Revised on 10 October 2026. This guide provides general information and does not constitute tax or employment advice. The figures correspond to 2026. If you find an error, write to me.
Selling work, providing creative services, teaching workshops and collecting royalties are not necessarily the same activity for tax and Social Security purposes. Before registering, you need to identify what you actually do, how regularly, and how your income is classified. A tax heading alone does not settle self-employed registration, VAT or the applicable withholding.
1. Keep tax matters and Social Security separate
Census registration with the Spanish Tax Agency and registration in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) follow different rules.
Las tarifas del Impuesto sobre Actividades Económicas incluyen en la sección segunda la agrupación 86, «Profesiones liberales, artísticas y literarias», y el grupo 861 para «Pintores, Escultores, Ceramistas, Artesanos, Grabadores y artistas similares». Pero una misma persona puede desarrollar además otras actividades: fotografía por encargo, diseño, docencia, mediación, restauración o comercio de obras ajenas.
Do not choose the heading just from the name you use to describe yourself. Describe all your activities to your adviser and separate:
- creation and sale of own work;
- provision of services;
- courses or workshops;
- licensing and assignment of rights;
- sale of third-party work or products.
Classification under the IAE does not automatically determine VAT or the obligation to register in the RETA. These consequences must be analysed under the relevant rules and the real form of the activity.
2. Self-employed registration does not depend on a single figure
The General Social Security Law includes in the RETA anyone who regularly, personally, directly and on their own account carries out an economic or professional activity for profit. The law sets no general income threshold below which the obligation automatically disappears.
Do not use the minimum wage as a mechanical rule for deciding that registration is not needed. The amount of income can be an indication within the analysis, but regularity and the specific circumstances remain relevant.
Before you start the activity:
- submit the census registration, where applicable;
- check whether there is an obligation to register in the RETA;
- communicate a forecast of net income;
- review the base when the forecast changes significantly;
- keep books, invoices and expense receipts.
3. How contributions based on earnings work in 2026
In the RETA, you choose a provisional base within the bracket matching the monthly forecast of net income. Social Security then regularises it using tax data.
Order PJC/297/2026 sets the following brackets for 2026:
| Monthly net income | Minimum base | Maximum base |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 670 € | 653,59 € | 718,94 € |
| More than 670 € and up to 900 € | 718,95 € | 900,00 € |
| More than 900 € and less than 1.166,70 € | 849,67 € | 1.166,70 € |
| From 1.166,70 € to 1.300 € | 950,98 € | 1.300,00 € |
| More than 1.300 € and up to 1.500 € | 960,78 € | 1.500,00 € |
| More than 1.500 € and up to 1.700 € | 960,78 € | 1.700,00 € |
| More than 1.700 € and up to 1.850 € | 1.143,79 € | 1.850,00 € |
| More than 1.850 € and up to 2.030 € | 1.209,15 € | 2.030,00 € |
| More than 2.030 € and up to 2.330 € | 1.274,51 € | 2.330,00 € |
| More than 2.330 € and up to 2.760 € | 1.356,21 € | 2.760,00 € |
| More than 2.760 € and up to 3.190 € | 1.437,91 € | 3.190,00 € |
| More than 3.190 € and up to 3.620 € | 1.519,61 € | 3.620,00 € |
| More than 3.620 € and up to 4.050 € | 1.601,31 € | 4.050,00 € |
| More than 4.050 € and up to 6.000 € | 1.732,03 € | 5.101,20 € |
| More than 6.000 € | 1.928,10 € | 5.101,20 € |
The base is not the contribution. The rates corresponding to common contingencies, professional contingencies, cessation of activity, training and the intergenerational equity mechanism are applied to the chosen base.
To calculate the countable income it is not enough to add up what you receive. The Social Security rules must be applied to the net income declared for tax purposes. If you mix activities or tax regimes, ask for a written simulation.
4. The special contribution for low-income artists
Article 313 bis of the General Social Security Law provides for a specific base for self-employed artists with low income. In 2026, Order PJC/297/2026 sets a monthly base of 526.14 euros for those included in this regime who have annual income equal to or less than 3,000 euros.
Low income alone is not enough: you must fall within the scope of the measure and apply for or notify whatever the procedure requires. Also check how a later regularisation works if actual income exceeds the limit.
This measure may cover visual creators who work on their own account in an artistic activity included in the legal definition, but it should not be confused with the special employment relationship for artists in public performances, which falls under a different scope.
5. Withholdings: it depends on what you are being paid for
There is no single percentage for all income related to a work.
- The sale of the physical medium of one's own work is not equivalent to the assignment of reproduction rights.
- A licence may be classified differently depending on the recipient and whether the rights form part of their economic activity.
- Professional earnings are subject to their own withholding rules.
- The creation of artistic works involving the assignment of exploitation rights may be taxed as employment income in certain circumstances.
As a general reference, the Personal Income Tax Regulations set a 15% withholding rate for income from teaching courses or from creating literary, artistic or scientific works when the exploitation right is assigned. In that case of employment income, a 7% rate may apply if, in the previous year, that income was below 15,000 euros and represented more than 75% of the sum of gross income from economic activities and employment, with a signed notification to the payer.
Do not apply these percentages automatically to every invoice or settlement of rights. Before issuing one, identify:
- what is being transferred: medium, service, licence, or right;
- who is the payer;
- how the earnings are classified;
- whether the transaction is subject to VAT;
- which withholding tax applies and who is responsible for applying it.
6. Retirement and artistic activity
The law allows the full amount of a contributory retirement pension to be combined with certain artistic activities, self-employed or employed, and with income from intellectual property rights, within the specific regime of the General Social Security Law.
Compatibility does not imply an absence of procedures. Anyone performing artistic activity on a self-employed basis must register and contribute for professional contingencies, in addition to a special solidarity contribution of 9% on the common contingencies base, which does not generate new benefits.
Este régimen tiene límites e incompatibilidades. No se extiende sin más a cualquier trabajo distinto de la actividad artística y puede variar según el tipo de pensión o actividad. La Seguridad Social dispone de un trámite específico de «Pensión de jubilación para artistas».
What to take to an adviser
- A separate description of each activity and income stream.
- Annual forecast of sales, services, and rights.
- Expenses linked to the activity.
- Private clients, companies, or institutions.
- Transactions within Spain and abroad.
- Employment or pension status.
- Current tax headings, if already registered.
- Invoices, contracts, and settlements of rights.
Ask for an answer that distinguishes between the tax authorities (Hacienda), VAT, personal income tax and Social Security. A correct solution in one area does not automatically solve the others.