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You work as an autónomo under direct assessment

Paying income tax as a self-employed worker in Spain

Understand how an autónomo pays income tax in advance, through the withholding made by business or professional clients, if you are a professional, and through instalment payments; compute the withholding on a professional invoice, the quarterly instalment box by box and the state share of the tax on your general taxable base, which leaves out the regional share; and file the instalment with modelo 130, unless you are exempted from it, and the annual income tax return with modelo 100: 6 steps.

Start here: Registering as self-employed in Spain: Tax Agency and Social Security

Understand: withholding and instalment payments of the autónomo

  1. Step 1 of 6
    CourseFree37 min

    Registering as self-employed in Spain: Tax Agency and Social Security

    The two registrations of a Spanish autónomo. With the Tax Agency, the modelo 036 census declaration before the activity starts, the 15 % and 7 % withholdings and the 20 % quarterly instalment on modelo 130. With the Social Security, registration in RETA, the compulsory covers, a contribution base chosen by earnings in the 2026 tables, rates adding up to 31.50 % and the reduced fee. Two modules with case studies.

Compute: invoice withholding, modelo 130 instalment and the state income tax scale

  1. Step 2 of 6
    CalculatorFree result

    Spanish income tax withholding on freelance invoices — 15 % or 7 %

    A Spanish self-employed professional invoices with 15 % income tax withheld from the fee — or 7 % in the year they start and the two following years, if they did not practise any professional activity in the year before. The client deducts it from the payment and pays it to the tax office.
  2. Step 3 of 6
    CalculatorFree result

    Spanish quarterly income tax prepayment — form 130

    Under direct assessment you pay each quarter 20 % of your net business income accumulated since 1 January, less the prepayments already made this year and the tax withheld from your invoices. If your net business income last year was EUR 12,000 or less, a further EUR 100, 75, 50 or 25 comes off.
  3. Step 4 of 6
    CalculatorFree result

    Spanish income tax (IRPF) state scale — the central government share only

    The state IRPF scale taxes the general taxable base by band: 9.5 % up to EUR 12,450, 12 % up to 20,200, 15 % up to 35,200, 18.5 % up to 60,000, 22.5 % up to 300,000 and 24.5 % above, less the same scale applied to the personal and family allowance. The tax from your region's own scale comes on top and is not calculated here.

File: instalment payment (modelo 130) and annual income tax return (modelo 100)

  1. Step 5 of 6
    FormFree30 min

    Modelo 130: quarterly income tax prepayment for the self-employed in Spain

    20% of year-to-date net income, less earlier payments and withholdings: who files the 130 under direct assessment, the reduction for low incomes and the quarterly deadlines — guide, boxes and worked example.
  2. Step 6 of 6
    FormFree60 min

    Form 100: the Spanish income tax return (IRPF)

    Who must file the Spanish income tax return (EUR 22,000 and 15,876 limits, self-employed always), deadlines of the 2025 return, draft return, 60%/40% split payment, late-filing surcharges and corrective return — guide and example.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

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