Autónomo vs SL in Spain: which suits you in 2026

Autónomo vs SL: the short answer

Self-employed or limited company (SL, sociedad limitada) in Spain? In our example with 2026 figures, if you take all the money out every year, staying an autónomo is cheaper and simpler up to roughly €80,000 of profit. Above that the SL starts to pay off, by a small margin at first. It can pay off sooner if you reinvest profit, have partners or need to limit your liability.

These are the figures in force in 2026: corporate tax from the forty-fourth transitional provision of Law 27/2014, the IRPF (Spanish personal income tax) scale in article 63 of Law 35/2006 and the contribution bases in Order PJC/297/2026. If you decide to start as an autónomo, see how to register as self-employed or Melso's self-employed registration.

What is the difference between an autónomo and an SL

As an autónomo, you and your business are the same person: you invoice with your own tax ID (NIF), you pay IRPF and you are liable for debts with everything you own, now and in the future, under article 1911 of the Civil Code.

A limited company (SL) is a separate legal entity: it invoices with its own NIF, pays corporate tax (impuesto sobre sociedades, IS) on its profit and, under article 1 of the Capital Companies Law, its partners "will not be personally liable for the company's debts". To get what it earns into your pocket you have two routes, both taxed under IRPF: a salary or dividends.

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One nuance on bookkeeping: with a commercial activity under the normal direct estimation method (estimación directa normal), the autónomo also keeps accounts under the Commercial Code, as the AEAT, Spain's tax agency, explains.

How much tax does an SL pay in 2026

The general corporate tax rate is 25%, but a small SL can pay quite a bit less. Law 7/2024 cut the rate for micro-companies (prior-year turnover under €1 million) in stages. For tax periods starting in 2026, under the forty-fourth transitional provision of Law 27/2014:

Asset-holding companies (with no real business activity) are excluded from these reduced rates and are generally taxed at 25%. Entities subject to a special rate apply their own (article 29.1 of Law 27/2014). And the cuts continue: from 2027, that same article 29.1 sets 17% on the first €50,000 and 20% on the rest for micro-companies.

The deadlines change too. The SL files corporate tax (Form 200, modelo 200) within the 25 calendar days after the six months following the end of its financial year (article 124): in July if its financial year matches the calendar year. It also makes advance instalment payments (Form 202, modelo 202) in the first 20 days of April, October and December (article 40). If there is nothing to pay, a company whose turnover has not exceeded €6 million does not have to file Form 202 (AEAT Corporate Tax manual).

How much IRPF does an autónomo pay

An autónomo pays tax on net income (income minus expenses, including the social security fee) on the same progressive scale as an employee. Under the simplified direct estimation method (estimación directa simplificada) you also deduct a 5% allowance for expenses that are hard to prove (gastos de difícil justificación), up to €2,000 a year (article 30 of the IRPF Regulation).

The national (state) scale is in article 63 of the IRPF Law and each region approves its own. If your region's scale matched the national one (this guide's assumption), the combined rates would be:

The first €5,550 are covered by the personal allowance: from the tax on your base you subtract the tax on those €5,550 (€1,054.50 on this scale). What matters is the marginal rate: above €35,200 of taxable income, each extra euro you earn as an autónomo pays 37%, and from €60,000, 45%. In an SL that meets the micro-company requirements, that same euro pays 19% (21% if the company's taxable profit exceeds €50,000) as long as it stays inside. That is the company's advantage, and also its limit. The details are in the guide to IRPF for autónomos.

What it costs to take money out of an SL

The SL's money is not yours until you are paid, and there are two routes taxed differently: a salary is taxed in your IRPF and, when deductible, reduces the company's corporate tax base; a dividend comes out of profit that has already paid corporate tax and is taxed again on your income tax return.

1. Director's salary. For you it is employment income, on the general IRPF scale. The SL withholds 35%, or 19% if its turnover is under €100,000 (article 101.2 of the IRPF Law). Under company law, the post is unpaid unless the articles of association say otherwise (article 217 of the Capital Companies Law). For tax purposes, the company can deduct it (article 15.e of Law 27/2014) and the Supreme Court (judgment of 13 March 2024, appeal 9078/2022) accepted it even without that clause, as long as it is documented and recorded in the accounts (Third Chamber case-law review). The prudent move is to include it.
2. Dividends. They come out of profit that has already paid corporate tax and are taxed in the savings base: 19% up to €6,000, 21% up to €50,000, 23% up to €200,000, 27% up to €300,000 and 30% above that (the sum of articles 66 and 76 of the IRPF Law).

One important exception: if your activity is professional (section two of the IAE business activity tax tariffs, such as lawyers, architects or consultants) and you are in the RETA (Régimen Especial de Trabajadores Autónomos, the self-employed social security scheme), what your SL pays you for that activity is taxed as business income, not employment income (article 27.1 of the IRPF Law). In that case you normally issue invoices to your SL for that work; work it out separately, because this guide's example treats the salary as employment income.

The company-owning autónomo's fee in 2026

If you work regularly for your SL and have effective control of it, you stay in the RETA as a company-owning autónomo (autónomo societario). Article 305.2.b of the General Social Security Law presumes that control if you hold at least a third of the capital, or a quarter if you also have management duties. Your fee depends on your income band, like any autónomo's, but with two specific rules set by article 308:

• Its own minimum base. If you have been registered as a company-owning autónomo for at least 90 days in the year, your base cannot be below the minimum base of group 7 of the Régimen General (the general social security scheme for employees), which Order PJC/297/2026 sets at €1,424.40 a month. At the total rate of 31.50%, the minimum fee is €448.69 a month. A self-employed individual (persona física) can pay from €205.88 (see the table in autónomo contributions 2026).
• What counts as income. Your salary and the company's dividends are added together (if you hold at least 33% of the capital, or 25% as a director). The deduction for generic expenses is 3% instead of 7%, again with those 90 days registered as a company-owning autónomo.

For this year, the 2026 Order lets you keep the provisional base you had in 2025, but the final base at the year-end adjustment cannot be below €1,424.40. If you pay on less, you will have to pay the difference later.

Example: €60,000 of profit, self-employed or SL

Laura sells ceramics online under the simplified direct estimation method. Her business makes €60,000 a year of profit before the autónomo fee. She has no other income, lives in a region whose tax scale matches the national one and was already an autónoma last year. In every option, IRPF is the tax on the base minus the €1,054.50 of the personal allowance. She compares three options.

Option A: she stays self-employed

1. Allowance for hard-to-prove expenses. 5% would exceed the cap, so she deducts €2,000.
2. Contribution band. Income taken into account for contributions (rendimiento computable): (60,000 − 2,000) × 0.93 / 12 = €4,495 a month, because the fee is not subtracted for contribution purposes (article 308.1.c of the LGSS). That falls in band 11 of the general table (tramo General 11): minimum fee of €545.59 a month, €6,547.08 a year.
3. IRPF base. 60,000 − 6,547.08 − 2,000 = €51,452.92.
4. IRPF. €14,739.08 of tax on the base minus €1,054.50 of the personal allowance: €13,684.58.
5. She keeps: 60,000 − 6,547.08 − 13,684.58 = €39,768.34.

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Option B: she sets up an SL and pays everything out

We assume a normal year with the SL already up and running: €3,000 of capital and the legal reserve already funded with 20% of the capital (€600), so it can pay out the whole year's profit (articles 273 and 274 of the Capital Companies Law). We also assume €1,500 a year more in gestoría fees (your accounting and tax firm) and other company costs (an assumption: get a quote). Laura pays herself a €30,000 director's salary.

1. SL profit: 60,000 − 1,500 − 30,000 = €28,500. Corporate tax at 19%: €5,415. That leaves €23,085, which she pays out as a dividend.
2. Company-owner fee. (30,000 + 23,085) × 0.97 / 12 = €4,291.04 a month: also band 11 of the general table, €6,547.08 a year.
3. IRPF on the salary. Employment income: 30,000 − 6,547.08 − 2,000 (other expenses under article 19) = €21,452.92. Tax on that base with the table's scale: 12,450 at 19% (2,365.50) + 7,750 at 24% (1,860) + 1,252.92 at 30% (375.88) = €4,601.38; minus €1,054.50 of the personal allowance, €3,546.88.
4. IRPF on the dividend. The €23,085 pays €4,727.85 (6,000 at 19% and the rest at 21%). Total IRPF: €8,274.73.
5. Total cost: 1,500 + 5,415 + 6,547.08 + 8,274.73 = €21,736.81. She keeps: €38,263.19.

With everything paid out, the SL costs her €1,505.15 more a year.

Option C: she sets up the SL and leaves the profit inside

Same €30,000 salary, but no dividends. Her income taken into account for contributions drops to 30,000 × 0.97 / 12 = €2,425 a month (band 7 of the general table, tramo 7), below the company-owner minimum, so she pays on the minimum base: €448.69 a month, €5,384.28 a year. IRPF base: 30,000 − 5,384.28 − 2,000 = €22,615.72. Tax on that base with the table's scale: 12,450 at 19% (2,365.50) + 7,750 at 24% (1,860) + 2,415.72 at 30% (724.72) = €4,950.22; minus €1,054.50 of the personal allowance, €3,895.72. Total cost: 1,500 + 5,415 + 5,384.28 + 3,895.72 = €16,195. Laura takes home €20,720 net (30,000 − 5,384.28 − 3,895.72) and the company keeps €23,085.

She pays €4,036.66 less than as an autónoma (20,231.66 − 16,195), but it is not a permanent saving: that €23,085 will be taxed as a dividend the day she pays it out. An SL lets you defer tax and reinvest; it does not make the tax disappear.

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When it pays to switch from autónomo to SL

With the same method (a €30,000 salary, everything paid out, €1,500 of extra costs), this is how other profit levels compare:

In this example, with everything paid out, the two options break even at around €80,000 of profit. Below that, the autónomo wins.

Above it the SL usually wins, but jumps between RETA fee bands can shrink or reverse the advantage for a while: at €86,300, the company owner's fee moves up to band 12 of the general table (tramo General 12) and the autónomo is €11.55 cheaper again (€31,790.51 against €31,802.06). With margins this small, tax is not what should decide.

The €80,000 is not a general threshold: if you leave part of the profit inside, the break-even point drops a lot, as option C shows. Your figure will depend on your region, your family, your salary and your running costs.

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Beyond tax: liability, partners and paperwork

• Liability. In an SL, in principle, partners only risk the capital they put in. There are exceptions: as a director you can be liable for damage you cause by breaching your duties (article 236 of the Capital Companies Law) and for debts arising after a ground for dissolution if you do not act in time (article 367). Banks may also ask a partner to personally stand surety (aval) for a loan, and that makes you liable for that debt.
• If you stay an autónomo. The Emprendedor de Responsabilidad Limitada (Limited Liability Entrepreneur) status can protect your main home if it is worth up to €300,000 (€450,000 in towns of more than a million inhabitants). It requires registering with the Registro Mercantil (the companies register) and the Land Registry, and it does not cover debts with Hacienda (the tax authority) or the Seguridad Social, Spain's social security system (articles 8 to 10 of Law 14/2013).
• Partners. With partners, an SL is usually the natural choice: it splits ownership into shares (participaciones) and makes clear who decides.
• Capital. Since Law 18/2022, €1 is enough, but while capital is below €3,000 you put at least 20% of profit into the legal reserve until capital and reserve add up to €3,000 (article 4 of the Capital Companies Law).
• Paperwork. The SL prepares its annual accounts within three months of the year end, the general meeting approves them within the first six months, and they are filed with the Registro Mercantil within a month of approval (articles 253, 164 and 279). On top of that come Form 200, Form 202 when there is something to pay and withholdings if the SL pays you a salary.
• The módulos regime. If you are taxed today under the objective estimation method (módulos), you lose it for the activity you move into the SL.

Common mistakes when choosing between autónomo and SL

1. Comparing 19% with your marginal rate without counting dividends. Profit you pay out as a dividend has already paid corporate tax and is taxed again on your income tax return.
2. Counting on the 15% new-company rate. If you transfer your autónomo business, it normally does not apply.
3. Forgetting the company owner's fee. In 2026 its minimum base is €1,424.40: the minimum fee goes from €205.88 to €448.69 a month.
4. Leaving out the SL's fixed costs. Bookkeeping, annual accounts and more forms, whatever you earn.
5. Deciding on an exceptional year. Look at several years of profit: going back is not easy.
6. Paying yourself a salary the articles of association do not provide for. Under company law the post would be unpaid, and although the Supreme Court accepted the expense in 2024, you expose yourself to a dispute with Hacienda that a clause avoids.

How Melso helps

Melso is your AI tax agent, with human professionals behind it, and its Pro and Plus plans are for autónomos in Spain; Melso confirms what your case covers before you sign up. If you stay an autónomo, Melso organises your income and expenses on WhatsApp and its professionals prepare and review your quarterly returns and your annual income tax return (the Renta) for your activity and tax profile; you approve each draft in the app before it is filed. If you are just starting out, it also handles your self-employed registration. Get started at melso.ai or message us on WhatsApp.

This article is for information only and does not replace professional advice for your case. Last reviewed: 12 October 2026.