First autónomo year in Spain: calendar & checklist

This guide is for those who have already filed (or are about to file) their alta and want to know what to file and pay in the first 12 months so as not to miss a single date. How to qualify for self-employment, file the alta with the AEAT and RETA, what the cuota costs and how the tarifa plana works — all of that is in the guide «Register as autónomo in Spain»; here we do not repeat those sections but build the operational calendar on top of them.

Two calendars: AEAT and Seguridad Social

An autónomo deals with two administrations, each with its own rhythm:

• AEAT (Hacienda) — taxes. One-off actions through modelo 036 (alta, changes, baja), quarterly autoliquidaciones 130 (IRPF) and 303 (IVA), annual 390 (IVA summary) and the Renta. If you have employees or EU clients, 111 and 349 are added.
• Seguridad Social (TGSS) — contributions. The RETA alta, the monthly cuota, base changes, the annual regularización and the baja. All of it through Import@ss.

Both administrations work in calendar quarters and months, so the first year is almost always "incomplete": you start mid-quarter, while the deadlines are the same for everyone.

Modelo 036: start, changes and exit

Under RD 1065/2007 (art. 9) the alta declaration in the Censo de Empresarios, Profesionales y Retenedores is filed before activity starts, and the start is the moment you make any supplies, provide services, buy goods or services for the business, receive or make payments or hire staff "with the intention of taking part in the production or distribution of goods and services". In other words, not only your first invoice but also your first "business" laptop comes after the 036.

What to remember about the 036 during your first year (the AEAT page on modelo 036):

• Alta — «antes de iniciar las correspondientes actividades». Since 3 February 2025 only the 036 exists; the simplified 037 has been abolished (Orden HAC/1526/2024).
• Modificación — a change to the data declared in the 036 is filed within 1 month of the day after the change.
• Baja — within 1 month of ceasing activity.
• Changing your IRPF method for the following year — opting out of estimación directa simplificada (or returning to it) is filed through the 036 by 31 December (AEAT calendar, «Renuncia o revocación estimación directa simplificada y estimación objetiva para 2027 y sucesivos»).
• Clients or suppliers in the EU — inclusion in the Registro de operadores intracomunitarios is requested through the 036 (RD 1065/2007, art. 9.3.g).

How to fill in the 036 (IAE epígrafe, IVA regime, IRPF method) is in the registration guide.

Every quarter: modelos 130 and 303

This is the main rhythm of the first year. Under the AEAT calendar for 2026 both forms are filed on the same deadlines:

| Period | Filing deadline | Direct debit of the payment | | ------------ | ----------------- | --------------------------- | | Q1 (Jan–Mar) | by 20 April | 1 to 15 April | | Q2 (Apr–Jun) | by 20 July | 1 to 15 July | | Q3 (Jul–Sep) | by 20 October | 1 to 15 October | | Q4 (Oct–Dec) | by 30 January | 1 to 25 January |

The direct-debit deadlines come from the AEAT page «Plazos de presentación de autoliquidaciones con domiciliación bancaria»: for the 130 and 303 filed quarterly it is «del 1 al 25 de enero y del 1 al 15 de abril, julio y octubre». If you file after the 15th (the 25th in January), direct debit is no longer available — you will have to pay another way.

Modelo 130 — the IRPF pago fraccionado

• Who files. Everyone carrying out an economic activity must autoliquidar e ingresar pago a cuenta IRPF (RD 439/2007, art. 109.1). The exception is for professionals: if in the previous calendar year at least 70% of your activity income was subject to retención, the 130 is not filed (art. 109.2). In the year you start, the percentage is calculated on the income of the period for which the pago fraccionado is filed (art. 109.5).
• How much. Under estimación directa — 20% of net income (rendimiento neto) accumulated from 1 January to the end of the reporting quarter, minus the pagos fraccionados already paid this year (art. 110.1.a). From the result you deduct the retenciones withheld from you since the start of the year (art. 110.3.a) — for professionals this often brings the payment to zero.
• Your first quarter of activity. Accumulation runs from 1 January, but you only have income and expenses from your alta date — calculate on actuals.

Modelo 303 — IVA

• The quarterly IVA autoliquidación: IVA charged on the invoices you issued minus deductible IVA on the ones you received. Filed on the same deadlines as the 130.
• If your activity is exempt from IVA and you declared this in the 036, the 303 is not filed — which services are exempt is covered in the registration guide.
• For Q4 the 303 is filed by 30 January together with the annual summary 390 (AEAT calendar, «hasta el 30 de enero»: modelo 303 «Cuarto trimestre 2025», modelo 390 «Resumen anual 2025»).

Once a year: 390, Renta and the window until 31 December

• Modelo 390 — the annual IVA summary. By 30 January of the following year (AEAT calendar 2026, «hasta el 30 de enero»). In the first year the summary includes only the quarters from your alta onwards.
• Renta. The campaign for 2025 runs from 8 April to 30 June 2026; with direct debit of the payment — by 25 June («Presentación por Internet de las declaraciones de Renta 2025 … con domiciliación en cuenta: hasta el 25 de junio»). For an autónomo this is not a question of income: Ley 35/2006 (art. 96.2) requires everyone who at any point in the tax period was registered in RETA por cuenta propia to file a return, regardless of the amounts. So for the year of your alta the Renta is always filed.
• By 31 December — the 036 for the following year. Opting out of estimación directa simplificada (or revoking the opt-out) for 2027 onwards is filed by 31 December 2026 (AEAT calendar, «hasta el 31 de diciembre»).
• Modelo 111. Only if you withhold retención yourself — for example, you pay employees or receive invoices from other professionals with withholding. Then the 111 («Retenciones e ingresos a cuenta de rendimientos del trabajo, actividades económicas…») is filed per quarter by 20 January, 20 April, 20 July and 20 October (AEAT calendar 2026).
• Modelo 349. Only for transactions with counterparties in other EU countries: «Declaración recapitulativa de operaciones intracomunitarias», quarterly on the same dates — 20 April, 20 July, 20 October and 30 January (AEAT calendar 2026).

The Seguridad Social calendar: cuota, base, regularización, baja

All the rules below are from the Import@ss portal (guía práctica de trabajo autónomo):

• Cuota debit. «La cuota de autónomos se cargará en tu cuenta bancaria el último día hábil de cada mes» — direct debit at a collaborating bank is mandatory. The first payment arrives at the end of the alta month. How much that is in euros and how the tarifa plana works — in the registration guide and the cuota calculator.
• Changing the base. «Puedes cambiar hasta seis veces al año la base de cotización» — changes take effect on 1 March, 1 May, 1 July, 1 September, 1 November 2026 and 1 January 2027. If your income in the first months turned out higher or lower than you forecast at alta, adjust the base in the nearest window.
• Regularización. Once a year the Tesorería automatically compares your provisional bases with the net income reported by the tax agency and either refunds the difference or bills a top-up. A recargo applies to the top-up: 10% if you pay within the calendar month after the deadline, 20% later.
• Baja. «Puedes programar la baja hasta 60 días antes del fin de la actividad o solicitarla hasta los 6 días naturales siguientes». With the AEAT the baja is filed through the 036 within a month.

Invoices, books and record-keeping: what to set up in the first month

Invoices (RD 1619/2012)

• Mandatory details (art. 6.1): number and, where needed, series — correlative numbering; issue date; your and the client's name and surname (or company name); your NIF (for some transactions the client's NIF too); both parties' addresses; a description of the transaction with the unit price before tax and any discounts; the IVA rate; the IVA amount on a separate line; the transaction date if it differs from the invoice date; for IVA-exempt transactions — a reference to the rule or a note that the transaction is exempt.
• Issuing deadline (art. 11.1): at the time of the transaction; if the client is a business or a professional, by the 16th of the month following the month in which the IVA devengo arose.
• Factura simplificada (art. 4.1): allowed if the amount does not exceed €400 including IVA (and for some retail services — up to €3,000).
• Retención on a professional's invoice. The general rate is 15%; in the year you start a professional activity and the two following years — 7%, provided you did not carry out a professional activity in the previous year. For the client to apply 7% you must notify them in writing, and they must keep the signed notice (RD 439/2007, art. 95.1).

Libros registro

• IRPF (RD 439/2007, art. 68): business owners under estimación directa simplificada keep a libro registro of ventas e ingresos, compras y gastos and bienes de inversión (art. 68.3–4); professionals — a libro registro of ingresos, gastos, bienes de inversión and provisiones de fondos y suplidos (art. 68.5).
• IVA (RD 1624/1992, art. 62.1): a libro registro of facturas expedidas, facturas recibidas, bienes de inversión and, where applicable, determinadas operaciones intracomunitarias. The same entries can serve both taxes if they meet the regulation's requirements (art. 62.3).
• Start keeping the books from your first invoice and first purchase: that is where the figures for each quarter's 130 and 303 come from.

Keeping documents

The Reglamento IRPF (art. 68.1) requires you to keep supporting documents «durante el plazo máximo de prescripción», and the Reglamento de facturación (art. 19) — received invoices and copies of issued ones for the period set by the Ley General Tributaria and «con su contenido original, ordenadamente». The limitation period under the LGT is four years (art. 66). The practical minimum: four full years after filing the return the document relates to.

Verifactu — the deadline for autónomos

According to the AEAT note following RDL 15/2025, Impuesto sobre Sociedades taxpayers must adapt their invoicing systems by 1 January 2027, and all other obliged parties (including individuals under IRPF) — by 1 July 2027. When choosing invoicing software in 2026, check whether the developer declares Verifactu compatibility — it saves you switching software a year later. More on who Verifactu applies to — in the registration guide.

Example: alta on 15 May 2026

Say you are a freelancer (professional activity, estimación directa simplificada, general IVA regime) with your AEAT and RETA alta on 15 May 2026. Your calendar for the first 14 months:

| When | What | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | By 15 May 2026 | Modelo 036 with the AEAT, then the RETA alta via Import@ss (before starting work, at most 60 days ahead). Invoice template, libros registro, cuota direct debit. | | 29 May 2026 | First cuota debit — the last working day of May. | | 1–15 July 2026 | Window for filing the 130 and 303 for Q2 with direct debit. | | By 20 July 2026 | Deadline for the 130 and 303 for Q2 (April–June; for you — from 15 May). | | 1 September 2026 | Nearest window to change your cotización base if the income forecast at alta did not hold (the next ones — 1 November, 1 January). | | By 20 October 2026 | 130 and 303 for Q3 (direct debit — 1 to 15 October). | | By 31 December 2026 | If you want to change your IRPF method for 2027 — the 036. | | By 30 January 2027* | 130 and 303 for Q4 2026 + modelo 390 for 2026 (direct debit — 1 to 25 January). | | April–June 2027* | Renta for 2026 — mandatory, because you were registered in RETA. | | May 2027 | One year since your alta: if you have the tarifa plana, check in Import@ss what happens to it next (the conditions are in the registration guide). | | 1 July 2027 | Verifactu adaptation deadline for individual autónomos. |

* The 2027 dates follow the pattern of the 2026 calendar: as of 17 October 2026 the AEAT has not yet published the calendar for 2027. Check it once it appears.

On top of this, every month — the cuota on the last working day, and during the year — the regularización for the previous year, if you were already registered.

First-year checklist

Before you start

• Modelo 036 filed before your first purchase or invoice; IAE epígrafe, IVA regime and IRPF method chosen deliberately.
• RETA alta filed before activity starts; tarifa plana requested at the moment of alta, if you qualify.
• Cuota set up for direct debit from a Spanish IBAN; the last working day of each month is in your calendar.
• Invoice template with the details of art. 6 RD 1619/2012 and correlative numbering; decided whether you apply 7% retención and sent the written notice to clients.
• Libros registro (IRPF and IVA) set up — a spreadsheet or software, preferably with declared Verifactu compatibility.

Every quarter

• By 15 April / 15 July / 15 October / 25 January — the 130 and 303 with direct debit (or by the 20th / 30 January without it).
• With EU clients — the 349; with employees or withholding on others' invoices — the 111 (by the 20th).
• Reconcile the libros registro with your bank statements; invoices to business clients issued by the 16th of the following month.

Once a year

• By 30 January — modelo 390.
• 8 April – 30 June — the Renta (with direct debit — by 25 June).
• By 31 December — decide whether to change your IRPF method for the following year (036).
• Check the regularización from the Seguridad Social and, if needed, adjust the base in the nearest window.
• Archive of the year's invoices and supporting documents — keep for at least four years.

Common first-year mistakes

• Waiting for a "full quarter". The first return covers the alta quarter, even for a few days of work.
• Filing the 303 and 130 on the 20th with direct debit. The direct-debit window closes on the 15th (25 January for Q4); after that you have to pay another way.
• Thinking a small income exempts you from the Renta. For anyone who was registered in RETA the obligation is unconditional (Ley 35/2006, art. 96.2).
• Issuing invoices without correlative numbering or without a separate IVA line. These are mandatory details under art. 6 RD 1619/2012, not optional formatting.
• Not notifying the client about the 7% retención in writing. Without a signed notice they must withhold 15%.
• Forgetting the 349 with your first EU client. ROI registration through the 036 and the quarterly 349 are separate obligations on top of the 303.
• Missing the base-change window. There are six a year; if your income differs a lot from the forecast, waiting for the regularización costs more than adjusting the base.
• A baja "in your head". The cuota is debited while you are registered; the deadline for the baja is 6 calendar days after stopping, the 036 — within a month.
• Buying invoicing software without Verifactu. The deadline for autónomos is 1 July 2027; switching software mid-year is inconvenient.

This article is for information only and is not tax advice. All dates come from the AEAT calendar for 2026, the Import@ss rules and the BOE provisions, checked on 17 October 2026; the calendar for 2027 had not been published as of that date. Check the primary sources at sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es (calendar, modelos) and portal.seg-social.gob.es/importass (cuota, base, baja). Registration, the cuota and the tarifa plana are covered in the guide «Register as autónomo in Spain».