No surprise. The system makes it much more attractive to conduct black business than to be a good little lemming and jump off the cliff as directed. And if you jump and die when you hit bottom, then you shall be held liable for your own death

If you don't have business premises which need an opening licence, you certainly won't need two of you to go autonomo, one is quite enough, and then you have a minimum of three months to apply for autonomo, a minimum that some people extend for a while.

Take your time, look around, and ask. I know several web designers, or people who earn their living in the UK while living in Spain - there is no need to panic. Spanish people don't.

I renew and amend my commercial web site every year with an experienced designer who has lived here for donks; I haven't looked closely because it doesn't bother me, but I'm not at all sure that I get an IVA receipt.

I've just remembered, he has an English address on his receipts, so IVA wouldn't apply, would it?

To run a business here in Spain you can do it one of several ways.
Set up an S.L or as an Autonomo.*
What you do it going to depend on how you want to run your business. Things like taxes, assets, client base etc all come into the equation. The only way for you to find what is best for your circumstances is to sit down with a good Gestoría and have a chat. They are the experts in their field. You will need one to help you register the business and they are good at tax returns too. With regards to charging IVA see the point below.

With regards to HBG's question. Your service provider (web designer) should be providing you with receipts with VAT on. However unless you have a Spanish IVA number which is usable internationally you will not be able to claim back and VAT/IVA as he is based outside of Spain.

*Just to add to the confusion my Gestoría keeps saying I am an Autonomo even though I work for my own S.L.

The administrator of any S.L. has to be autonomo

For small scale web design there is no need to be an S.L. There are some tax advantages if and when you earn over 40k euros.

You can only issue invoices if you are autonomo, so that will be the main decision on whether you both need to be. As for invoices to the UK, whether they attract IVA depends on the sector you are working in. Again, you need to check with an accountant (I recommend an accountant over a gestor, many gestors have no qualifications)

I am pretty sure that you don't have 3 months where you need to register to autonomo. You are supposed to do it straight away

A Belgian couple here seem to be doing OK in Spain, a start up business, only been going 6 weeks but already have some big names on board.
http://www.abc.es/20120427/economia/...204261403.html

Is that because you pay less in taxes that way ??

as to HBG's web designer, unless he is turning over a minimum of £77,000 (2012 figure) he isnt required to register for VAT - although he can do so voluntarilly. If registered then the business VAT number must be shown on all invoices (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/...t-invoices.htm)

So different rules for different countries too. The message here is that the OP must go to a Gestoría to seek advice.

Hi Willoween,

I guess there must be some reason, for the Spanish making it so hard for everyone to start and run a small business, even the Spanish.

This page could be of interest to you, http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/ca3837-info.htm and the phrase "providing the work abroad is not expected to last more than 24 months at the outset." could well be the important one.

My OH and I have both started businesses here in Spain

It really isnt difficult. In fact, it is very easy

It may be more difficult than the UK, I really dont know. And of course it is more difficult as a foreigner who doesnt know the system and/or doesnt speak Spanish

Interesting link - I wonder if means you have physically go to the UK??
I thought it was easy too - & if you can't speak Spanish you can probably find a gestor who speaks English

The main focus in most left-leaning countries is not to facilitate business and ecomonic growth, but to kow-tow to the unions and the liberals who tend to believe business is nothing more than a neccessary evil, a virtual "fox guarding the chickens" which must be watched closely at all times, and must be kept continuously stumbling over regulation and taxes to keep them from becoming too successful.

Besides, it's not fair to those unable and unwilling to contribute if the state willingly facilitates the greedy and selfish prosperity of those who are willing and able to contribute by founding successful businesses.

The exceptions are former state-owned monopolies and large-scale corporations employing 1000's and leveraging significant political influence. Small business isn't very interesting since there's minimal tax that can be collected, and small business has little political influence. If you're a big player, you can get a lot of support, tax breaks, and even immunity.

But that trend is changing. People are beginning to realise that liberal policies haven't delivered prosperity and have actually made Spain and most of Europe substantially poorer. The mood across Europe is increasingly demanding a return of prosperity. The political landscape is therefore slowly leaning more towards facililitating prosperity by facilitating business (read: jobs), rather than focusing on welfare and benefits. Hence the needle is starting to move toward a more conservative view, facilitating business and encouraging prosperity, despite the outrage of the liberals and the unions.

We shall see.

How easy is it to start up a business in Europe.

According to World Bank report, the highest ranked European countries are:

UK (#5)
Denmark (#6)
Ireland (#7)
Norway (#10)

Europe’s other large economies are ranked quite a bit lower:

Switzerland (#21)
Germany (#25)
Netherlands (#30)
France (#31)
Spain (#62)
Italy (#78)

Are you suggesting that a couple who are starting out in business, paying €500.00 or more every month, before they earn a pesseta, ooops, a céntimo, is easy.

That's without any other obstacles that are put in front of anyone trying to do it right.

no-one said it wasn't expensive...........

however - if they are working together in the same business I believe there is a way for only one of them to pay the autónomo

Throughout history, sensibly lowering taxes and easing labour policy in a weak economy increases tax collections, sometimes astronomically, because of three simple rules:

• Lowering taxes and easing labour restrictions facilitates business to invest in itself, hire people and thusly, a lot more people paying taxes.
  
• cost of living decreases, so the public enjoys greater prosperity and security, leading to:
  
• more incentive to pay reasonable taxes rather than finding ways to avoid paying them.
  

Unfortunately, the powers that be are still too focused on collecting as much money as possible, and are only now beginning to think out of the box.