Employee or autónomo?
As an autónomo you keep €5,139 more a year.
A gross salary of €32,000 against billing €45,000, living in Cataluña. That is €428 a month.
Put a job offer next to what you would bill as an autónomo, and see which leaves more money once Seguridad Social and IRPF are paid. 2026 rates for every region of Spain.
Where they break even
To match this salary, bill €37,268 a year.
That is €3,106 a month, or €169 for each of 220 working days.
After holidays and public holidays, about 220.
To match this billing, a job would have to pay €40,098 gross.
What the job costs the company
The company pays €42,288 a year for this salary: €32,000 gross plus €10,288 of employer Seguridad Social.
If it paid you that as an autónomo, you would keep €27,702 net, €3,320 more than as an employee.
Net pay at every income
Net per year when a company or client spends the same amount on you: as a salary plus employer Seguridad Social, or as your invoices.
- Employee
- Autónomo
Spent by the company or client per year
The lines cross at €25,000: above it, the autónomo keeps more.
Show the figures as a table
| Spent by the company or client | Employee net | Autónomo net | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| €15,000 | €10,613 | €9,284 | −€1,329 |
| €20,000 | €14,151 | €12,765 | −€1,386 |
| €25,000 | €16,387 | €16,070 | −€316 |
| €30,000 | €18,256 | €19,472 | +€1,216 |
| €35,000 | €20,824 | €22,782 | +€1,958 |
| €40,000 | €23,265 | €26,091 | +€2,827 |
| €50,000 | €28,135 | €32,499 | +€4,363 |
| €60,000 | €32,621 | €38,247 | +€5,626 |
| €80,000 | €41,425 | €49,957 | +€8,532 |
| €100,000 | €52,566 | €60,742 | +€8,177 |
What the figures leave out
Net pay is only part of the choice. These are the differences that do not show up in the numbers above.
- Paid time off
- An employee gets at least 30 calendar days of paid holiday and around 14 public holidays. An autónomo bills nothing on those days, so the yearly billing has to cover them.
- Unemployment
- An employee who loses the job can claim paro. An autónomo pays for cese de actividad, but it is paid only in limited cases and for a shorter time.
- Sick leave
- Both are paid from the fourth day off, at 60% and then 75% of the contribution base. Many employers top this up to the full salary, and the autónomo's base is usually lower.
- Dismissal
- An unfair dismissal pays 33 days of salary per year worked. When a client stops paying an autónomo, there is no compensation.
- Pension
- The pension follows the contribution base. An employee contributes on the full salary; most autónomos contribute on a lower base, so their pension is lower.
- VAT and paperwork
- An autónomo adds 21% VAT to invoices, pays it to Hacienda every quarter, and files the modelo 130 and 303. Most pay a gestoría for this.
How it is worked out
- IRPF is the yearly tax, not the amount withheld from each payment or invoice.
- Individual tax return, no disability, no regional deductions beyond the minimums.
- The autónomo uses estimación directa simplificada, with the 7% deduction for expenses and the 5% for hard-to-justify costs.
- Cuota de autónomo by income bracket for 2026, or €80 a month with the tarifa plana.
- Employer cost includes 1.50% for accidents at work, the rate for office jobs.
- Navarra and the Basque provinces use their own foral rules.