If you are self-employed, or autonomo, in Spain, your income tax bill comes from your annual personal IRPF return, not from a separate business tax.
Your business profit is simply one part of your personal taxable income.
1. Your profit is the starting point
- Profit = income minus deductible business expenses.
- You report profit through quarterly filings, then regularise everything in your annual IRPF return.
2. Quarterly payments are advance payments
Most autonomos in estimacion directa pay IRPF in advance via Modelo 130.
- You calculate your net profit for the quarter.
- You pay 20% of that cumulative profit, minus certain deductions or withholdings if applicable.
- You file every quarter even if the result is zero.
These quarterly amounts are not your final tax bill. They are prepayments against your final annual IRPF.
Later, when you do your annual return, Hacienda compares what you already prepaid with what you actually owe.
3. Your final tax bill is calculated after year-end
Once the year ends, your final liability is computed by combining several elements.
- Your autonomo profit.
- Any other income, such as salary, rentals, dividends or interest.
- Personal and family allowances, known as minimos.
- Reductions and deductions you qualify for.
- Your autonomous community's IRPF scale, including the regional component.
If you overpaid during the year, you get a refund.
If you underpaid, you pay the difference.
Your global IRPF rate
Spain applies a progressive IRPF scale with a state part and a regional part.
The state brackets are uniform nationwide, but regions tweak their own portion, so totals vary slightly depending on where you live.
Updated general IRPF brackets
For the Renta corresponding to tax year 2024, filed in 2025, the national baseline brackets are:
- Up to EUR12,450: 19%.
- EUR12,450 to EUR20,200: 24%.
- EUR20,200 to EUR35,200: 30%.
- EUR35,200 to EUR60,000: 37%.
- EUR60,000 to EUR300,000: 45%.
- Over EUR300,000: 47%. The top bracket now applies above EUR300k.
Your effective, or global, rate is always lower than your top marginal bracket because only the slice in each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate.
Your region matters. Madrid, Andalucia, Cataluna, Valencia and other autonomous communities can shift the totals meaningfully.
Quick example
To keep things simple, this example ignores allowances and deductions. In real life, they reduce your taxable base.
Assume annual autonomo profit of EUR20,000.
- First EUR12,450 taxed at 19%.
- Tax on this slice: EUR2,365.50.
- Remaining profit: EUR20,000 minus EUR12,450 = EUR7,550.
- This slice taxed at 24%.
- Tax on this slice: EUR1,812.00.
Total tax would be approximately EUR4,177.50.
The effective, or global, rate would be EUR4,177.50 divided by EUR20,000, which is 20.89%.
Because you prepaid 20% quarterly, you would likely owe a small top-up when filing your annual IRPF.
Want a real number for your situation?
Your real tax bill depends heavily on your personal situation.
- Your autonomous community.
- Family situation, including children, marriage or disability.
- Other income streams.
- Deductions and reductions you qualify for.