Autónomo or SL: Which One You Need in Barcelona

Two ways to invoice legally in Spain, and they are not interchangeable. Registering as autónomo makes you personally the business. An SL creates a separate company that owns its own debts. Most people arrive having already been told “everyone starts as autónomo” or “you need a company to look serious”, and both are advice without a question attached. This page is the question.

Our fees. Notary, registry and official fees are charged at cost. Taxes and Social Security contributions are separate.

The three questions that actually decide it

What do you expect to bill?

At low or irregular income, autónomo wins on cost, and it is not close. The monthly Social Security contribution is your main fixed expense, there is a reduced starting rate for new registrations, and there is nothing else to pay for simply existing. An SL adds formal accounting, corporate tax filings and annual accounts that have to be prepared and filed whether or not you invoiced anything that quarter.

The setup fee is the least important number in this comparison. What matters is the annual running cost, and that is where the two diverge.

Who are you selling to?

If your clients are individuals, small businesses or companies abroad, being autónomo is rarely an obstacle. If you are bidding for work with larger Spanish companies or public bodies, some will only contract with a company, and some procurement processes are built around that assumption. If that is your market, the SL can pay for itself in contracts you would not otherwise be able to sign.

What are you risking?

This is the one people skip until it matters. As autónomo you answer for business debts with everything you own. In an SL, the company answers, and your exposure is limited to your stake.

If you are a consultant invoicing your time, that difference is mostly theoretical. If your work involves stock, premises, employees, client money, deposits or any realistic chance of a claim against you, it is the entire point of incorporating and it outweighs the cost comparison.

What both routes require, whichever you choose

A NIE. There is no registration, no company deed and no tax number without one. If you do not have it yet, that is the actual first step: see NIE in Barcelona.

The right immigration status, if you are not an EU citizen. A residence permit is not automatically a work permit. Working on your own account, or running a company you own, needs an authorisation that allows it — a non-lucrative visa does not, and a student stay has its own limits. If that is unresolved, it decides your timetable more than anything on this page: start at residency applications, or look at the digital nomad visa if you work remotely for clients abroad.

Starting as one and becoming the other

These are not permanent categories. Starting as autónomo and incorporating later, once the income or the liability justifies it, is a normal and often sensible path — you avoid paying for company infrastructure during the months when you are still finding out whether the business works. We handle the change when it comes.

The reverse happens too, less often: a company that turns out to be overkill for a one-person consultancy can be wound up, though that costs more than never having incorporated.

How we work

1. You tell us what you do and roughly what you expect to bill. The form below takes a minute.
2. We tell you which route fits and what it costs you in a year, not just what it costs to set up.
3. We file it and send you a written calendar of what you have to file afterwards.

If you want to read the comparison at length before deciding, we have written it up in autónomo vs SL for expats in Barcelona. For what comes after either route, see income tax for foreigners in Spain.

Contribution rates, reduced starting rates, tax thresholds and official fees are set each year and change, so we confirm the ones in force for your case before filing.