Autónomo taxes come down to three bills: social security, income tax (IRPF), and VAT (IVA). On a typical €40,000 net year, you can expect to pay roughly €3,600 in social security plus €7,000 to €8,000 in IRPF, and to collect and pass through about €8,400 in VAT. The numbers move with your income, your region, and your filing discipline.
This guide covers what each bill costs, when to file, what you can deduct, and the hidden costs that catch first-year autónomos out. Numbers verified for 2026 against Seguridad Social and AEAT sources.
VAT is money you hold for the state, not income. Track it as a separate balance.
Read the autónomo overview pillar for the full picture of what being autónomo actually involves.
Seguridad Social funds your healthcare and your pension. The 2023 reform put autónomos on a real-income system, and Real Decreto-ley 16/2025 froze the 2026 brackets at 2025 levels. The MEI (mecanismo de equidad intergeneracional) rose from 0.8% to 0.9% this year, which adds €6 to €24 a month on top of the base cuota.
Tarifa plana (year one).
Year two extension.
By-tramo cuota (from month 13, by net profit per month):
Add 0.9% MEI on top of every band. You can switch tramos in January, May, July, and September.
The cuota is fully deductible from your IRPF taxable base. See the autónomo costs breakdown for a tramo-by-tramo simulator.
Every quarter you send 20% of your net profit to Hacienda via Modelo 130. That keeps you square against the annual return (Modelo 100), filed between April and June.
State IRPF brackets 2026:
These are state-level rates only. Each autonomous community adds its own scale on top. Madrid runs lower, Cataluña and Comunidad Valenciana run higher. Check your CCAA if you want a precise effective rate.
How the calculation works. Add your gross income, subtract deductible expenses (including the social security cuota), apply the personal minimum (around €5,550 for single filers), run the rest through the brackets, then subtract every prepayment you made during the year (Modelo 130 quarterly, plus any IRPF withheld at source by your clients).
Professional retention. When you invoice a Spanish business as a profesional, they withhold 15% IRPF directly on each invoice and forward it to Hacienda. New autónomos withhold 7% during the year of alta plus the two following calendar years. That withholding counts as a prepayment, so you may owe little or get a refund in June.
Worked example. Mario earns €100,000 net of expenses in 2026. After deducting his cuota (around €5,000) and applying the personal minimum, his combined state plus autonomic IRPF lands near €34,800 in a typical region. He paid €20,000 across four quarterly Modelo 130 deposits and his clients withheld another €15,000. He gets a small refund in June. Different region, different result.
VAT is an extra line on your invoice. You collect it from the client, subtract the VAT you paid on business expenses (input VAT), and remit the difference each quarter via Modelo 303.
Rates:
Worked example. You invoice a client €10,000 plus 21% VAT, so €2,100 collected. That quarter you spent €300 plus 21% VAT on software, so €63 input VAT. At quarter end you remit €2,100 minus €63, which is €2,037 to Hacienda.
If you only invoice non-Spanish clients, your output VAT is often zero, but you still file Modelo 303 and Modelo 390 every quarter and year-end.
Net profit equals income minus deductible expenses. The more legitimate expenses you log, the lower your IRPF.
See the deductible expenses guide for documentation rules per category.
The three taxes are the headline. The full bill is bigger.
Quarterly (Modelo 130 for IRPF, Modelo 303 for VAT):
Annual:
Domiciliated direct-debit payments must be set up five working days before the deadline. Late filing triggers the surcharge scale above.
How much tax does an autónomo really pay on €40,000 a year? Net profit of €40,000 in year two: roughly €3,600 in social security cuota (around €300 a month average), and €7,000 to €8,000 in IRPF after the personal minimum and cuota deduction. VAT pass-through depends on whether your clients are Spanish or foreign. Total cash going to the state on profit: around €11,000 to €12,000.
Is the €80 first-year autónomo rate still available in 2026? Yes. The €80 base reduced cuota (around €88 with MEI 0.9%) is still in force for 2026 under the existing legal framework. Year-two extension requires net rendimientos under the SMI of €1,184 a month.
Do I have to charge IVA if my clients are abroad? Generally no on B2B intra-EU sales (reverse charge applies, you state the client's VAT number on the invoice). Exports outside the EU are zero-rated. You still file Modelo 303 and Modelo 390 to declare the activity.
What happens if I file Modelo 130 late by a few days? Without a prior AEAT requirement, the surcharge is 1% on the amount owed for the first month of delay, capped at 12% across the first 12 months, then 15% flat plus interest after that. Pay the surcharge promptly after notice and 25% gets knocked off.
Can I deduct my home internet, phone, and electricity? Yes, in proportion to the square metres of home used for work, declared on Modelo 036. The standard split is 30% of the home-office percentage of utility bills. Keep all bills in your business name where possible.
renn handles all three bills end to end. Real accountants on the file, the platform automating everything around them. Your Modelo 130 and 303 drafts are generated each quarter, your VAT balance tracks in real time, your deductions get flagged before you miss them, and the annual Modelo 100 is reconciled against the year's prepayments.
Pricing starts at €25 a month. If you are setting up for the first time, renn handles autónomo registration online and the platform takes over from day one.
