# Freelance work and taxes



## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question.

I moved to Spain in September of this year, have registered as a resident and done everything properly through the official channels and am paying SS and tax through my 'day job' (ESL teacher). 

I also have a degree in translation and am keen to get started as a freelance translator, since I have a lot of free time during the day (I work afternoons/evenings) and at the weekend. The issue is obviously the tax situation...presumably if I were earning money doing translation, I'd need to register as 'autonomo' and all that? From what I understand, this is messy and incredibly expensive (I'm under 30 if that helps, I've heard about some sort of discount for younger adults). 

Can anyone offer any information on this topic? I really would love to get started freelancing but if it's going to be a massive headache re paperwork and if I'm going to end up paying ridiculous amounts of tax, I'll just wait until I get back to the UK next year where setting yourself up as a freelancer is relatively simple. I'm probably only going to be here until June. Any advice?


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Technically you would indeed have to register as autonomo and file quarterly return. You will then need to file your renta at the end of the year – in June and indeed may be entitled to a refund or of course be faced with a bill for income tax however usually income taxes paid on a quarterly basis which is why I say that you may be entitled to a refund because you are clearly paying taxes via your current employment as a teacher.

If you are going to be working doing translation services then you are likely to need to raise and invoice to your clients as they are potentially going to be businesses who will require one. The invoice must contain your fiscal identification number and of course this will then be reflected through your clients records which will indeed get back to the taxman so therefore there is really no way around this you are going to need to register as self-employed. If you are under 30 then you are likely to pay approximately 160 or €170 every month for your social security contributions but obviously you are already making contributions through your day job which is what leads me to believe that you may be entitled to a later refund.

It would be worth seeking professional advice from an accountant because there are schemes in place if you are an occasional worker whereby you can issue an invoice and then just do one annual return with out the need to pay self-employed Social Security but I am not too familiar with the protocol and how it all works so my advice would be to speak with an accountant. Most accountants will be happy to give you some initial advice even if it is over the phone at no cost because there may be a way around doing this without having to pay the €170 every month but as I said a lot depends on how regular the work is and many other factors which is why I highly recommend that you get professional advice.

I agree that in the United Kingdom it is a lot easier to register as a freelancer or self-employed person but here in Spain we have to follow the rules but I think that there may be possible options for you other than registering a self-employed especially if your work is likely to be ad hoc and not regular.

Speak to a professional accountant and make sure that you speak to several. There are definitely certain schemes in place under certain circumstances where you do not need to register a self-employed but obviously you would need to discuss your individual situation with somebody who knows this specialist area of fiscal law a lot better than I do.

Good luck!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

steve_in_spain said:


> Technically you would indeed have to register as autonomo and file quarterly return. You will then need to file your renta at the end of the year – in June and indeed may be entitled to a refund or of course be faced with a bill for income tax however usually income taxes paid on a quarterly basis which is why I say that you may be entitled to a refund because you are clearly paying taxes via your current employment as a teacher.
> 
> If you are going to be working doing translation services then you are likely to need to raise and invoice to your clients as they are potentially going to be businesses who will require one. The invoice must contain your fiscal identification number and of course this will then be reflected through your clients records which will indeed get back to the taxman so therefore there is really no way around this you are going to need to register as self-employed. If you are under 30 then you are likely to pay approximately 160 or €170 every month for your social security contributions but obviously you are already making contributions through your day job which is what leads me to believe that you may be entitled to a later refund.
> 
> ...


& even if there's some allowance for not paying autónomo since you're already paying NI through the day job (& I don't think there is ), almost all translation work attracts 21% IVA, so you'd have to register for that !! The only exceptions are scientific, literary & artistic translations.


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## samuelblackz (Mar 6, 2013)

Yes freelancing is a good option. One of the main challenges for freelance translators is to find suitable clients, and once they have found them, one of their main concerns is how to retain them. As a freelancer you may well find that working for translation agencies rather than for private clients offers both peace of mind and a more reliable flow of orders.


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## itravelexpat (Mar 29, 2013)

Thanks for this thread. Really useful!


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