For entrepreneurs and the self-employed
Running a business in Spain
Anyone who goes to Spain to work or run a business has it easier than the pensioner on one point: you automatically fall under Spanish social security, so the income and healthcare requirement is taken care of. Against that, the contribution for autónomos has hung on your real income since 2023, and Spain's finest tax regime has a condition that excludes most Dutch people.
The autónomo contribution: no fixed monthly amount any more, but brackets on your expected net profit, and after the year ends it is settled against what you really earned. Estimated too low means paying extra, too high means getting money back. The Beckham regime — 24% on your Spanish earned income up to € 600,000, for six years, foreign income largely out of reach — is for those who move to Spain to work or run a business there, and not for pensioners.
Where you pay tax is not a matter of 183 days: the Dutch tax authority looks at your actual circumstances, and you can be in Spain for well over half a year and still be a Dutch tax resident. For an entrepreneur with a BV the protective assessment on the substantial interest comes on top — and that one never expires.
Residence itself is a chain nobody watches for you: being allowed to stay is something else than being settled. You arrange the NIE at the consulate in the Netherlands, the green registration certificate is a matter of one appointment with the right papers, and anyone who works in Spain is automatically in public healthcare.
Your business and your tax
Becoming an autónomo in Spain: since 2023 your contribution hangs on your real income
In 2023 Spain moved away from the fixed monthly contribution for the self-employed. You now pay according to your expected net profit, in bands — and after the year ends it's settled against what you actually earned. Estimating too low means paying extra, estimating too high means getting money back.
Updated 27 August 2026
The Beckham regime: 24% flat tax, six years long — and why it isn't for pensioners
Whoever moves to Spain to work or run a business there can opt for the regime of article 93: taxed as a non-resident, 24% on your Spanish employment income up to € 600,000, and your foreign income largely stays out of reach. The condition that excludes most Dutch emigrants: you have to come to work.
Updated 27 August 2026
Where do you pay tax when you live in Spain?
Almost everyone thinks it's about 183 days. That's not right: the Dutch Belastingdienst looks at your actual circumstances, and you can be in Spain for well over half a year and still live in the Netherlands for tax purposes.
Updated 27 August 2026
Being allowed to stay is not the same as being sorted
As a Dutch citizen you may live in Spain without a visa. That's exactly why people underestimate this process: there's no authority that stops you, and so nobody who tells you what you have to arrange.
Updated 21 August 2026
Your residence, made official
Applying for the NIE from the Netherlands
You can already arrange your Spanish identification number at the consulate in the Netherlands. Whoever does so doesn't lose their first weeks in Spain to securing an appointment.
Updated 11 September 2026
The green registration certificate: what you bring to the appointment
If you stay in Spain longer than three months, you're obliged to register. The certificate costs € 12 and is a matter of one appointment — provided you come with the right papers. This is what's asked of you.
Updated 11 September 2026
The income and health-cover requirement: what Spain wants to see before you may stay
Whoever stays longer than three months and doesn't work in Spain has to demonstrate two things — sufficient means and full health cover. What exactly is tested, which evidence counts, and why there's no amount here.
Updated 28 August 2026
The Spanish healthcare system: three routes in, and one safety net that costs money
Whoever works in Spain is automatically in public healthcare, pensioners come in with the S1 — and since 2018 legal residents without work have access too. For whoever falls under nothing there's the convenio especial: € 60 a month, with one important exception.
Updated 28 August 2026
Closing the Netherlands as an entrepreneur
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 11 September 2026
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 11 September 2026
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 September 2026
Want to walk this journey with the order watched — the NIE before you leave, the registration within the deadline, the M form for your emigration year not forgotten? The Spanish step-by-step plan is ready for you.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Choose your destination and we'll send you the departure guide: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that at most one mail a month: first the question where your plans stand, then now and then one thing that fits the time of year or your country. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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