Spain Self-Employed Contributions Calculator 2026

Indicative calculation for a self-employed worker in the RETA registered for the whole period entered, with no multiple-scheme activity (pluriactividad), no reductions other than the general flat rate and no special schemes (agriculture, sea, artists, street vendors). Your final computable income is set by the tax agency from your income tax return. It does not replace Social Security or an adviser.

How the real-income contribution system works

Since 2023 self-employed workers in Spain no longer pick their contribution base freely: they pay according to their actual net income, under the system created by Royal Decree-law 13/2022. It always works the same way:

1. You forecast your income for the year. When you register, and whenever your forecast changes, you tell Social Security what average monthly net income you expect.
2. That forecast puts you in a band. There are 15: three in the reduced table, for net income below €1,166.70 a month, and twelve in the general table. Each band has a minimum and a maximum base.
3. You choose a base within the band and pay 31.50% of it every month. Most people choose the minimum; a higher base improves future pensions and benefits.
4. It is adjusted the following year. Once the tax agency reports your actual income, Social Security checks whether the base you paid fits the band you really belong to, and charges or refunds the difference.

So the self-employed fee works like a payment on account: what matters is getting the forecast right and correcting it during the year if your turnover changes.

How computable net income is calculated

What counts for Social Security is not turnover but the net income from all your business activities, calculated under income tax rules with two adjustments set by article 308 of the General Social Security Act:

• The self-employed fee is not deducted. For businesses under direct assessment, the Social Security fees paid are added back to net income. In other words, subtract your deductible expenses but not the fee itself. In the calculator, enter expenses excluding it.
• Generic expense deduction. 7% is then taken off the result. For partners in limited companies and worker-owned companies (societarios) the deduction is 3%.

The annual amount is spread over the months you were registered, and that monthly average sets your band. For example, with €36,000 of income and €8,000 of expenses, net income is €28,000; after the 7% you are left with €26,040, i.e. €2,170.00 a month, which falls in band 6 of the general table.

For company-director autónomos, pay and returns from the company (director's salary, dividends) are added when they hold at least 33% of the share capital, or 25% if they are directors.

Self-employed contribution bands 2026

Official table from Order PJC/297/2026 (article 18). Each band's minimum and maximum fee result from applying 31.50% to its bases. The bands are the same as in 2025; only the maximum base of bands 11 and 12 changes.

What the fee pays for: 2026 contribution rates

Unlike employees, the self-employed pay everything themselves, with a single rate on a single base. In 2026 the total is 31.50%: a tenth of a point more than in 2025, because of the scheduled rise in the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism, which will reach 1% in 2027.

Self-employed fee examples for 2026

• Freelance designer with €36,000 income and €8,000 expenses. Computable income: 28,000 × 0.93 = €26,040, €2,170.00 a month. Band 6 of the general table, minimum base €1,274.51. Fee: €401.47 a month, €4,817.65 a year. Any base up to €2,330.00 can be chosen.
• Private tutor with €15,000 income and €5,400 expenses. 9,600 × 0.93 = €8,928, €744.00 a month: band 2 of the reduced table, minimum base €718.95. Fee: €226.47 a month (€2,717.63 a year).
• Director-shareholder of a limited company (SL) with €30,000 income. With 3%: €29,100, €2,425.00 a month, band 7, whose minimum base is €1,356.21. But as a societario they cannot pay on less than €1,424.40: a fee of €448.69 a month.
• Consultant with €90,000 income and €6,000 expenses. 84,000 × 0.93 = €78,120, €6,510.00 a month: band 12. Minimum fee €607.35 a month; on the maximum base of €5,101.20 it would be €1,606.88.

For comparison, this table shows the minimum fee for an individual self-employed worker registered for 12 months, by annual net income (income minus expenses):

Flat rate for new self-employed workers in 2026

If you register for the first time, or have not been registered in the previous two years (three if you already had it), you can ask for the reduced fee in article 38 ter of the Self-Employed Workers Statute: €80 a month for the first 12 months, regardless of income. The MEI is added on top, and Social Security puts the total at €88.64 a month in 2026. During that period there are no cessation-of-activity or training contributions and the fee is not adjusted.

• Extension: another 12 months of reduced fee if the year's net income is below the minimum wage (€17,094 in 2026). You must request it before the first year ends, with a statement of expected income.
• Special cases: with a disability of at least 33%, or for victims of gender violence or terrorism, the first period is 24 months and the extension 36.
• Not eligible: collaborating family members (who have their own reduction) and members of religious orders. Partners in limited and worker-owned companies are eligible.

Example: a new self-employed worker with €20,000 income and €4,000 expenses would have computable income of €14,880 (€1,240.00 a month, general band 1) and a normal fee of €299.56. On the flat rate she pays €88.64: she saves €2,531.02 in the first year and, as €14,880 is below the minimum wage, she can ask for the extension.

The 2026 flat-rate amount was meant to be set by the Budget Act, which has not been passed; neither Royal Decree-law 3/2026 nor the contributions Order mention it. We use the figure published by Social Security in its self-employment guide.

Company-director autónomos and collaborating family members

Partners in limited companies (SL, SA) and worker-partners of worker-owned companies registered as self-employed, as well as collaborating family members, have their own minimum base: the common contingencies minimum for group 7 of the General Scheme, €1,424.40 a month in 2026, i.e. a minimum fee of €448.69. Social Security lets them keep their 2025 provisional base during 2026 (not below €1,000), but in the annual adjustment the final base will not be below €1,424.40, provided they were registered for at least 90 days in the year. Company-director autónomos also use a 3% generic expense deduction instead of 7%. The calculator applies both rules when you choose the type of self-employed worker.

Changing your base: up to six times a year

If your income drifts from your forecast, you can change base (and band) up to six times a year on Import@ss by declaring your new income forecast. Changes are not immediate:

• Request 1 Jan – end Feb → applies from 1 March
• Request 1 Mar – 30 Apr → applies from 1 May
• Request 1 May – 30 Jun → applies from 1 July
• Request 1 Jul – 31 Aug → applies from 1 September
• Request 1 Sep – 31 Oct → applies from 1 November
• Request 1 Nov – 31 Dec → applies from 1 January of the next year

Adjusting your base in time avoids surprises: an adjustment you have to pay carries no surcharge if paid on time, but it can be a large lump sum.

The annual adjustment (regularización)

The bases you pay during the year are provisional. When the tax agency reports your actual income (usually after the income tax return), the General Treasury of Social Security divides it by the months registered, finds your actual band and compares:

• If your base was between the minimum and maximum of the actual band, nothing is adjusted.
• If it was below the minimum, you pay the difference by the last day of the month after notification, with no surcharge or interest.
• If it was above the maximum, Social Security refunds the excess automatically, before 30 April of the year after the tax agency's report.

Example, payment due: the designer in the example paid on €1,274.51 expecting €2,170.00 a month, but ended the year with €44,000 of income (€36,000 of net income): €2,790.00 a month, band 8, minimum base €1,437.91. She will have to pay €617.65. Example, refund: had she chosen a €2,000 base and her net income stayed at €20,000 (€1,550.00 a month, band 3, maximum €1,700), she would get back €1,134.00.

Flat-rate months are not adjusted (except during the extension if income exceeds the minimum wage), nor are periods of sick leave, birth leave and other short-term benefits.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Orden PJC/297/2026, de 30 de marzo, de cotización a la Seguridad Social para 2026 (BOE-A-2026-7296): arts. 3, 18 y 37
• Real Decreto-ley 3/2026, de 3 de febrero, art. 3 (BOE-A-2026-2548)
• Real Decreto-ley 13/2022, de 26 de julio, nuevo sistema de cotización de autónomos: DT 1ª, 5ª y 7ª (BOE-A-2022-12482)
• Texto refundido de la Ley General de la Seguridad Social, art. 308 y DT 43ª (BOE-A-2015-11724)
• Ley 20/2007, del Estatuto del trabajo autónomo, art. 38 ter (BOE-A-2007-13409)
• Real Decreto 2064/1995, Reglamento general de cotización, arts. 44 a 46 (BOE-A-1996-1579)
• Real Decreto 126/2026, salario mínimo interprofesional para 2026 (BOE-A-2026-3815)
• Seguridad Social, Importass: Guía práctica de trabajo autónomo
• Seguridad Social: bases y tipos de cotización 2026

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