Accounting & Tax Compliance in Spain
Statutory accounts, VAT (IVA) returns, corporate tax filings, and compliance aligned with Spanish accounting standards (PGC).
SpainCurrency
EUR
Corporate tax rate
25% standard · 23% for SMEs under €10M turnover (2026, reducing to 20% by 2029) · 15% for new companies, first 2 profitable years
VAT standard rate
21%
Legal forms
SL · SA
Bookkeeping standard
Plan General de Contabilidad (PGC)
Annual filing
Annual accounts approved within 6 months of year-end
How accounting and tax compliance work in Spain
Spain applies a corporate tax system tiered by company size and age, alongside a social security framework where employer contributions consistently rank among the highest in the EU. The standard corporate rate of 25% gives way to lower rates for SMEs and newly created companies, but payroll cost is the more material planning variable for most market entrants.
Operating in Spain requires coordination across a tiered corporate tax system, one of the EU's higher employer social security burdens, and a permit framework recently restructured to be more transparent but no less exacting in its documentation requirements.
Discuss your Spain accounting setupRate structure and what it applies to
25% standard · 23% for SMEs under €10M turnover (2026, reducing to 20% by 2029) · 15% for new companies, first 2 profitable years
- Employer social security contributions — of roughly 30–31% of gross salary, among the highest in the EU
- Contribution group classification — (11 official categories) determining minimum contribution bases regardless of actual salary
- Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI) — a pension-sustainability contribution increasing annually through 2029
- Collective bargaining agreements — frequently setting sector-specific minimums above statutory floors
Rates that apply in Spain
| Rate | Applies to |
|---|---|
| 21% | Standard rate — most goods and services |
| 10%, with a super-reduced 4% | Reduced rate(s) — defined categories of goods and services |
Plan General de Contabilidad (PGC), and when an audit is required
Statutory bookkeeping in Spain follows Plan General de Contabilidad (PGC). Statutory audit mandatory above 2 of 3 thresholds: €5.5M balance sheet, €11M turnover, 50 employees — aligned with EU harmonized thresholds.
Confirm your audit obligationAnnual accounts and registration
Annual accounts approved within 6 months of year-end, filed with the Commercial Registry within 1 month of approval.
Entity registration runs through the Commercial Registry (Registro Mercantil), often via the CIRCE one-stop system, typically taking 2–6 weeks for an SL with standard bylaws.
Plan your filing calendarFrequently asked questions
Talk to a Spain accounting expert
The structural cost of Spanish payroll is well understood by specialists but frequently underestimated by companies budgeting from headline salary figures alone. A single governance layer that models total employment cost from the outset prevents this gap from surfacing only after the first payroll cycle.