# Autonomos/Self-employed



## Van17 (Mar 26, 2011)

Dear friends


My husband and I are leaving Spain in August.

We currently pay a "phenomenal" amount each month for the "privilege" of being self-employed (autónomo),to the seguridad social.

What would happen if we didn't bother to sign off as self-employed and just left the country without signing off as self employed, even though they would probably still "try" and take from the bank account the monthly payments (but we would have not left any money in our bank accounts).

Our Spanish tax lawyers have already advised us not to both to complete our tax returns for last year (that must be done this month). So are there any implications not bothering to do the paperwork to "sign-off" as self-employed?

Thank you in advance for your help/ responses


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Van17 said:


> Dear friends
> 
> 
> My husband and I are leaving Spain in August.
> ...


Why would you want to leave without signing off? What advantages are there?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Why would you want to leave without signing off? What advantages are there?


I can't see any - I would definitely sign off or they would almost certainly be chasing for unpaid ins & tax - & would probably find them too - & what's more charge interest!


I guess the idea is that if they do _baja_ then the tax office will want the tax returns for last year..............

surely the autónomo payments have already gone out though, so hacienda knows they were working anyway :confused2:


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## Van17 (Mar 26, 2011)

The point why I didn't want to sign off was because I would still need to pay €500/month ( €250 for my husband and for me) until the end of July. As we are not working in June and July as I am packing to return, I don't want to pay €500 for 2 months for nothing.
Yes, they will be chasing my tax returns, but our lawyers have told has once we leave the country there is nothing they can do. We are "small fish", they won't waste time chasing us. They are after the "bigger fish". The Hacienda is not linked to any other tax system in Europe. So that's the reason I don't want to sign off; to pay a total of €1000 just to go into a big black hole called Junta de Andalucia!







xabiachica said:


> I can't see any - I would definitely sign off or they would almost certainly be chasing for unpaid ins & tax - & would probably find them too - & what's more charge interest!
> 
> 
> I guess the idea is that if they do _baja_ then the tax office will want the tax returns for last year..............
> ...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Van17 said:


> The point why I didn't want to sign off was because I would still need to pay €500/month ( €250 for my husband and for me) until the end of July. As we are not working in June and July as I am packing to return, I don't want to pay €500 for 2 months for nothing.
> Yes, they will be chasing my tax returns, but our lawyers have told has once we leave the country there is nothing they can do. We are "small fish", they won't waste time chasing us. They are after the "bigger fish". The Hacienda is not linked to any other tax system in Europe. So that's the reason I don't want to sign off; to pay a total of €1000 just to go into a big black hole called Junta de Andalucia!


you may well be right about them not chasing you - but I don't understand why you haven't signed off already - if you knew you were going & didn't work in June..........


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## Van17 (Mar 26, 2011)

Because at the time we didn't know we wouldn't be working the final 2 months here.








Van17 said:


> The point why I didn't want to sign off was because I would still need to pay €500/month ( €250 for my husband and for me) until the end of July. As we are not working in June and July as I am packing to return, I don't want to pay €500 for 2 months for nothing.
> Yes, they will be chasing my tax returns, but our lawyers have told has once we leave the country there is nothing they can do. We are "small fish", they won't waste time chasing us. They are after the "bigger fish". The Hacienda is not linked to any other tax system in Europe. So that's the reason I don't want to sign off; to pay a total of €1000 just to go into a big black hole called Junta de Andalucia!


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## timr (Feb 1, 2010)

The payments to the SS mean that you will be entitled to Spanish State pension when you retire ( the amount of pension being dependent on the number of contributions made). If you don't do a "baja" then expect to be presented with a whopping bill for all the unpaid contributions up to that date if ever decide to claim the pension.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Van17 said:


> The point why I didn't want to sign off was because I would still need to pay €500/month ( €250 for my husband and for me) until the end of July. As we are not working in June and July as I am packing to return, I don't want to pay €500 for 2 months for nothing.
> Yes, they will be chasing my tax returns, but our lawyers have told has once we leave the country there is nothing they can do. We are "small fish", they won't waste time chasing us. They are after the "bigger fish". *The Hacienda is not linked to any other tax system in Europe*. So that's the reason I don't want to sign off; to pay a total of €1000 just to go into a big black hole called Junta de Andalucia!


Who told you that! 
Members of the HMRC are known to work over here. There was a report some time back that they were working to help stop tax evasion, I'll try and dig it out


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

I don't understand anything...
If you sign off you don't pay autónomo.
You don't want to pay autónomo. You say you won't be working - so you'll need to sign off.

What is it that I'm not getting??????????


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I don't understand anything...
> If you sign off you don't pay autónomo.
> You don't want to pay autónomo - so you'll need to sign off.
> 
> What is it that I'm not getting??????????


it's not just me then


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I don't understand anything...
> If you sign off you don't pay autónomo.
> You don't want to pay autónomo. You say you won't be working - so you'll need to sign off.
> 
> What is it that I'm not getting??????????


Please explain this to me...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Please explain this to me...


don't you remember posting it 

I don't understand either - you can sign off easily enough for just the odd month or two - so I don't see what's so hard:confused2:


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