Stage 1. Autónomo

By the end of this stage students run an autónomo entirely on their own: registering the client, issuing invoices, calculating contributions and filing every quarterly and annual return. The stage is self-contained and can be taken without moving on to limited companies.

Modules in this stage

1.1. Registration and tax regimes

The first contact with a client: what has to be done before the activity starts, and which regime to choose so the client does not overpay all year.

Modelo 036 and 037 — the full and simplified registration returns: when 037 is enough.
Registration in the self-employed scheme and how it relates to the date activity begins.
IAE and epígrafes — activity classification, choosing the right heading and the consequences that follow; CNAE codes.
Methods of determining income: simplified direct assessment, normal direct assessment and the objective (modular) method — criteria, thresholds and the practical choice.

Practice: registering a training client from start to finish, with a reasoned choice of activity heading.

Spanish self-employed contributions are based on actual income, which is one of the questions clients ask most often.

The 15 income bands: how to determine the right band and what happens when the forecast is wrong.
Flat rate — the reduced rate for new self-employed workers: conditions, duration and how it can be lost.
MEI — the intergenerational equity mechanism as a separate part of the contribution.
Changing the base — up to six changes a year and how to use them.
Annual adjustment — the recalculation against actual income, resulting in a top-up or a refund.

Practice: calculating the band and the annual contribution for three clients on different incomes.

1.3. Invoicing

Invoicing regulations — mandatory invoice content and the consequences of leaving something out.
Simplified invoices — when they are allowed and what their limits are.
Corrective invoices — the proper way to fix an error instead of deleting an invoice.
Equivalence surcharge — the special regime for retail trade.
15% and 7% withholding — income tax withheld on professionals’ invoices, and the reduced rate for newly registered autónomos.

Practice: issuing ten invoices of different types in Holded, including a corrective one.

1.4. VAT

Modelo 303 — the quarterly return: structure, common mistakes and carrying forward a negative balance.
Modelo 390 — the annual summary and reconciling it against the quarters.
Modelo 349 — the recapitulative statement for intra-EU transactions.
ROI and VIES — joining the register of intra-EU operators and verifying a counterparty.
Reverse charge — how it is recorded in the books and on the return.
Pro rata — proportional deduction where activities are mixed.

Practice: completing Modelo 303 for a case involving domestic, intra-EU and third-country transactions.

1.5. Income tax instalments

Modelo 130 — 20% of cumulative net income for the year to date; who must file and who is exempt.
Modelo 131 — instalments for those on the modular method.
Deductible expenses — what reduces the base: home office, vehicle, subsistence, training and contributions.
Depreciation — writing down fixed assets under the official tables.

Practice: calculating Modelo 130 across four quarters on a cumulative basis.

1.6. Withholding: the autónomo as a withholding agent

As soon as an autónomo rents an office or pays another professional, they become a withholding agent themselves.

Modelo 111 — the quarterly return for amounts withheld from professionals and employees.
Modelo 190 — the annual summary of those same withholdings.
Modelo 115 — withholding on commercial rent.
Modelo 180 — the annual summary for rent.

Practice: preparing and filing Modelo 111 and Modelo 115.

1.7. Annual obligations

Renta (Modelo 100) — the annual personal income tax return, and how an autónomo’s earnings feed into the individual’s overall return.
Modelo 347 — the statement of transactions with a counterparty exceeding €3,005.06 in a year.
Statutory registers — the books an autónomo must keep: invoices issued, invoices received and capital goods.

Practice: closing the training client’s year and preparing every annual return.

1.8. Special cases

The module many students come for: the situations that Russian-speaking clients in Spain actually run into.

The impatriate regime (the “Beckham law”) — when it applies and when it pays off.
Digital nomads — the visa, tax residence and working for a foreign employer.
Company-linked self-employment — self-employed status for a company director or shareholder.
Clients outside Spain — place of supply, VAT treatment and documentary evidence.
Cryptocurrency — recording transactions and Modelo 721 for assets held abroad.

Practice: working through five real cases involving Russian-speaking clients.

Module 1.9. Expenses

A 6-hour supplementary block after module 1.7, whose rules apply in the company stage as well. It covers which expenses can genuinely be deducted, how to evidence them and how to post them: the business-purpose test, requirements for supporting documents, contested categories and the tax agency’s position on them.

The figures as they stand in 2026

For 2026 the self-employed contribution bands are frozen at 2025 levels, ranging from €200 to €590 a month (Palencia Asesores, El Español). The MEI rate rises from 0.8% to 0.9% and the €80 flat rate remains in place. For company-linked self-employed workers the minimum base rises to roughly €1,424 (Wolters Kluwer).

The government left open the possibility of revising the amounts mid-year, so specific figures are always checked in class against the wording currently in force.

Stage assignment

An end-to-end case: a year in the life of a software developer working as an autónomo with clients in the EU and the United States. Every return for four quarters plus the annual obligations, completed in Holded and checked by an AI agent.