I am about to do a 5 month contract in Spain and will be paid by an agency located in Belgium.

I want to set myself up as autonomo in Spain but have no idea of what I need to do.

Therefore I was hoping someone could advise me of how I get the NIE number and how I go round registering as an autonomo?

Many thanks

I have noticed that I need an NIE number first and this takes 2 weeks minimum.

So can I start my contract before the NIE number comes through and obviously, not set up as an autonomo?

Hope you are getting a good wage for the contract, it`s going to cost 250€s a month just for your ss cover.

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Yes, I have already researched that side of things. Bl**dy taxes

However, I have just been talking to someone about going through an umbrella company and this looks like a better option. Provided I am not in Spain for over 6 months anyway.

But thank you very much for the response.

that +/- 250€ isn't tax...............tax comes on top of that

there was a thread about the legality of ripoff umberella companies.

Even under an umbrella company (and my advice would be not to use one), you will still need to pay about 270 euros/month for social security (health etc.) - this is obligatory.

Well it turns out the umbrella company was very shady indeed...

So I am now back to my original idea of going autonomo. A friend of mine seems to think that it will be fine waiting for my NIE number whilst I am working and then taking a day off work to sort out setting myself up as an autonomo. Do you knowledgeable people think so too?

After seeing what needs to go into setting this all up in Spain, I'm not sure I would agree to do this again

it would seem you have been bounced around a fair bit and that if you have a limited time scale before commencing work you need to get it sorted out.

have you not considered started your own ltd co in the uk ?
this is very low cost, especially compared with Spain where you would need to have a bank account with about €3,600 to get started.

your uk ltd then employs you to do the work in spain for the company in Belgium. You will be then paying uk tax as per the Dual Tax Agreement.
you can mitigate that by taking minimum wage and paying yourself high dividends from the ltd where the tax is already paid but at only 20%
your costs for being in spain will become allowable as expenses and the co will get the vat back.

suggest you do a google for "IR35" and have a look at the things that are allowable on this.

if you need details of a company registration co that will set up an ltd for you online in 48hrs send me a private message
rgds

Even if the OP was considering a Spanish SL (which he is not) he would still have to register as Autonomo, so what would be the point of that?

why?
6m temporary contract thru a Belgian company who are being paid by the spanish company.
as a member of an eu state he has a right to work where he wants

when an employee of a uk co is sent to work in spain for a contract period there is no requirement for the employee to register under autonomo as tax is paid in the uk under the DTA, medical is covered by a uk S form.

the system of autonoma employed by Spain and Italy is a restriction on the individual which at such high sums before you have even got a customer restricts the start of new legal businesses and sends people into black areas.

the uk had that problem with working "on the lump" which was common in the construction industry. payment of tax and ni was a pass the parcel where the taxpayer lost.

so.....are you suggesting that when IBM sends a guy from London or the US to Madrid for a 6m assignment they will all have to register on autonomo ??

Thanks for the suggestions. They are great

I have thought of setting up my own UK company but not sure how messy it gets with being paid in euros and paying tax and NI in pounds. I also strongly suspect I will fall outside of IR35

The other alternative is to pay for a UK umbrella company who will know how to get round the different currencies etc. I have contacted two (after lots of reassurance that these are legimate this time!) to see if they can help me.

I have now found another alternative too. A company called niein1day.com claims they can get me the NIE in approx 1.5 days. If this is so, perhaps I could get over to Spain 5 working days in advance of the commencement of my contract to sort out the NIE, a Spanish bank account and setting myself up as an autonomo.

With this latter option, this means I am going to be in Spain muy, muy pronto!

I am going to be so skint once this contract finishes with all these extra expenses but at least it's a chance of the sun and for me to use my Spanish

Obviously the company are ducking out of this cos it costs them money and have told him to sort out the expensive bit for himself.

as I always say - its down to the individual at the end of the day

and you want to be OUTSIDE IR35, inside it and you could have problems, outside you own your life
thats why there are so many "umbrella" co's set up to help people to circumvent the overzealous requirements of IR35.

setting up your own ltd is low cost in the uk compared with many other eu countries. and you can run it how you want, to buy and sell products, buy and sell your expertise.

as I hope I said, its a suggestion, it can work but only if you feel it is right for you

kr