The module exists to switch an accountant over to the Spanish system: who collects which tax, which calendar applies and how the chart of accounts is built. Without that foundation the later stages turn into memorising forms with no sense of why they look the way they do.
The structure of Spanish taxation
Spanish taxes sit at three levels, and an accountant needs to know from day one where to turn for each question.
State taxes, administered by the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT):
- IRPF — personal income tax, including for autónomos;
- IVA — value added tax;
- Impuesto sobre Sociedades — corporate income tax;
- IRNR — non-resident income tax.
Regional taxes: ITP-AJD (transfer tax and stamp duty), inheritance and gift tax, and wealth tax. Special regimes are covered separately: the Basque Country and Navarre have their own tax systems, and the Canary Islands apply IGIC instead of IVA.
Municipal taxes: IAE (business activity tax), IBI (property tax), IVTM (vehicle tax) and the municipal capital gains charge on property sales.
Authorities and their portals
- Agencia Tributaria and its electronic office — filing every return, receiving notifications and obtaining tax status certificates.
- Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social — contributions and registration in the self-employed scheme; the Import@ss portal for individuals and the RED system for professional representatives.
- Registro Mercantil — incorporating companies, filing annual accounts and legalising accounting books.
- Registro de la Propiedad — property transactions.
- Ayuntamiento — local taxes and activity licences.
Digital identity
In Spain no accounting procedure is possible without an electronic signature, so the module starts there.
- NIE and NIF — the foreigner’s and the taxpayer’s identification numbers: how they differ and how to obtain them.
- FNMT digital certificate — request, identity verification, installation, renewal and transfer to another device.
- Cl@ve — the simplified identification system for individuals.
- Apoderamiento — the power of attorney that allows filing on a client’s behalf.
- Colaborador social — the professional representative status that lets a practice act for all of its clients at once.
The tax calendar
The calendar is a daily working tool, and students build their own in the first week.
- Quarterly returns: by 20 April, 20 July, 20 October and 30 January.
- Annual summary returns, filed in January alongside the fourth quarter.
- Renta — the personal income tax return for the previous year, filed between April and June.
- Corporate income tax — by 25 July for companies on a calendar financial year.
The General Accounting Plan
The course covers the structure of the PGC 2007 and its simplified version for small companies: account groups 1 to 9, the numbering logic and the underlying principles — accruals, prudence and going concern.
A dedicated block compares the accountant’s existing chart of accounts with the PGC: a mapping table, differences in revenue and expense recognition, and the mistakes typically made by those who carry habits from another country into Spanish bookkeeping.
ES–RU glossary
The module closes with a terminology base of more than 200 concepts that students return to throughout the course: factura, factura rectificativa, base imponible, cuota, retención, devengo, amortización, asiento, libro diario, balance de sumas y saldos and many more.
Practice and assessment
Practice: obtaining a digital certificate in demonstration mode, navigating the AEAT electronic office, and drawing up a personal tax calendar for the year.
Test: 20 questions plus a practical exercise — mapping 30 accounts from the familiar chart onto their PGC equivalents.
Module 0.2. Dealing with the authorities
A 10-hour supplementary block that follows the main module immediately, with practice continuing through every later stage.
- The electronic signature in daily work: where it is required and what to do when it expires.
- The AEAT and Social Security portals: how they are organised and where to find things.
- Filing returns: formats, pre-validation and proof of submission.
- Notifications and penalties: the electronic notification system, response deadlines and the consequences of missing them.
- Finding information: how to locate the current wording of a rule in the official gazette and the tax agency’s own guidance.