT as a self-employed worker in Spain· Step 5 of 7· Next step: Modelo 303: Spanish VAT self-assessment
This content is part of the path: Starting out as a self-employed worker in Spain· Step 4 of 4· Last step of the path
This content is part of the path: Choosing between self-employment and a company, and how each is taxed in Spain· Step 8 of 8· Last step of the path
Deadlines
- Before the activity starts
- Registration: before any supply, service, purchase, collection, payment or hiring of staff for the activity
- Within the month after incorporation
- Legal entities and entities without legal personality, or from their establishment in Spain
- One month from the day after the change
- General deadline for a change return
- One month from cessation; six months in the event of death
- Deregistration: within one month of ceasing the activity or of dissolution; if the owner dies, the heirs file the deregistration within six months of the death
- Month of December
- Opting out of the objective method or simplified direct assessment for income tax, and of the simplified, farming or cash-accounting VAT schemes, for the following year
Documents to prepare
- NIF, or the details needed to apply for it with the registration itself
- Tax address and, where different, place of management
- Description of the activity, start date and where it is carried on
- VAT and income tax options to be reported
- Electronic certificate or Cl@ve to file online
No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.
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MODELO 036 — HOJA DE PREPARACIÓN (DECLARACIÓN SIMPLIFICADA)
Declarante: … — NIF ….
Causa de presentación: alta en el censo de empresarios, profesionales y retenedores (casilla 111).
Esta hoja no se presenta: los datos se trasladan a la declaración censal en la sede electrónica de la Agencia Tributaria (Censos WEB) o al impreso del modelo 036. No cubre las personas jurídicas ni las entidades, ni los datos que la declaración simplificada no admite. Tampoco recoge estos datos que la declaración simplificada sí admite y que usted completará directamente en ella: la condición de emprendedor de responsabilidad limitada (casilla A9), el dominio o dirección de internet (casillas A27 y A38), los teléfonos y direcciones electrónicas para recibir avisos, el municipio donde desarrolla fundamentalmente la actividad (casilla 411), los locales indirectamente afectos, el porcentaje provisional de deducción y la opción por la prorrata especial del IVA, y la relación de sucesores (página 9). En una baja por fallecimiento, la declaración la presentan los herederos en el plazo de seis meses y debe completar esa página 9, que esta hoja no recoge. Tampoco cubre la afiliación a la Seguridad Social. Recoge una sola casilla de modificación por hoja: si comunica varias, prepare una hoja por cada una.
Causa de presentación (página 1)
Modificación que se comunica: casilla 142 — teléfonos y direcciones electrónicas para recibir avisos de la AEAT, TEA y DGT.
Identificación (página 2A)
Domicilio fiscal: ….
Domicilio a efectos de notificaciones: ….
Indicador de referencia catastral (casilla A39): inmueble situado en España, excepto País Vasco o Navarra.
Referencia catastral (casilla A30): ….
Actividad económica y lugar (página 4)
Descripción de la actividad (casilla 400): ….
Grupo, epígrafe / sección IAE (casilla 402): ….
Tipo y código de actividad (casillas 403 y 404): A01 — Arrendadores de bienes inmuebles.
Fecha de inicio de la actividad (casilla 406): ….
Lugar de realización: actividad fuera de un local determinado.
Dirección del local: ….
Indicador de referencia catastral del local (casilla 412bis): inmueble situado en España, excepto País Vasco o Navarra.
Referencia catastral del local (casilla 412): ….
Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido (página 5)
Solo operaciones no sujetas o exentas (casilla 501): marcada.
Inicio de actividad: casilla 502 — entregas o prestaciones previas o simultáneas a las adquisiciones.
Régimen aplicable: General.
Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas (página 6)
Método de estimación: estimación directa normal.
Pagos fraccionados por actividades económicas propias (casilla 600): marcada.
Retenciones e ingresos a cuenta (página 7)
Modelos de ingreso de retenciones: ninguno de los dos modelos.
Baja
Causa de la baja (casilla 151): cese en el ejercicio de actividades empresariales y/o profesionales.
Fecha efectiva de la baja (casilla 152): ….
Document drafted by ActioFin; it carries no legal standing before the tax authorities. Read it through and adapt it to your situation before signing.
This document is signed by hand, after printing: we do not offer electronic signature. Only a qualified electronic signature, issued by a certified provider, carries the same weight as a handwritten one (eIDAS regulation). A mere click would not — and letting you believe otherwise would expose you the day a body challenges it.
Who this applies to
- Business owners and professionals about to start one or more economic activities in Spain
- Those who, without being businesses or professionals, pay income subject to withholding or a payment on account, or make intra-Community supplies or acquisitions of goods subject to VAT
- Non-residents operating in Spain through a permanent establishment or paying income subject to withholding in Spain, and non-established persons liable for Spanish VAT
- Legal entities, and self-employed individuals without a tax number (NIF), who apply for the NIF with the registration return itself
Worked example
Marta Gil, a translator in Seville, registers as self-employed
Marta has a NIF, lives in Seville and plans to issue her first invoice on 2 March 2026. As a resident individual whose tax address is the same as her place of management, who is not a large company, is not enrolled in the register of intra-Community operators or the monthly refund register and applies the general VAT scheme, she may use the simplified 036 return. On 25 February 2026, before her first transaction, she files her registration through the Censos WEB service. In June she moves within the city: she has one month, counted from the day after the change, to report her new tax address with a change 036.
How to fill it in, step by step
- Check whether you can use the simplified return. All nine conditions must be met: you are an individual resident in Spain with a NIF; your tax address is the same as your place of management; you are not a large company; you are not under any special VAT scheme other than the simplified, farming, equivalence surcharge or cash-accounting schemes; you are not enrolled in the register of intra-Community operators or the monthly refund register; you make none of the non-taxable acquisitions under article 14 of the VAT Act; you make no distance sales; you are not liable for excise duties or insurance premium tax; and you pay no income from movable capital. If a single condition fails, use the full 036.
- Gather your identification details, the description and location of the activity and the VAT and income tax options you will report.
- File the registration before the activity starts: online with an electronic certificate or, for individuals, with Cl@ve; it can also be filed on paper at the Tax Agency office for your tax address.
- If you are an individual starting an activity for the first time, you can use the Censos WEB assistance service for the initial registration.
- A company files its registration within the month after incorporation; public and private limited companies (SA and SL) must file online.
- Report every later change (address, activities, obligations) with a change 036 within one month, and total cessation with a deregistration 036.
Good to know
- Modelo 037 was abolished by Orden HAC/1526/2024, in force since 3 February 2025: the simplification it offered is now provided through the 036 itself.
- The simplified 036 covers registration, deregistration and changes of address, identification details, activities and premises, VAT, income tax and withholdings.
- A sole trader's registration and the incorporation of an SL can go through the Single Electronic Document (DUE) at an Entrepreneur Service Point, which replaces the 036 where the rules allow.
- Opting out in December of the objective method, simplified direct assessment or special VAT schemes takes effect for at least three years.
- Enrolment in or removal from the monthly refund register is requested in November of the previous year or during the periodic VAT filing window.
Common mistakes
- Issuing the first invoice or hiring staff before filing the census registration.
- Still looking for modelo 037: since 3 February 2025 only the 036 exists, with a simplified return.
- Forgetting to report a change of tax address, which is filed with a change 036 within one month.
- Opting out of the objective method or simplified direct assessment for income tax, or of the simplified, farming or cash-accounting VAT schemes, outside the December before the year it should apply.
Frequently asked questions
When must the registration 036 be filed?
Before the activity starts: before making supplies, services or purchases, collecting or paying, or hiring staff for it. Companies file within the month after incorporation.
Does modelo 037 still exist?
No. Orden HAC/1526/2024 abolished modelo 037 with effect from 3 February 2025; its simplified version is now filed as the simplified 036 return.
Can I file without an electronic certificate?
An individual can file online with Cl@ve, or on paper at the Tax Agency office for their tax address. Public and private limited companies must file online.
How long do I have to report a change?
As a rule, one month from the day after the event. Some options and opt-outs have their own windows, such as the month of December.
How long do I have to deregister?
One month from ceasing the activity, without prejudice to the returns due for the period in which it ceases. In the event of death, deregistration falls to the heirs, who have six months from the death.
Go further
Understand this form: the related course
Related forms
- Modelo 303: Spanish VAT self-assessment
- Modelo 130: quarterly income tax prepayment for the self-employed in Spain
- Modelo 111: Spanish income tax withheld on salaries and professional fees
- Modelo 390: Spanish annual VAT summary return
- Modelo 349: Spanish recapitulative statement of intra-Community transactions
- Form 360: refund of VAT paid in another EU Member State
- Modelo 369: One Stop Shop VAT return (Union scheme)
- Spanish VAT number (NIF-IVA): registering in the Register of Intra-Community Operators (ROI) with modelo 036
Official sources
- Agencia Tributaria — Modelo 036 practical guide, instructions: who must file (l. 15-32) — September 26, 2026
- Agencia Tributaria — Modelo 036 practical guide, deadline for registration (l. 16-21) — September 26, 2026
- Agencia Tributaria — Modelo 036 practical guide, deadline for changes (l. 16-36) — September 26, 2026
- Spanish Tax Agency — Modelo 036 practical guide, Annex 4: filing deadlines, deregistration (l. 26-29) — October 5, 2026
- Spanish Tax Agency — Modelo 036 practical guide, box 152, effective deregistration date (l. 16-18) — October 5, 2026
- Agencia Tributaria — Use of the simplified modelo 036 (l. 15-33) — September 26, 2026
- Agencia Tributaria — Procedure sheet G322, Modelo 036 (place and manner of filing l. 35, Orden EHA/1274/2007 l. 49-50) — September 26, 2026
- BOE — Orden HAC/1526/2024 of 11 December, abolishing modelo 037 (l. 55, 68 and 114) — September 26, 2026
Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.