The Spanish freelance invoice: withholding and VAT

The first Spanish professional invoice confuses everyone: the total is not what you collect, what you collect is not what you keep, and part of your income tax is paid by your client on your behalf. Once the three pieces click, it is mechanical.

Build the invoice: base, VAT that adds, withholding that subtracts

The taxable base: your services. VAT at 21% that you ADD (IGIC at 7% from the Canary Islands, IPSI from Ceuta and Melilla). Income-tax withholding at 15% that you SUBTRACT when invoicing a business or professional (7% if you are newly registered, the start year plus two). Checked 2026-08-22 against the tax agency’s withholding tables. On a 1,000 base: 1,000 + 210 − 150 = 1,060 to the bank. Our withholding calculator runs any combination instantly, with your region’s variant.

Whose money each piece is

The VAT was never yours: you collect it as a custodian and settle it quarterly with the modelo 303. The withholding IS yours, just prepaid: your client deposits it with the tax agency in your name and it nets against your annual return. The operational trick that prevents scares: move the VAT to a separate account the day you get paid, then forget it exists.

The requirements that void invoices

Sequential numbering without gaps, complete details for you and the client (tax IDs included), date, a clear description, base and VAT rate and amount shown separately, and the withholding visible when it applies. Our invoice generator produces the clean A4 document; correct tax data is your half. And mind the calendar: under RD-ley 15/2025, Verifactu will additionally require the record to be born in certified software from 1 January 2027 for companies and from 1 July 2027 for freelancers; our Verifactu guide walks through the dates and what to do.

Who you never withhold from

Consumers, never. EU business clients under reverse charge get an invoice without Spanish VAT and without withholding (with the right mentions). Outside the EU, generally the same. Withholding is a Spanish business-to-business affair: if your client base is foreign, your invoice is simpler and your annual return less prepaid, so set aside more on your own.