Working for a foreign employer

It is for anyone considering, planning or carrying out a move to Spain while keeping a foreign job. After reading, you will know what to get agreed before you start, what can go wrong if you do not, and which engagement structure and contract terms fit your situation.

Start with "Can your foreign employer let you work from Spain?". It explains what your employer must agree and put in place before your first working day in Spain. The other articles build on it.

Visas, tax residency, social security and autonomo registration are not covered here. They have their own topics.

Key rules

• Written approval: A manager's casual yes is not enough: get an email, letter or signed contract addendum from an authorised HR, legal or payroll person that names the terms.
• Tax residency days: You become Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year or if your main economic interests are in Spain.
• Who signs: Approval comes from HR, legal or payroll, not only your line manager.
• Permanent establishment: A home office creates one only if it is at your employer's disposal as a place of business, or you habitually conclude contracts for it.
• Withholding: If your employer does not withhold, you settle the income tax yourself through your annual return.

Working for a foreign employer: the whole process, step by step

• Check your contract and policy for work-location and outside-activity clauses (Contract and policy clauses to check before moving): before you agree to move

• Decide whether to stay employed, use an employer of record or become a contractor (Employer of record, contractor or staying employed: which fits you?): before you start work in Spain

• Check which country's labour law protects you on your contract (Which country's labour law protects you on a foreign contract?): before you sign or accept foreign terms

• Check what your employer must register for payroll, social security and permanent-establishment purposes (What your foreign employer risks when you work from Spain): before you start, and again if your arrangement changes

• For short stays, track your days so you stay under the employer's cap and under 183 days (Working from Spain for a few weeks or months a year): throughout each calendar year

• If you already work from Spain without telling your employer, regularise it and file any late tax return (Working from Spain without telling your employer: what can go wrong): as soon as you notice, because late-filing surcharges grow each full month up to 12 months

• If your employer withdraws permission or ends your contract, check dismissal rights, permit status and tax duties (If your foreign employer stops allowing you to work from Spain): as soon as you get the instruction or notice

Documents you may need

Identity and residence

• NIE (foreigner's identification number), if you are an EU citizen — Working from Spain without telling your employer: what can go wrong
• Residence and work permit — Working from Spain without telling your employer: what can go wrong

Income and work

• Your employment contract — Can your foreign employer let you work from Spain?, Working from Spain for a few weeks or months a year
• Written approval from your employer — Can your foreign employer let you work from Spain?
• Written confirmation that your employer will withhold IRPF — Can your foreign employer let you work from Spain?
• A Spanish tax number — What your foreign employer risks when you work from Spain
• Your employer's registration with the Spanish Social Security — What your foreign employer risks when you work from Spain

The home and the lease

• A signed contract addendum — Can your foreign employer let you work from Spain?

Other documents

• Social Security number — Working from Spain without telling your employer: what can go wrong
• A written remote-work arrangement — Working from Spain without telling your employer: what can go wrong
• Late IRPF returns for the missed years — Working from Spain without telling your employer: what can go wrong
• An A1 certificate

Working for a foreign employer: questions that cross several articles

Does Spanish law require my employer to agree before I work from Spain?

No, no Spanish law requires your employer's consent for you to live in Spain, but your contract and company policy decide where you may work. Working from Spain without approval can breach the contract and expose the employer to tax and social security problems. Read Can your foreign employer let you work from Spain? and How to ask your employer to let you work from Spain.

Does my foreign employer have to register in Spain if it has no company here?

Yes, in most cases your foreign employer has to withhold Spanish income tax and pay Spanish social security, unless an A1 certificate keeps you in another EU system. It can also risk creating a permanent establishment, a taxable presence in Spain. Read What your foreign employer risks when you work from Spain.

Does working from home in Spain create a taxable presence for my employer?

Not automatically, because a home office counts only if it is at the employer's disposal or you habitually conclude contracts for it. See How to ask your employer to let you work from Spain.

Is an employer of record a way around these obligations?

No, an employer of record does not remove the obligations, it takes them on by becoming your legal employer in Spain. It signs a Spanish contract with you, runs payroll and pays social security, and Spanish rules such as 30 days holiday apply to you. Read Employer of record, contractor or staying employed: which fits you?