The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) defines graphic design as the art and practice of planning and projecting ideas and experiences with visual and textual content. Graphic design communicates ideas or messages that are understood through the human eye and interpretation. Being a self-employed graphic designer means being an independent transmitter of ideas.
However, when working as a self-employed, some small or large processes are experienced that are part of professional and personal growth, and bureaucracy is one of those cumbersome steps. Registering as a self-employed graphic designer and knowing how to show your work is essential, but how do you do it?
Next, we will share the main steps to be able to work as a self-employed graphic designer in Spain. Keep reading!
Register in Hacienda as a self-employed graphic designer
For all economic activities, it is mandatory to register with Hacienda (Treasury), and as a self-employed, this is essential in Spain.
Registering consists of informing through a form the specific date when you will begin to carry out your independent work, the circumstances or the way in which you will do it, and through this, the taxes that you must pay will be determined.
This registration can be processed online through the Electronic Office of the Tax Agency and you must present Form 036 or 037 (Census of Businesses, Professionals and Withholders), in which you will reflect:
- Fiscal and personal data.
- Place/province where the activity is planned to be carried out.
- Address of the residence or place where it will be carried out.
- IAE heading (Economic Activities Tax) assigned to your work.
- Respective IVA and personal income tax (IRPF) schemes.
You can also process it in person, in this case, do not hesitate to rely on experts so that your paperwork is in order.
IAE Heading
This information is important to formulate the taxes to be paid. In the case of graphic designers, the heading group P322 of graphic arts technicians corresponds to them.
If you are a web graphic designer or developer, your respective heading is the P763 group of computer programmers and analysts. If you are also engaged in communication, marketing or advertising, you can use the heading E844 for advertising, public relations and similar services.
The first two mentioned headings are for professional self-employed workers, the third is for business self-employed workers; this should be taken into account because they can cause some differences when paying taxes.
An exclusive heading for graphic designers does not exist. Therefore, graphic designers can register with several headings at the same time as long as they combine them according to the characteristics of their profession.
CNAE Code
The CNAE is the National Classification of Economic Activities, it is a numbering system whose purpose is to group and classify all the producing units according to the economic work that is carried out, each unit is assigned a numerical code that is the CNAE code.
The self-employed graphic designer must enroll in the CNAE 7410 heading for specialized design activities; although if the work is dedicated to web design and programming, you must select the CNAE 6201 heading for computer programming activities.
Register with Social Security
At the same time that you register with Hacienda, you must do the same in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) by filling out Form TA0521 for the application of Registration or Deregistration of the Self-employed (you can download it for free here).
In this form you must indicate:
- The code of the type of activity to be carried out, which is related to the IAE heading indicated in Hacienda.
- Contribution base: it will be the reference to receive a retirement pension in the future. However, for new self-employed workers, there is a flat rate option that can be accessed for the first few years.
- Choose an Accident Insurance Company to access the various benefits in case of temporary work incapacity.
- Indicate an account number to authorize the payment by direct debit of monthly installment payments.
For this registration there is a period of 30 days from the delivery of Form 036 (Census) in Hacienda, so you can present the documentation (Form TA0521, a copy of the certificate of registration in Hacienda, and a copy of the DNI) in any of the Social Security offices. However, you can do it online with the digital certificate or you can resort to Entre Trámites, who has a team trained to register you with Social Security.
In less than 24 hours, the mobile phone you register will receive a text message confirming your registration with Social Security as a self-employed graphic designer.
If you want to know more details about how to do this step, we invite you to read this article on our blog on how to get your Social Security number.
Flat rate
The new self-employed graphic designer has the advantage of being able to access a flat rate of €60 euros per month (€80 euros in 2023) during the first active year; and depending on the autonomous community, you can get an extended flat rate or a rural flat rate.
What taxes do I have to pay as a self-employed graphic designer?
All the self-employed must comply with the payment of Social Security contributions, the personal income tax (IRPF), and the IVA, although this depends on the gross income that you receive throughout the year and, in the case of the personal income tax, the sections of the autonomous community where you find yourself since each area does not pay the same amount. The ranges are between 19 – 23.50% of the annual gross income.
Another detail to know about the IRPF tax is its withholdings on invoices. As a self-employed graphic designer in Spain, you can make 15% personal income tax withholdings on your invoices if they are addressed to a company, institution or another self-employed person, in which you indicate the amount.
Although, in the first three years as a self-employed worker, you could have more liquidity by retaining 7% on your bills as a payment on account of the Renta. As for the IVA, this is equivalent to 21% applicable in most products or services and professionals and companies are responsible for collecting and then delivering to the Treasury.
An example of net income for a self-employed graphic designer
Here, we share with you an example of what a self-employed graphic designer could be deducted from their gross income after paying taxes. That is, the total of their net income:
Jorge is a new self-employed graphic designer who lives in the community of Asturias and receives benefits of €30,000 per year for his work. However, he must deduct 21% of IVA annually, about 16.5% of the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) that his autonomous community requires, and €720 from Social Security by having his flat rate bonus.
Thus, Jorge must subtract from his gross income approx. €5,206 of IVA, €4,964 of Personal Income Tax and €720 of Social Security. (30.000-5206-4964-720). In total, Jorge will enjoy €19,110 a year of net income.
Websites and job offers for designers
Did you find this information interesting? Do you feel that this career could be the one for you? The next thing you should do is look for clients and offers where your profile and profession fit.
On the Indeed job portal, you can find various offers to work as a self-employed graphic designer in Spain. Likewise, you can take a look at Jooble or Workana where you will find more positions. It should be noted that, after the pandemic, the possibility of working as a remote self-employed for companies in the United States or northern Europe grew, and the number of international job positions increased.
Finally, if you have more questions about how to register as a self-employed graphic designer in Spain, you can contact us through our contact form and leave your information for us to call you. You can also schedule a free consultation with us or simply text our WhatsApp.
Whatever your decision is, in Entre Trámites we offer various services of management, advice, and support in bureaucratic processes for the self-employed and SMEs.
