Mandatory revenue tax declaration for all self-employed employees: what bills will be deducted? | Economy | EUROtoday

All self-employed employees are required from 2023 to file their revenue tax return no matter their revenue, not like staff. However, self-employed individuals have the potential for deducting varied bills which are associated to their skilled exercise, so long as they’re appropriately justified and documented, say the specialists consulted. The earlier and obligatory step is that they’re registered with each the Treasury and Social Security, since any expense that has been made previous to this circumstance can’t be deducted.

Álvaro Viqueira, technician on the ATA self-employed affiliation, assures that it’s important to know “that for any expense that you want to deduct, the burden of proof always falls on the self-employed person.” He emphasizes that, when unsure, “it is best to ask.” This identical reflection is shared by Valeria Hernández, professional in taxation of self-employed employees on the TaxDown platform, who additionally recommends “seeking the help of tax advisors.” These are the keys in order that the self-employed will pay much less on this 12 months’s revenue tax return, which begins on April 8.

What bills are deductible and learn how to justify them?

The specialists consulted affirm that the primary situation for an expense to be deductible is that there have to be a relationship with the exercise that’s carried out. “There has to be a direct link,” highlights Viqueira. Francisco Serantes, coordinator of the group of non-public revenue tax specialists of the Spanish Association of Tax Advisors (AEDAF), remembers that, on the time of submitting the revenue tax return, the self-employed “has little capacity to react”, which is why he advises saving all invoices in the course of the 12 months. Furthermore, he assures that though “the law establishes that [los gastos] must be necessary, jurisprudence indicates that the concept is that of convenience.” That is to say, not only the essential expense to carry out the activity is deductible, but also “everything that is convenient to improve income.”

Having the document justifying the expenses is the second condition that technicians use to be able to reduce the tax bill, which must be complete, not simplified. Serantes warns that “with tickets or other documents, there will most likely be problems.” It should even be taken under consideration that possession of an bill will not be sufficient, says Hernández, from TaxDown, since there should even be “an entry in the record books.”

Among the expenses that can be deducted is the self-employed fee: the Social Security contribution is 100% deductible. If you work in a premises, it is possible to deduct 100% of the rent; When the activity is carried out from home, it is limited to 30% of the proportional part of supplies (electricity, water, internet) of the area intended for the business. Services such as fees for management, consulting, lawyers or external consultants can also be deducted, as well as office supplies and equipment such as computers, softwarefurniture and stationery, services marketing and advertising such as expenses on Google Ads, Facebook Ads or web design.

Is an invoice always needed? Are there non-deductible expenses?

When there is no invoice associated with the expense, proof of credit or payment is necessary. This is the case of Social Security contributions, experts point out, which do not require this documentary evidence. The same treatment applies to medical or civil liability insurance policies, or to taxes such as the Real Estate Tax (IBI) or the garbage tax.

Serantes clarifies that the voluntary contribution to the pension plan reduces the tax base of personal income tax, but does not count as an expense of the activity, and gives the following example: “The physician or lawyer who contributes to Social Security and in addition makes a contribution to a pension plan, for the reason that contribution to Social Security can be deductible.” That is to say, only what is obligatorily paid for retirement is a deductible expense. Law 27/2014 on Corporate Tax also establishes all the elements that are not deductible and that are transferred to personal income tax, among which are fines and criminal and administrative sanctions or gambling losses.

Which are the most problematic?

There are some expenses that are very complicated to justify and that experts agree on pointing out: telephone and vehicle costs. Regarding the first, the AEDAF technician affirms that it is difficult to deduce, since it is necessary to justify that the device is used “exclusively for the activity.” Hernández adds that “as long as there are not several lines, nothing can be saved.”

In the case of the car, Serantes highlights that “in principle there is the possibility of deducting 100% [de los gastos asociados] if the use is exclusive”, something that, however, is only contemplated for certain activities. “The Treasury only allows it in the case of commercial agents, transport of goods, taxis or vehicles with a VTC license,” he lists. This complexity is due, he argues, to the fact that it is “very complicated” to justify to the Tax Agency the total impact of the vehicle on economic activity.

How to compute public subsidies

If any self-employed person received public aid in the 2025 fiscal year, which is the one declared in this campaign, it is important to know that they are taxed in personal income tax, where they must include it. The main key to knowing how to do it is to determine if it is current or capital. The first are those that cover current expenses or day-to-day operational deficits, such as salaries or rents, while the second finance investments in fixed assets (machinery, real estate) in the long term.

Viqueira, from ATA, highlights that, in the case of current subsidies, “the entirety is included in the income section,” whereas the latter aren’t allotted of their entirety, however fairly by way of amortization. One of the general public help that raises essentially the most doubts is the digital equipment, an initiative financed with funds from the restoration plan that permits subsidizing the implementation of digital options for SMEs and the self-employed. Hernández states that “it is usually attributed as a current subsidy.”

What’s new this 12 months?

Among the primary novelties is the reinforcement of the Tax Agency to manage funds with bizum, which can have an effect on self-employed employees. In addition, electrical automobiles and charging factors could also be freely depreciated in the event that they got here into use in 2024 or 2025.

However, specialists level out that crucial novelty is that the self-employed will have the ability to embrace the regularizations of Social Security contributions on this 12 months’s declaration. Self-employed employees should contribute primarily based on their revenue for the reason that reform that got here into drive in 2023. Thus, this 12 months the brand new private revenue tax mannequin incorporates particular packing containers that may enable these changes to be declared as deductible bills or revenue, as acceptable.

What forms of taxation exist?

The self-employed will pay taxes in numerous regimes, relying on the kind of exercise and revenue: simplified direct estimation, regular direct estimation and goal estimation (modules).

Serantes remembers that the simplified direct estimate is contemplated for these self-employed employees whose turnover doesn’t exceed 600,000 euros, whereas the traditional direct estimate will probably be for many who exceed that threshold. Another of the primary variations is that within the regular estimate it has extra accounting obligations.

Self-employed individuals who perform sure actions – hospitality, hairdressing, street transport, and so forth. – also can go for goal estimation, which consists of paying a set share of revenue that’s estimated based on goal parameters decided by the Treasury. To exemplify this, Hernández factors out that the proprietor of a bar who decides to pay taxes underneath this modality should know the linear meters of the bar. “Based on these characteristics, the percentage that the Treasury has set will be paid,” he concludes.

In addition to taking all these components under consideration when submitting the revenue tax return, Viqueira remembers that the self-employed also can profit from the private revenue tax deductions in drive of their autonomous communities, so he recommends paying attention, as a result of by making use of these reductions they’ll additional scale back their tax invoice.