I Have to Pay Taxes Five Times a Year in Spain?

If you are self-employed in Spain, the answer is yes, and it catches a lot of people off guard. Unlike employees who have taxes withheld automatically from their paycheck, freelancers and autónomos are responsible for filing and paying their taxes on a quarterly basis, plus an annual income tax return. That adds up to five filings per year.

How the System Works
Each quarter, you are required to pay 20% of the income you earned during that three-month period. These are called quarterly prepayments, and they function as installments toward your total annual tax bill. When June rolls around and you file your annual return, you tally up all four prepayments you have already made and subtract that amount from your final liability. If you overpaid throughout the year, you get money back. If you underpaid, you owe the difference.

The Deadlines You Need to Know
Missing these dates can result in fines, so it is worth putting them directly in your calendar.

Q1 (January through March): file by April 20th
Q2 (April through June): file by July 20th
Q3 (July through September): file by October 20th
Q4 (October through December): file by January 30th of the following year
Annual income tax return: file by June 30th

Stay on Top of It
The quarterly system exists to prevent people from ending up with a massive, unexpected bill at the end of the year. In theory, if you have been paying consistently, your annual return should not produce a huge surprise. But keeping track of five separate deadlines while also running a business is a lot to manage, especially when you are navigating Spanish tax law for the first time. In part two, we get into what actually happens if you miss one of these deadlines.