Social Security

You got paid for one or two one-off jobs. Do you have to register as self-employed?

September 22, 2026

A one-off job has come your way: a couple of afternoons of private tutoring, renting out your car for a weekend, designing a logo for someone you know, shooting a friend’s wedding. They pay you, and suddenly a doubt hits you that you didn’t have when you said yes: do I have to register as self-employed for this?

You search for the answer and run into contradictory threads. Some say yes, always, no exceptions. Others say no, “if it’s small enough.” And almost none of them tell you exactly what decides whether it’s “small enough” or not, because it isn’t the amount: it’s whether that money is yours, whether what you did counts as an economic activity, and whether you’re going to repeat it.

Company-director autónomos in 2026: the €1,424 minimum base, provisional contributions and the settlement coming later

September 10, 2026

If you are the managing director of a Spanish limited company (sociedad limitada) and contribute to the Spanish self-employed social security regime (RETA), you may have spent all of 2026 paying a monthly contribution that does not match what the law has required since January. That is not a mistake on your part: Social Security allows a provisional contribution during the year. But when the year closes, the bill arrives. This article explains what changed, why, how much the difference could be and what you can do before December.

Self-employed contribution by real income in 2026: how it's calculated and what to pay each month

June 29, 2026

If you’re self-employed in Spain, your Social Security contribution is one of the most significant fixed costs of your activity. What you might not fully understand is how it’s calculated: why it can change from one year to the next, what it has to do with your invoicing, and why an unexpected adjustment letter sometimes arrives.

The answer lies in the contribution system based on real income, which links your monthly contribution to what you actually earn as a self-employed worker — not a freely chosen base. Understanding how it works is the key to paying the right amount every month and avoiding surprises at the end of the year.

I've received the contribution adjustment letter: what do I do now

May 22, 2026

If you’re an autónomo (self-employed worker) and you’ve received a letter from the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (the Spanish Social Security treasury) with an amount you weren’t expecting, take a breath. You’re not alone and it’s not a fine. It’s the contribution adjustment (regularización de cuotas), a new process that affects all self-employed workers since the system of contribution by real income came into force.

This guide explains what that letter means, how the difference they’re claiming from you (or that they owe you) is calculated, and above all how to stop it catching you off guard again next year.