Self-employed: registration, quarterly filings and dealing with the tax office
For a self-employed professional, an adviser shows their worth at three moments: when you register and have to choose a tax regime, every quarter when the filings fall due, and the day a notice arrives from the Spanish tax agency with a short deadline attached.
At registration, the decision that most affects what you pay later is the tax regime. We have written up what each one involves in simplified direct assessment and in the modules system, but the choice depends on the specific activity and the figures, so we review it case by case before registering you, not afterwards.
The day-to-day is ours: income tax payments on account, VAT, withholdings on employees, professionals and rent, the annual summaries and the information returns. We receive and handle notices from the tax agency, which arrive electronically and do not wait, and if a review or an inspection is opened we take over as your representative.
We have written up the questions we get asked most: whether to trade as self-employed or through a company, being self-employed and an employee at the same time, VAT refunds and unemployment benefit for the self-employed.
Companies: from incorporation to the annual accounts
We work with a company from before it exists. The legal form, the share capital and the initial split shape the tax treatment of the years that follow, and they are decisions that cost far more to undo than to get right. On that first stage we have written what types of company exist in Spain and the steps to set up an SL.
Once it is up and running, we handle the bookkeeping, the year-end close, the annual accounts and their filing, and the company’s taxes. We work with limited companies, tax groups and entities without separate legal personality.
What sets the work apart is not filing on time, which is taken as given: it is telling you beforehand. If a transaction during the year is going to have significant tax consequences, the usual thing is to find out at the year-end close, when nothing can be done about it. We raise it while it is still a decision.
Bookkeeping and management information
Accounts serve two different purposes and it is worth not confusing them: meeting the legal obligation, and knowing how the business is doing. The first one we take care of; the second depends on the information reaching us in time and in a format that can be read.
We keep the record of transactions, the official filing of the accounting books and the year-end close, and we deliver the information as often as the business needs it. If you want a quick read on financial health, start with working capital.
Employment: payroll, contracts and staff matters
We prepare the payroll and the social security filings, process registrations, terminations and contracts, apply the collective agreement that corresponds to each activity, and handle the day-to-day: changes in working hours, sick leave, final settlements and dismissals.
This is the area where a mistake is paid for quickly and with a surcharge, and also where the size of the business shows most: a team of three is not the same as fifty with several collective agreements in play. On this we have written how a payslip is calculated, why payroll management matters and when outsourcing it makes sense.
For businesses hiring outside Spain or bringing in people from abroad, we also handle posted workers, the preliminary employment contract for foreign nationals and the types of residence permit.
Private clients and non-residents
We prepare and file the annual income tax return, first reviewing which allowances and deductions apply, both national and regional. It is work that turns out better with time in hand: which expenses can be deducted and the most common tax mistakes cover what comes up most often.
A significant share of our clients do not live in Spain but have tax obligations here, usually because they own a home on the coast. We file their returns and explain what applies to them and when: on the most common form we wrote when Form 210 has to be filed, and on assets held abroad, Form 720.
For those relocating to Spain for work, we also handle the Beckham Law regime and the exemptions under article 7P of the income tax act.
We work in Spanish and in English, and the process is designed to be handled remotely, because a good part of these clients do not live here.
One firm, not four suppliers
When a client ends up using all four areas with us it is not usually for convenience: it is that matters do not arrive neatly separated. Selling a property has a tax side and a legal side. An inheritance touches assets and family. Taking on your first employee is an employment matter, but it changes the bookkeeping and the tax position. When each area sits in a different firm, the client ends up acting as go-between for their own advisers.
Here the tax, accounting, employment and legal teams are in the same office and talk to each other without you having to explain the case twice.
Where we are
We work from five offices: Marbella, Estepona, Sabinillas (San Luis de Sabinillas, Manilva), which is our head office, Sotogrande and Sevilla. All of them provide every service: there is no need to change office depending on the matter.
How we start
The first conversation is to understand your situation, not to sell you a package. It produces an assessment of what needs resolving, in what order and at what fee, in writing and with no obligation. If you already have an adviser and are weighing up a change, we first review how you are being taxed and whether anything is outstanding, so that you decide knowing where you stand.
