Becoming an autónomo in Spain: since 2023 your contribution hangs on your real income

Whoever starts working for themselves in Spain becomes an autónomo and pays contributions to the RETA — the scheme for the self-employed. Until 2023 that was an amount you chose yourself and that for most people stayed the same for years, regardless of whether things went well or badly. That's over.

The system since 2023: contribution by actual income

Since 1 January 2023 your contribution hangs on your net profit across all your economic activities combined. At the start of the year you estimate what you think you'll earn, that amount falls into a band, and that band comes with a base on which you pay contributions.

There are two tables — a general one and a reduced one — and the bands, minimum and maximum bases are set anew every year. For 2026 they're in Orden PJC/297/2026. One figure is worth noting: the maximum base from 1 January 2026 is € 5,101.20 per month, no matter how much you earn.

The current amounts are deliberately not written out here. They change every year, and an outdated figure in a budget is worse than no figure. Work it out with the Seguridad Social's simulator at the moment you need it.

The regularisation: the point that surprises

This is what the Dutch freelancer's mind doesn't expect. What you pay during the year is provisional. Afterwards, the Seguridad Social puts your contributions next to the profit you declared to the tax office, and settles up.

• If you estimated too low, you pay extra.
• If you estimated too high, you get money back.

So it's not a penalty for a miss, but it does mean your first year only becomes final afterwards. Set that difference aside instead of spending it — especially in a year that went better than expected.

You can adjust your estimate several times during the year. Do so: it's the way to keep the settlement small.

What your net profit is

In short: your turnover minus your deductible costs, followed by a flat deduction for general expenses. The Agencia Tributaria, the equivalent of the Belastingdienst, has a separate page on how that calculation runs, and the two bodies look at the same figure — your IRPF data is what the Seguridad Social uses in the regularisation.

That's immediately a practical point: your tax return and your contribution are no longer separate worlds. Whoever keeps sloppy records of their costs notices it twice.

And the income tax

Your profit as an autónomo is income that is taxed in Spain, in the ordinary progressive brackets of the IRPF. That's a different system from the contribution above, with its own return and its own rhythm — in practice quarterly returns plus an annual return.

Two things to know in advance. You pay contributions and tax, and those two are separate from each other. And the contribution keeps running in months without turnover: it's a fixed charge, not a percentage of what comes in.

What this means for your decision

For whoever comes from the Netherlands, the comparison isn't "what do I earn there" but "what do I keep there". Work out three things before you start here: the contribution at the profit you realistically expect, the income tax on top of that, and the difference the regularisation can produce in a good year.

This article explains the system; it isn't tax or accounting advice. Most autónomos in Spain work with a gestor — an administration office that files the returns. For a few tens of euros a month that is almost always the cheapest form of certainty.