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Working as a freelancer in Spain

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Kenjee

Hi,

A lot of expats dream of becoming self-employed: we would like to help you to make that dream come true.

Can foreigners work as self-employed in Spain? What are the formalities to work as a freelancer?

What are the pros and cons of this status: social security, tax system, etc.?

How is the freelance market in Spain?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience,

Kenjee

JB80

This is a good little article explaining some of the pros and cons of being self employed in Spain.

http://www.thelocal.es/jobs/article/thi … f-employed

The main problem is there is no distinction between working full time and and part time, you still need to pay out 250 or so euro a month whether you earned that much or not.

Culebronchris

Paying the €260+  to The Social Security is ne of the big disadvantages of being self employed in Spain but there is a start-up scheme. It varies a bit but it can be as low as €53 for the first 6 months going up in six month blocks. At least it gives you a while to see if your business is a runner. All the Asesors know the scheme.

unity100

Paying ~260+ euros to social security is NOTHING.

Because it covers EVERYTHING - healthcare, unemployment insurance, taxes, disability, sick leave (yeah you get sick leave), retirement - basically anything social security system provides.

Even if you are earning quite high, say like ~4000+ euros, you still pay the same amount. Though, you can raise it to make your eventual retirement pension higher. If your income raises too much, of course you'd be asked to set up a company since you cant be earning ~20,000 euros a month and still pay ~260 euro autonomo.

I would say that the autonomo is one of the advantages of being a freelancer in spain - i dont know any other such system anywhere in the world which provides this good social security to people working on their own.

And yeah, there is tarifa plana - for people who are starting self-employment or a business first time - for ~1.5 years, your payment increases with small amounts. So its a big help. Anyone who did not register as autonomo in spain before, can get tarifa plana.

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