How to Register as an Autónomo in Spain in 2026: Step-by-Step
The short version: the order of operations
Three things, in this order, and the order matters:
- Get a digital certificate (FNMT) or Cl@ve. The RETA alta has to be done electronically; in practice you'll want the certificate for the AEAT too.
- File Modelo 036 with the AEAT — the tax census. Do this before you start the activity.
- File the alta en RETA with Social Security through Import@ss — also before you start, and no more than 60 calendar days in advance.
Two things in the way most English-language guides describe this are out of date or simply backwards. I'll deal with those first, because if you believe them you will file the wrong form on the wrong date.
Correction 1: Modelo 037 no longer exists
The simplified census declaration, Modelo 037, was suppressed by Orden HAC/1526/2024, published in the BOE on 9 January 2025 (some sites say 16 January — they're wrong) and in force from 3 February 2025. The order deleted articles 14–16 and Anexo II of the previous rule; the preamble says plainly that "esta orden suprime el modelo 037".
Everything now goes on Modelo 036, which absorbed a simplified mode for individuals. If you land on a page in 2026 asking "036 or 037 — which should I use?", close it. The answer is 036.
Correction 2: there is no 60-day grace period after you start
This is the most repeated error in the genre. You will read "you have 30 (or 60) days after starting to register with Social Security." The real rule, in RD 84/1996, art. 32.3.1.º, runs the other way: the alta must be filed before the activity begins, "sin que en ningún caso puedan serlo antes de los 60 días naturales anteriores al previsto para el inicio de aquella". Sixty days is the maximum advance window, not a deadline.
Why it matters, per art. 35.1.1.º: an alta filed on time takes effect from the day the activity starts. An alta filed late takes effect only from the date of the application — while the contributions for the period you worked unregistered remain demandable. You pay for the gap and get no cover for it.
(On the legal plumbing: art. 32.3.1.º sits in the general deadlines section, and art. 46.2 subjects RETA altas to the general deadline rules. The chain holds, but it is an inference across two articles rather than one RETA-specific sentence.)
Step 0 — if you are not an EU citizen, sort out the right to work first
Having a NIE does not mean you are authorised to work self-employed. For non-EU nationals the route is the residencia temporal y trabajo por cuenta propia under Real Decreto 1155/2024, de 19 de noviembre, Título IV, Capítulo IV, arts. 82–87 — the new Reglamento of the Ley de Extranjería, published in the BOE on 20 November 2024 and in force six months later (~20 May 2025). It now expressly allows combining cuenta propia with cuenta ajena work.
The digital nomad route (Ley 28/2022) is a separate authorisation with different conditions. Don't mix them up. And a NIE plus an invoicing app is not a legal basis to work.
Step 1 — digital certificate or Cl@ve
RD 84/1996 art. 46 requires that RETA altas "se efectuarán por medios electrónicos", so you cannot complete step 3 without one of these. Get it first.
Step 2 — Modelo 036 at the AEAT
Legal basis: RD 1065/2007 art. 9; AEAT procedure code G322.
Three channels exist: full telematic filing, a fill-validate-print PDF, and "Censos WEB" — a guided flow built specifically for "emprendedores que inician por primera vez una actividad", which also handles baja and change of domicilio fiscal. If this is your first alta, use Censos WEB.
The boxes expats get wrong
- IAE epígrafe vs CNAE code. Not the same thing, and declared in different places. The IAE epígrafe is the tax census code (Modelo 036, drawn from the IAE tariffs of RDL 1175/1990). The CNAE is the statistical activity code used at the RETA alta and to set your professional-contingencies rate. Import@ss asks for the IAE epígrafe you declared at the AEAT, which is why filing the 036 first avoids a mismatch.
- Sección 1ª vs Sección 2ª of the IAE. Picking a business epígrafe (Sección 1ª) when your work is genuinely a professional activity (Sección 2ª) has real consequences: whether Spanish business clients must apply IRPF retención on your invoices at all, and at what rate (15 %, or 7 % in the reduced starter case). This is the box I see misfiled most often.
If you live in the Basque Country or Navarra, census competence is foral. The state Modelo 036 does not apply — check with your Hacienda Foral.
Step 3 — alta en RETA via Import@ss
Electronically, before starting, within the 60-day advance window.
Choosing a mutua colaboradora is compulsory at alta, and its cover "coincidirán con los de dicha alta". The adhesion renews by calendar year unless you denounce it before 1 October. IT and AT/EP cover are no longer optional.
The date-of-effect rule nobody explains — RD 84/1996 art. 46.2:
- The first three altas in each calendar year take effect from the actual day conditions are met (if filed in time).
- Any further alta that same year takes effect from the 1st day of the natural month in which conditions are met.
Art. 46.4.a mirrors this for bajas: the first three per year effective the actual cessation day, the rest at month-end. Practical consequence: register and deregister more than three times in a calendar year — seasonal work, trial runs, project gaps — and you start paying for whole months you didn't work.
What you will actually pay in 2026
There is no PGE 2026. The bridging norm, RDL 3/2026, de 3 de febrero, art. 3.4, extends the general and reduced tramo tables of RDL 13/2022 DT 1.ª into 2026 (reading "2025" as "2026") and updates the maximum base of tramos 11–12. The contribution order is Orden PJC/297/2026, de 30 de marzo (BOE nº 79, 31 March 2026), art. 18. (The new 2026–2028 table reported in the press — roughly 217 € to 796 € — was shelved; that's why the 2025 figures carried over. The outcome is in RDL 3/2026; the politics behind it is press reporting only.)
Your base is set on annual net earnings from all activities, computed under IRPF rules, minus a flat 7 % for generic expenses (3 % for certain company administrators and societary partners). Miss that deduction and you will misjudge your tramo.
Rates: common contingencies 28,30 % + professional contingencies 1,30 % (0,66 % IT + 0,64 % IP/muerte) + MEI 0,90 % (on the common-contingencies base, borne by the worker) + cese de actividad 0,90 % + formación profesional 0,10 % ≈ 31,5 %. If your IT is covered in another regime — pluriactividad — a reducing coefficient of 0,055 applies, so your figure will be lower than the tables below.
Reduced table (2026, €/month)
| Tramo | Net earnings | Min base | Max base | Min quota ≈ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ≤ 670 | 653,59 | 718,94 | 205,88 |
| 2 | 670–900 | 718,95 | 900,00 | 226,47 |
| 3 | 900–1.166,70 | 849,67 | 1.166,70 | 267,65 |
General table (2026, €/month)
| Tramo | Net earnings | Min base | Max base | Min quota ≈ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.166,70–1.300 | 950,98 | 1.300 | 299,56 |
| 2 | 1.300–1.500 | 960,78 | 1.500 | 302,65 |
| 3 | 1.500–1.700 | 960,78 | 1.700 | 302,65 |
| 4 | 1.700–1.850 | 1.143,79 | 1.850 | 360,29 |
| 5 | 1.850–2.030 | 1.209,15 | 2.030 | 380,88 |
| 6 | 2.030–2.330 | 1.274,51 | 2.330 | 401,47 |
| 7 | 2.330–2.760 | 1.356,21 | 2.760 | 427,21 |
| 8 | 2.760–3.190 | 1.437,91 | 3.190 | 452,94 |
| 9 | 3.190–3.620 | 1.519,61 | 3.620 | 478,68 |
| 10 | 3.620–4.050 | 1.601,31 | 4.050 | 504,41 |
| 11 | 4.050–6.000 | 1.732,03 | 5.101,20 | 545,59 |
| 12 | > 6.000 | 1.928,10 | 5.101,20 | 607,35 |
The maximum base at any income level is 5.101,20 €/month, so the absolute ceiling quota is roughly 1.606,88 €/month. The quota column is my own arithmetic (base × 31,5 %) from the official bases in Orden PJC/297/2026 — the BOE publishes bases, not quotas. And treat the tramo minimums as minimums: you choose a base anywhere inside your tramo.
Base changes: every two months, up to six times a year. A request between 1 Jan–28 Feb 2026 takes effect 1 Mar; 1 Mar–30 Apr → 1 May; 1 May–30 Jun → 1 Jul; 1 Jul–31 Aug → 1 Sep; 1 Sep–31 Oct → 1 Nov; 1 Nov–31 Dec → 1 Jan 2027.
Annual regularización: the bases you paid during the year are provisional and get recalculated against the earnings you actually declare for tax. Underpayments are claimed back. Budget for it.
The flat rate in 2026: a real legal gap
Ley 20/2007, art. 38 ter sets the framework for the cuota reducida: 12 full calendar months from the effective date of alta, with exemption from cese de actividad and formación profesional; a second 12 months only if net annual earnings stay below the SMI; no RETA alta in the previous 2 years (3 years if you used the benefit before); it must be requested at alta and re-requested for the second period. It is waivable, and lost if you leave the regime.
Here is the catch. Art. 38 ter says the annual amount "se establecerá en la respectiva Ley de Presupuestos Generales del Estado". RDL 13/2022 DT 5.ª fixed 80 €/month only for 2023–2025, delegating 2026 onward to each year's PGE. There is no PGE 2026. RDL 3/2026 extends the tramo tables only — the words "cuota reducida", "80 euros" and "artículo 38 ter" do not appear in it. Orden PJC/297/2026 contains no flat-rate amount either, and Seguridad Social's own explainer still frames the 80 € as applying to altas "during 2023–2025".
So: 80 €/month is what is being applied in practice, but I could not verify it against any BOE text for 2026. Check the amount Import@ss shows you at the moment you file the alta, and screenshot it.
Special cases under the same framework: disability ≥33 %, victims of gender violence or terrorism → 80 €/month for 24 months, then 160 €/month for a further 36 if earnings stay below the SMI. Excluded: family members up to the second degree joining an existing autónomo.
On the SMI test for the second 12 months — published figures for 2026 are mutually inconsistent (≈17.094 €/year in some sources, 1.184 €/month × 14 = 16.576 € in others). I have not verified the 2026 SMI royal decree, so I'm not publishing a number. Check the SMI RD in the BOE before relying on it.
What this guide deliberately doesn't do
Import@ss and the Seguridad Social autónomo alta portal were returning errors while I was verifying this, so I'm not reproducing a stale screen flow from memory. The legal rules above come from consolidated BOE texts and don't move; the screens do. Follow the AEAT G322 page and Import@ss as they stand on the day you file.
Nor does this cover what happens after the alta — IVA and quarterly Modelo 303, the ROI if you have EU clients, how pluriactividad interacts with your base beyond the 0,055 coefficient. Those are separate filings with their own deadlines, and they deserve their own verification rather than a confident paragraph here.
FAQ
Do I still file Modelo 037 to register as an autónomo?
No. Modelo 037 was suppressed by Orden HAC/1526/2024, published in the BOE on 9 January 2025 and in force from 3 February 2025. All census declarations now go on Modelo 036, which gained a simplified mode for individuals. If a guide tells you to choose between 036 and 037, it is out of date.
How many days do I have to register with Social Security after starting work?
None — the rule runs the other way. RD 84/1996 art. 32.3.1.º requires the alta before the activity starts, and no earlier than 60 calendar days before. The 60 days is a maximum advance window, not a grace period.
What happens if I invoice before registering with Social Security?
A late alta takes effect only from the date of the application (RD 84/1996 art. 35.1.1.º), while contributions for the period you worked unregistered remain demandable. You pay for the gap without getting cover for it.
Do I need a digital certificate, or is Cl@ve enough?
You need one or the other: RD 84/1996 art. 46 requires RETA altas to be filed electronically. An FNMT certificate is the more robust choice because it also covers AEAT filings, where one channel for Modelo 036 is a fill-validate-print PDF rather than a telematic submission.
What is the difference between an IAE epígrafe and a CNAE code?
The IAE epígrafe is the tax census code you declare on Modelo 036 (from the IAE tariffs, RDL 1175/1990). The CNAE is the statistical activity code used at the RETA alta and to set your professional-contingencies rate. Import@ss asks for the IAE epígrafe you declared at the AEAT, which is why you file the 036 first.
How much is the autónomo quota in 2026?
It depends on your tramo and the base you choose within it. Minimum quotas run from roughly 205,88 €/month (net earnings ≤ 670 €) to about 607,35 €/month (over 6.000 €), at the ≈31,5 % total rate. The maximum base at any income level is 5.101,20 €/month, so the ceiling is around 1.606,88 €/month. Bases are from Orden PJC/297/2026 art. 18; the quota figures are arithmetic from those bases, since the BOE publishes bases and not quotas.
How are my net earnings calculated for the tramo?
On annual net earnings from all your activities, computed under IRPF rules, minus a flat 7 % for generic expenses — 3 % for certain company administrators and societary partners. Skipping that deduction is the commonest way people put themselves in the wrong tramo.
How often can I change my contribution base in 2026?
Every two months, up to six times a year. A request made 1 Jan–28 Feb 2026 takes effect 1 Mar; 1 Mar–30 Apr → 1 May; 1 May–30 Jun → 1 Jul; 1 Jul–31 Aug → 1 Sep; 1 Sep–31 Oct → 1 Nov; 1 Nov–31 Dec → 1 Jan 2027.
What is the annual regularización and will I get a bill?
The bases you pay during the year are provisional. They are recalculated against the earnings you actually declare for tax, and anything you underpaid is claimed back. If your income rose during the year, expect a bill.
Is the 80 €/month flat rate still available in 2026?
The framework in Ley 20/2007 art. 38 ter is intact, but the amount is delegated to the annual PGE and there is no PGE 2026. RDL 13/2022 DT 5.ª fixed 80 € only for 2023–2025, and neither RDL 3/2026 nor Orden PJC/297/2026 states a 2026 figure. The 80 € is what is being applied in practice — confirm the amount Import@ss shows when you file, and screenshot it.
Can I get the flat rate if I was an autónomo years ago?
Only if you have had no RETA alta in the previous two years — three years if you already used the cuota reducida before. It also has to be requested at the moment of alta, and re-requested for the second 12-month period, which is available only if your net annual earnings stay below the SMI.
Can I deregister and re-register whenever work dries up?
You can, but it gets expensive after three times. Under RD 84/1996 art. 46.2, only the first three altas in a calendar year take effect from the actual day; later ones take effect from the 1st of the natural month. Art. 46.4.a mirrors this for bajas, with the rest effective at month-end. Beyond three cycles a year you pay for whole months you did not work.
Do I need residency before registering, or is a NIE enough?
A NIE is not an authorisation to work self-employed. Non-EU nationals need the residencia temporal y trabajo por cuenta propia under RD 1155/2024, Título IV, Capítulo IV (arts. 82–87), in force since roughly 20 May 2025, which now expressly allows combining cuenta propia with cuenta ajena. The digital nomad route under Ley 28/2022 is a separate authorisation with different conditions.
Do I have to choose a mutua, and when can I change it?
Choosing a mutua colaboradora is compulsory at alta, and its cover coincides with the alta itself. The adhesion renews by calendar year unless you denounce it before 1 October. IT and AT/EP cover are no longer optional.
Does the state Modelo 036 apply everywhere in Spain?
No. In the Basque Country and Navarra census competence is foral, so the state Modelo 036 does not apply — check the procedure with your Hacienda Foral.
Official sources
- BOE-A-2025-410 — Orden HAC/1526/2024 (suppresses Modelo 037)
- AEAT Sede — Modelo 036, procedure G322
- BOE-A-1996-4447 — RD 84/1996, consolidated (arts. 32, 35, 46)
- Orden PJC/297/2026 — cotización 2026, art. 18 RETA
- BOE-A-2026-2548 — RDL 3/2026, art. 3.4
- BOE-A-2022-12482 — RDL 13/2022 (RETA system, DT 1.ª y 5.ª)
- BOE-A-2007-13409 — Ley 20/2007, art. 38 ter (consolidated)
- Seguridad Social — Nuevo sistema de cotización para autónomos
- BOE-A-2024-24099 — RD 1155/2024, Reglamento LOEX (arts. 82–87)