The Economic realities of working “autonomo” in Spain
In these recessionary days, Spain is a difficult place to work as an “autonomo” worker. Contract jobs are hard to find. The thing to remember is that whether you earn anything or not you have to pay €265 to €300 a month to Social Seguridad, just for the privelige of getting out of bed in a morning. If you fall behind because of loss of earnings the consequences can be drastic.
The authorities know virtually everything about you including that you have a car. They can, without taking you to court, issue a notice ordering you to give up such assets as payment for the outstanding payments. If you do not receive this due to the incorrect address being used, you will get a knock on the door from the Guardia Civil, who depending on the officers turning up at your front door, can be quite aggressive.
If you are in this situation, you should complete a modelo 37 and suspend your social security and autonomo. This stops the addition of further bills to what you owe already.
If they take your car it is likely it will be worth far more than the debt, but you won’t get any change when they sell it.
Don’t say you have not been warned
What to do if you are giving up your “autonomo” to return to the UK
Should you want to go back to the UK to find work, as many people are doing, then you need to consider how to stop your “autonomo” classification, if you are working on a self-employed basis. The process is quite simple:
1. Modelo 037 needs to be completed , it is downloadable from the Agencia Tributaria website. Whilst you can try and complete the form on-line, there is a fault, which prevents you from doing so. Section C : Baja (which means to exit the system) needs to be checked and a reason typed in the box. This can be “closed my business” prefearbly in Spanish, or “gone to UK to work and live”
2. Take the modelo to your own tax office and go to the “Censos” desk with you NIE and/or residencia, and passport. They will stamp the wto copies and give you one back.
3. Go to your own Social Security Administration office (In Orihuela they are iin the same street, but I am not sure about other areas) Go to the reception (registro desk) and they will probably give you a ticket. Watch the board to see which desk to go to. At the desk ask to “baja en autonomo”. They will enter the details and get you to sign some forms, and then you will get a copy which confirms the date from which you stopped being “autonomo”. They will not expect any further payments from you, until/if you decide to set up again.
Let your accountant have a copy, as he/she will no longer have to do your quarterly returns. If you have been in Spain over 6 months from January of the current year, you will still have to submit an annual tax return in the following year, and may benefit from a tax refund, if you have overpaid.
