Are you thinking about becoming self-employed and starting a business?
You have landed in the right place because I am going to reveal to you the most important things you need to know and do before registering with the Social Security and Hacienda.
When I am asked for consultations and information to undertake in Asesoría y Consultoría Fénix, these revolve around the following 5 points that I take this opportunity to share:
LOCAL and AUTONOMIC AID if you become self-employed
The first thing first of all is to find out about local and regional aid when it comes to entrepreneurship. They may vary according to the type of business, investment, whether or not people are hired, etc. At state level there are also subsidies, the best known of all is the “flat rate” in the self-employed fee paid to the Social Security.
But most of them are managed by the Autonomous and Local Communities themselves. These are aimed at entrepreneurs, self-employed and SMEs, with 4 main blocks:
- Promote youth entrepreneurship (under 30 years of age).
- Incentivizing Innovation
- For Business Management and Strategy
- For Internalization
Here it is worth mentioning the existing lines of financing, which can be a very good option when capital is required.
How can you get more information to register as a freelancer?
The first starting point would be to contact the City Council of the locality where you will carry out your activity, whether you need a place or not. There they will put you in contact with the person in charge.
At Province and Community level, start with the website of each one of them. I share with you the websites that we use the most in Asesoría y Consultoría Fenix, the ones of the Generalitat de Cataluña (especially for the province of Barcelona), of the Community of Madrid and Castilla la Mancha
On the other hand, I leave you another search engine. The Directorate General for Industry and SMEs through its SME Platform offers you its aid portal where all the measures are collected in the form of: subsidies, financing, tax incentives or guarantees offered by public administrations and their agencies, to encourage, maintain and develop economic activity and entrepreneurship. Self-employed and SMEs are included:
ACTIVITY LICENSE
If you are going to register as self-employed and you are going to need a place for the activity, you have to take this point into account. It can become a great adventure if the premises need renovations, due to the amount of bureaucratic procedures and the process that takes a long time. It is not only a matter of adapting the premises to the activity to be carried out, but also of complying with certain regulations. Be that as it may, even if it is the simplest case, you would need an Opening License and the approval from the Health Department.
Where to start?
Again by the Town Hall of the locality where you plan to develop the activity, usually with Urbanism. There they will inform you about the procedures to follow, documents to fill out, and fees to pay.
CIVIL LIABILITY INSURANCE
Consider whether Liability Insurance is necessary and ask for quotes!
It is not mandatory except in certain cases, although for most it is recommended! For some it is a life saver 
No matter how you look at it, you are responsible for your actions and you are also human! A liability insurance serves you to prevent the economic damage that can be caused by repairing the damage caused to a third party! It covers both material and personal damages, and what I recommend is that you ask for a quote from a trusted insurance professional. Compare several.
DIGITAL CERTIFICATE
Although there are other options, I still consider the Digital Certificate essential. After the last few years, if you don’t have it, my advice is that you should ask for it as soon as possible. It is an encrypted file that integrates the identification data of a user.
How to obtain it?
By submitting an online application to the FNMT and then proving your identity at any office that has signed a collaboration agreement (TG Seguridad Social, Agencia Tributaria, etc.). In Barcelona, you can request an appointment at any City Hall where you are registered to identify yourself so that they can issue it for you.
Once this step has been taken , it is downloaded and installed in the browser!
You have to keep in mind that the device from where it is requested and where it is downloaded must be the same. It is no longer about the convenience of being able to do business from wherever you are without moving, in many cases it is mandatory in this way!
And best of all, you can install it on your cell phone, no computer is required!
What is it for?
To carry out or consult procedures with: the Tax Agency, Social Security, DGT, DG of the Civil Guard, INE, Bank of Spain, BOE, different Ministries, as well as with the Administrations of the Autonomous Communities or Local Administrations.
Here is the link to the FNMT electronic office in case you need to request it.
REGISTRATION WITH SOCIAL SECURITY AND TAX AUTHORITIES
Once the previous four points have been reviewed and completed, it would be time to register as self-employed with the Social Security and Tax Authorities.
Be careful if you had to incur expenses before this moment, since for the tax authorities they will not be deductible. For the tax authorities, only those expenses that, being related to the activity, are incurred after the registration (start of the activity) are considered deductible.
It is very important to request a Consultation with a Professional who will advise you before planning your entire project, both in terms of tax advantages and the best option that fits your project, as well as the financial aspects that you must take into account.
On countless occasions I have been approached by people who had lost a lot of money due to this lack of knowledge. That is why I decided to publish this post and share the information.
You can count on the services of Asesoría y Consultoría Fénix if your case is similar and you will receive fiscal and financial guidance that will make the difference for your venture.
Returning to the case above, if it is necessary to incur in some expenses to undertake, Hacienda gives you the option to present a Previous Registration, by means of the model 036, so that they can be considered deductible. That is to say, you communicate (inform about) the intention to develop an activity (in this model you declare which one and from which date) and when you are ready to start, you communicate the definitive registration by means of the same model (together with the registration in the Social Security)!
In order to register with the Social Security, the application for registration with the RETA (Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers) must be filled out, and the Form 036 (or 037) must be filed with the Tax Authorities. For some years now, both organizations have insisted on the presentation of the above-mentioned forms on the same day (and with the same date) to avoid problems when crossing data and to consolidate the registration as self-employed.
What do you need to be clear about in order to manage both discharges?
- The IAE, i.e. the epigraph of your activity (professional or business).
- The CNAE, which is the same, but under a different codification. This is only required for registration in RETA.
- Choosing a Mutual
- Have a bank account in your name where you will have to pay the self-employed fee (RETA registration).
- The address where you will carry out your activity. If you work from home, you can put this address, as well as the percentage destined to it. If you do not have a place, the one in your province is considered.
- Tax obligations (e.g., VAT, Personal Income Tax, Payments on account)
Remember that if you need help to manage the registration as an autonomous, or you would like to undertake and expand all the information with Asesoría y Consultoría Fénix, you can contactor request a Consultancy from HERE.
Is there anything that has caught your attention or that you would like to clarify?
I read you in the comments
