Remote business for foreign clients: Spanish company, autónomo or foreign entity?

Key rules

• 183 days: Spending more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year makes you Spanish tax resident.
• Foreign clients: Foreign clients do not lower your autónomo contributions or remove you from Spanish tax.
• Business clients abroad: A Spanish SL or autónomo invoices business clients in other countries without Spanish VAT.
• Foreign company: A foreign company run from Spain risks Spanish residency and a permanent establishment.

The short answer

If you live in Spain, your business will almost always end up inside the Spanish tax system, whatever the paperwork says. The three options differ in how much you pay, how much admin you carry and how many surprises you risk. The decision block below sets the options side by side. This page explains the exposure behind each.

Your own residence comes first

You are a Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year. Short trips abroad still count as days in Spain unless you hold a certificate of tax residence from another country. You are also resident if your main base of work or economic interests is in Spain. Residence is presumed if your spouse and dependent minor children live with you in Spain. Residents are taxed on worldwide income, so having foreign clients does not take you out of Spanish tax. If two countries both claim you, a tax treaty tie-breaker decides.

Spanish company (SL)

An SL is a separate company. It pays corporate tax on its profit. You are then taxed personally on what you take out as salary or dividends. It gives you a clear legal split between you and the business, but it brings registration, accounting and annual filing duties.

For VAT, an SL invoicing a business client in another country charges no Spanish VAT. The place of supply is where the client is established. Some services, such as work on real estate, are taxed where the property is.

Autónomo (self-employed)

As an autónomo you are the business. Your profit is taxed as your personal income. It is the simplest setup to start, and the costs are mostly your monthly Social Security contributions.

• Contributions depend on your yearly net income, using income brackets. Foreign clients do not lower them.
• New autónomos can use the flat-rate fee for the first 12 months. The 2025 figure was 80 euros per month, and brackets and fees are reset every year.
• You can change your contribution base during the year. The tax agency's data is used to adjust it against your real income at year end.

VAT works as for an SL. Business clients in other countries are invoiced without Spanish VAT. For EU clients, the invoice carries the client's VAT number and a reverse charge note. You must be on the EU operators register, and you report these sales on the EU summary return (Modelo 349). Clients outside the EU are outside Spanish VAT, and the invoice states that reason. Consumer clients follow different rules that this page does not cover.

Foreign company run from Spain

This is the option with the most hidden risk. If you run a foreign company from Spain, Spain can treat it as Spanish tax resident when its place of effective management is here. That means where decisions are made and the business is controlled. Spain also presumes residence if the company's main assets are in Spain.

Your Spanish home office, or contracts you conclude in Spain for the company, can also create a permanent establishment. This is a taxable presence in Spain. Purely preparatory or auxiliary activity does not create one. Treaty definitions vary by country.

If Spain treats the company as resident or as having a permanent establishment, it pays Spanish corporate tax at the general rate (25% in 2025), plus the registration and filing duties. You are taxed personally on your worldwide income as a Spanish resident. A treaty tie-breaker may change the result, but it depends on the facts and the countries involved.

A foreign company therefore rarely avoids Spanish tax if you live and work here. Use it only after advice from a Spanish tax adviser who knows the treaty with the company's country.

How to choose

• Starting small, working alone: an autónomo is usually the simplest.
• Growing, hiring, or wanting a separate legal entity: an SL.
• Foreign company: only with professional advice, and expect Spanish exposure.

The timeline below covers contribution and residence dates. The documents block covers the foreign tax residence certificate.

Choosing between options

Where should you place a business that serves clients abroad while you live in Spain?

• Spanish company (SL): Choose this if you want a company that is clearly Spanish. It is Spanish tax resident and taxed on worldwide income, even if managed from abroad.

• Autónomo (self-employed): Choose this if you work alone and want the simplest setup. You pay monthly Social Security contributions based on your net income, whether clients are Spanish or foreign. You also invoice business clients abroad without Spanish VAT.

• Foreign company: Choose this only if the company is really managed outside Spain. If you run it from Spain, it risks being treated as Spanish tax resident and may create a permanent establishment. It would then pay Spanish corporate tax, 25% in 2025, and you would be taxed in Spain on your worldwide income.

Your own residence decides your personal tax: more than 183 days in Spain, or your main base of activity or interests there, makes you Spanish tax resident on worldwide income. Then pick the SL or autónomo, because a foreign company run from Spain tends to end up taxed in Spain anyway.

Timeline and deadlines

• Pay autónomo contributions, based on your yearly net income: every month

• Use the flat-rate fee for new autónomos, 80 euros per month in 2025: during your first 12 months

• Extend the flat-rate fee if your income is below the minimum wage: for a further 12 months after the first 12

• Change your contribution base if your income changes: up to six times a year

• Expect contributions to be adjusted against your actual income, using tax agency data: after the end of the year

• Watch the days you spend in Spain: more than 183 days makes you tax resident: in each calendar year

• Check whether a work site or office of your foreign company becomes a permanent establishment: usually after 6 to 12 months for a building site

Documents you need

• Certificate of tax residence in another country, issued by that country's tax authority, to show that time spent in Spain is a temporary absence from your home country and not presence in Spain.

Frequently asked questions

Do I charge Spanish VAT to a business client in another country?

No, a Spanish SL or autónomo invoices business clients abroad without Spanish VAT, because the service is taxed where the client is based. For an EU client, put their VAT number and a reverse charge note on the invoice, and be registered in the register of EU traders (ROI). For a client outside the EU, state on the invoice that the service is not subject to Spanish VAT. This does not apply to consumers or to services on property.

Do I pay less autónomo contributions if all my clients are foreign?

No, the contribution rules are the same whether your clients are Spanish or foreign. You pay monthly, based on your yearly net income, and you can change your base up to six times a year. In 2025 the rate was 31.4% plus a 0.9% levy that rises yearly.

Can working from Spain create a permanent establishment for my foreign company?

Yes, if your home office works as a fixed place of business or you habitually sign contracts in Spain in the company's name.

Do I stay a non-resident if I spend fewer than 183 days in Spain?

Not necessarily, because Spain also treats you as resident if the main base of your economic activities or interests is there.