# Autonomo or Contracted



## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

Hi everyone, after being in Madrid less than 2 weeks and finding that there is plenty of teaching work available, I need to make the decision about tax. Obviously contracted seems more secure but it seems that schools are on a fiddle as regards tax and social security. I attended an interview at an academy yesterday and they wanted to pay about 40% on the books and the rest in cash. I am certainly not a goody two shoes but this situation worries me but the thought of paying 259e ish a month autonomo worries me more. Can someone advise me if the rate you pay for autonono status is the end of the matter or will there be more to pay at the end of the tax year? PS, my daughter promised be beautiful weather but it has been lousy since I arrived :confused2:


----------



## djfwells (Sep 28, 2009)

Trubrit said:


> Hi everyone, after being in Madrid less than 2 weeks and finding that there is plenty of teaching work available, I need to make the decision about tax. Obviously contracted seems more secure but it seems that schools are on a fiddle as regards tax and social security. I attended an interview at an academy yesterday and they wanted to pay about 40% on the books and the rest in cash. I am certainly not a goody two shoes but this situation worries me but the thought of paying 259e ish a month autonomo worries me more. Can someone advise me if the rate you pay for autonono status is the end of the matter or will there be more to pay at the end of the tax year? PS, my daughter promised be beautiful weather but it has been lousy since I arrived :confused2:


No, it is far from the end of matter.

- Most people, and unless you have a high standard of Spanish and are good with financial matters, you will need to employ an Asesor or Gestor to do your Taxes. The cost here could be anywhere between 75 - 120 Euros Per Quarter.

- You will then need to file your IVA every quarter, and at the end of the financial year.

- You may decide to pay a percentage of your earnings to the Hacienda, which is off set against your income taxes at the end of the year. If you end up overpaying a rebate will be paid back to you.

- The Good news is that many Facturas can be offset and you can claim the IVA back on things like Mobiles & landlines, Petrol, certain peices of furniture & hardware etc, Mortgage & rent ( I think !) - if you have a fully legal Factura to provide.


----------



## Beachcomber (May 10, 2009)

The other point is that in the capacity as autónomo you are not allowed to work for just one person or entity. You must be seen to be issuing invoices to a number of different clients.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

djfwells said:


> No, it is far from the end of matter.
> 
> - Most people, and unless you have a high standard of Spanish and are good with financial matters, you will need to employ an Asesor or Gestor to do your Taxes. The cost here could be anywhere between 75 - 120 Euros Per Quarter.
> 
> ...


Actually, you don't ....
You don't need to file every quarter, only at the end of the financial year. It's really not very complicated. The people in the tax office and INEM should help you to do the paperwork and it's probably better if they do 'cos then it should be right. Once you've done it one year it should be the same every year.
However, it takes time and patience and being autonomo is very expensive. I pay 270€ a month. Then on top of that I pay 15% IRPF . If I'm not working (August for example) I go off autónomos. Personally I don't claim back any stuff for mobiles, materials etc, but most people do.
However, thinking of pensions you should think about paying into the system and also look at the recent thread about earning black money.
This has been discussed in more detail and I even wrote out the whole process of going autónomo or self employed on another thread so I suggest you search for it.

PS If you have seen that there is work out there then I'd go to other places and see what the conditions are like. If an academy tells you up front that it's going to pay a certain % under the table what does that tell you about the academy? I'd have doubts about how they treat their teachers and students tbh


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

djfwells said:


> No, it is far from the end of matter.
> 
> - Most people, and unless you have a high standard of Spanish and are good with financial matters, you will need to employ an Asesor or Gestor to do your Taxes. The cost here could be anywhere between 75 - 120 Euros Per Quarter.
> 
> ...


There is *no* IVA on teaching or teaching languages I'm not sure which. 
There *is* IVA to pay on translations


----------



## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> There is *no* IVA on teaching or teaching languages I'm not sure which.
> There *is* IVA to pay on translations


Thanks everyone, I think that I will just find a decent academy, which may prove difficult as I have spoken to numerous expat teachers and they claim that this "under the counter" payment is normal as it benefits both sides, so I will keep searching.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Trubrit said:


> Thanks everyone, I think that I will just find a decent academy, which may prove difficult as I have spoken to numerous expat teachers and they claim that this "under the counter" payment is normal as it benefits both sides, so I will keep searching.


Could you please tell us how it worked out when you find smth?

PS Do you have a TEFL qualification?


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

*Autónomos, self employed*

This is what has said about being self employed/ autónomo recently all together on one thread. Hopefully, if someone searches autónomo or self employed this thread will come up...
Any others to add?
Happy reading!

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...iving-spain/46137-when-autonomo-when-not.html

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ving-spain/28328-becoming-autonomo-spain.html

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...-living-spain/44166-being-autonomo-spain.html

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/69160-invoices-employers.html

And this is what I wrote on the "teaching English in Spain thread about becomimg a self employed English Teacher. It seems the process is easier than for other professions because we don't pay VAT (IVA) 



> Here's what I did the other day to sign up as a _*self employed English teacher*_ (an autónoma)._*Any other profession is likely to follow a different process*_
> 
> Go to the local tax offices (hacienda)
> Ask for the forms to sign up as self employed (_*para darse de alta como autónomo/a*_). The form is "declaración censal simplificada de alta... modelo 037" But you shouldn't have to know that, they just give you the papers.
> ...


----------



## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

*Tefl*



Pesky Wesky said:


> Could you please tell us how it worked out when you find smth?
> 
> PS Do you have a TEFL qualification?


Yes, I have a TEFL qualification and have been a teacher for more than 30 years in schools, colleges, universities, I have done my fair share of all of them. I came to Madrid to retire but after just a few weeks I realise that I will continue to teach until that big fiery furnace consumes me.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Trubrit said:


> Yes, I have a TEFL qualification and have been a teacher for more than 30 years in schools, colleges, universities, I have done my fair share of all of them. I came to Madrid to retire but after just a few weeks I realise that I will continue to teach until that big fiery furnace consumes me.


Then with that experience and qualification I would go round to the top notch schools with your CV in hand, introduce yourself and ask for an interview. As I'm sure you know, now is not the best time as schools should have their timetabling and teachers available issues settled, but stuff always comes up. In the past company classes were always appearing out of the blue because of course they don't adhere to an academic time table, but in the present climate...
Here are the names of some schools that are good that may be worth trying
Atlantic Group (Bilbao area)
International House (several Centres, main one in Zurbano)
Go English (business only I believe)
Hyland
ACE (Calle Orense)
British Language Centre (Plaza Castilla)

Look at the teaching English thread here for more info and madridteacher.com too


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> This is what has said about being self employed/ autónomo recently all together on one thread. Hopefully, if someone searches autónomo or self employed this thread will come up...
> Any others to add?
> Happy reading!
> 
> ...


And here's the video to go with Becoming Autónomo in Spain. Well worth watching for a laugh. I certainly identified with "La Rubia".
Hope you enjoy it!!


----------



## Caz.I (Mar 21, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> And here's the video to go with Becoming Autónomo in Spain. Well worth watching for a laugh. I certainly identified with "La Rubia".
> Hope you enjoy it!!
> YouTube - 036, de Juan Fernando Andrés Parrilla y Esteban Roel García Vázquez


That's hilarious! :rofl:

Actually, it reminds me of the time when I opened my second bank account here - I was fully prepared with every bit of paperwork I had - NIE, empadronamiento, passport and dont know what else - originals _and_ copies and slapped them down just like the woman in the video. The guy didn't keel over though but his jaw definitely dropped.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Caz.I said:


> That's hilarious! :rofl:
> 
> Actually, it reminds me of the time when I opened my second bank account here - I was fully prepared with every bit of paperwork I had - NIE, empadronamiento, passport and dont know what else - originals _and_ copies and slapped them down just like the woman in the video. The guy didn't keel over though but his jaw definitely dropped.


When we tried to open our bank account here, the manager (won't mention any names but red coloured/abbey national et al should give you a clue) made such a cock-up that the Bank of Spain blocked our account opening for three months. Needless to say we didn't go with _that_ bank in the end.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Caz.I said:


> That's hilarious! :rofl:
> 
> Actually, it reminds me of the time when I opened my second bank account here - I was fully prepared with every bit of paperwork I had - NIE, empadronamiento, passport and dont know what else - originals _and_ copies and slapped them down just like the woman in the video. The guy didn't keel over though but his jaw definitely dropped.


Like this you mean :jaw:!!

He was probably just going for breakfast and was flabbergasted that this guiri had managed to get it together and was demanding his attention!

It reminds me of trying to get the paperwork done in time to get married. It was like a Monty Python sketch at one point with me throwing papers at the woman behind the ventanilla saying I've got this, and THIS and THIS!! and her saying "pero falta ESTO" (but you haven't got this!!!) She got what she wanted - tears!!

This was in Bilbao registery office, where we went every Saturday for god knows how long, from Madrid, to turn papers in. We used to meet a man from Logroño who was a widow and was trying to get remarried. Would they let him? Would they heck! One day I was crying (out of sheer frusration more than anything) he was at the next window saying "This is the 6th time I've come, from Logroño, to try to get the papers straight!!" The couple behind us went white. They could see all their wedding plans going down the drain. 
We nearly went into group hug formation!!
That was in '91 and we're still married, so perhaps it was worth it!


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Like this you mean :jaw:!!
> 
> He was probably just going for breakfast and was flabbergasted that this guiri had managed to get it together and was demanding his attention!
> 
> ...


This dates back to the times when you couldn't get divorced in Spain so the person behind the grill was just making sure that people were really certain, because once you were in a marriage you couldn't get out!


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> This dates back to the times when you couldn't get divorced in Spain so the person behind the grill was just making sure that people were really certain, because once you were in a marriage you couldn't get out!


I got married in 1991, not 1891!! 
Divorce was legal


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I got married in 1991, not 1891!!
> Divorce was legal


I know but the machinery of anything to do with "authority" grinds exceedingly slow and changes can take æons to have their full effect.


----------



## Jauv1 (Mar 1, 2013)

*Auto nomo*



Pesky Wesky said:


> Actually, you don't ....
> You don't need to file every quarter, only at the end of the financial year. It's really not very complicated. The people in the tax office and INEM should help you to do the paperwork and it's probably better if they do 'cos then it should be right. Once you've done it one year it should be the same every year.
> However, it takes time and patience and being autonomo is very expensive. I pay 270€ a month. Then on top of that I pay 15% IRPF . If I'm not working (August for example) I go off autónomos. Personally I don't claim back any stuff for mobiles, materials etc, but most people do.
> However, thinking of pensions you should think about paying into the system and also look at the recent thread about earning black money.
> ...



Can you please tell me which steps I have to follow to register myself as Autonomo. 
I don't know which forms to fill in which order to do what except that it all starts with a NIE number. 

All help would be great...


----------

