BillGates solution could work. The important thing is that as you are working from Spain and resident in Spain then you must pay social security in Spain and declare your taxes in Spain

Be aware that the TRADE contract is a relatively new thing and solves the master/slave problem of being autonomo and only having one client

Obviously I can only advise you based on what lawyers have told me. So your next step has to be to talk to a lawyer yourself

By the way me me, I wanted to tell the OP to check out the lawyers I used, not mitzyboy, my mistake

cricketman, thanks! Being autonomo will ensure that my taxes and social security both paid in Spain, so seems should be fine.
Except paperwork or paying to gestor

What's about VAT-IVA in this case? Basically, I should include it in my "invoices" to the employer, shiuldn't I? But that will make my salary ~1/5 bigger, which is not a pleasant thing for an employer.

You must include IVA, but it will be 0% as you are invoicing another EU country (at least that is the case with consulting or project management work)

If you invoice a company within Spain then you need to charge IVA at 21%, and you must also deduct a withholding tax that your client pays to hacienda on your behalf. A gestor will be able to confirm the procedures

Best of luck!

This is interesting as when I buy something from another EU country, they still add VAT. Why shouldn't my "customer" (employer) pay IVA when buying services from me?

Because it is a service and not a product

The rules vary depending on the sector, but for consulting, translation, management work i.e. anything where you are providing your expertise and not a physical service than IVA is usually 0% between EU countries

If your VAT registered they shouldn't. Also services you should be able to claim back in your own country

Can someone clarify if in Spain there is a threshold like the UK or is it autmatic than when your Self Employed you are Vat Registered and you will have a Spanish VAT Number

Reading further I think Cricketman has confirmed it, so no threshold.

Example is you buy a item from me in UK and I send it to you in Spain, you buy it at the total cost less the VAT

If you bought a item in a shop in the UK and they would not do this, you can then claim it back in your own country with a copy of the invoice / receipt.

The same if your Spanish van broke down in the UK and Vat registered garage fixed it, you would claim the VAT back from Spain.

If the role was reversed that is how it happens in the UK, so I would assume that the same would happen in Spain, but I don't know if that is the case at the moment, but I can't see why not.

hi - so far as I'm aware, there is no lower threshold so you are liable to IVA on all sales.
However, not all products or services incur the same rate (for example teaching has a zero rate), so this page may be of interest.
http://www.advoco.es/hot-topics/63-i...-in-spain.html

Perfect. Of course, i will contact Spanish lawyers to finally clarify but at the moment I can see two more or less reasonable options now:

1. My taxes and SS paid still in UK. This seems not perfectly legal, but according to what I read, different gestors, lawyers and even tax departments have different opinion on what "internet based work" is.

I declare then received income and paid UK tax in my Spanish tax return (as "worlwide income") and pay outstanding tax, if any.

Good point here is that it should be quite simple, without need to hire gestor. Just once a year tax return and that's шею

Disadvantage is that my SS benefits will only work in UK (and I do not plan to visit home too often). Accumulated pension should still be ok as later I will be able to use it anywhere in the world.

If I get that Spanish workplace, I will have my Spanish medical care through that. If not, I will have to think of another way of working with UK employer or buy additional private insurance.




2. Second option is autonomo. I pay 260 EUR every month for SS. Now, I see also two options:

a. Issue my employer regular "invoices" stating complete gross salary (net + taxes + ss) with 0% IVA and pay all needed taxes every year when filling tax returns.

b. Issue nothing through the year and only stating the whole income in "other income" part, as billgates advised. Not clear though how employer pays me then. On what legal basis?


In this case I am covered regardless of whether I get Spanish job or not. Disardvantage is that this can be quite complex for the newbie, so 50-60 EUR extra for gestor.
Also, need to doublecheck if this is still workable from Hacienda point of view and from UK law point of view (do not want any troubles for my employer)


Of course, ridiculous "solution" to ask my employer to "marry" himself with the Spanish bureocracy only because he was so kind to let me work abroad... ehm, no way

So, am I right in the above?

Well not really, from the advice I have been told, your only option is 2a. The billgates thing sounds a bit dodgy but you may get away with it for a while. The first option still sounds completely illegal to me, in such away that you could end up with a huge fine or prison sentence. There may have been some kind of exception for Mitzyboy due to being a UK company Director and maybe he didnt actually work full time in the role in Spain, I don't know

To underline, you need to talk to a specialist employment lawyer, like the ones I spoke to.

A gestor is not a lawyer, they are just an administrator. A gestor can just help you fill in paperwork, but you need to tell them what you want to do based on sound legal advice!

cricketman, does this mean that "worldwide income" only concerns "non-job" related income? Investments, rents etc?

What if I open UK version of autonomo to work with my UK employer?

Yes wordwide income is all other income you could have

If you are resident in Spain then you need to be registered in the Spanish social security system. Simple, it doesnt matter who you are working for, or where they are based

I would love to be able to be registered as self-employed in the UK as it is a lot cheaper! But I cannot, because I am resident in Spain and working from here, as you would be.

Believe me, I have spent a lot of time and money looking into this! I have been working for 6 years in Spain now. I was originally employed by a UK company registered in Spain, but for the past 4 years I have been autonomo but working only for clients outside of Spain. I have never done a project that actually took place within Spain (other than my actual work) but that does not matter. I still must pay social security and taxes in Spain as I am resident here.

I have two Spanish lawyers in my family and they have told me this, and they specifically refered me to a specialist employment lawyer to make sure that I understood all my options and got everything set up correctly

Interesting also, how do they found out, where actual work is located?

Employer is in UK, all finance stuff is done there. Maybe, I go there twice a year (which I will do to visit colleagues etc), give some very valuable business advice and that's it, get my salary.

I believe, this is not very easy to prove that I was really sitting in my house in Spain, doing something. Especially, as income there is not so big at all.

Maybe I can open an Ltd with only me?
I am not sure about UK legislation on that, but probably, it is possible

By opening your mouth I guess