Employee or autónomo with €26,000 gross?
As an autónomo you keep €3,329 more a year.
A gross salary of €26,000 against billing €34,500, living in Cataluña. That is €277 a month.
What a €26,000 gross salary leaves you, and what you would need to bill as an autónomo to keep the same: €29,472 a year in Cataluña.
Where they break even
To match this salary, bill €29,472 a year.
That is €2,456 a month, or €134 for each of 220 working days.
After holidays and public holidays, about 220.
To match this billing, a job would have to pay €31,160 gross.
What the job costs the company
The company pays €34,359 a year for this salary: €26,000 gross plus €8,359 of employer Seguridad Social.
If it paid you that as an autónomo, you would keep €23,740 net, €3,230 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 €16,000: above it, the employee keeps more.
Show the figures as a table
| Spent by the company or client | Employee net | Autónomo net | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| €15,000 | €10,613 | €10,777 | +€164 |
| €20,000 | €14,151 | €14,299 | +€149 |
| €25,000 | €16,387 | €17,415 | +€1,029 |
| €30,000 | €18,256 | €20,883 | +€2,627 |
| €35,000 | €20,824 | €24,193 | +€3,369 |
| €40,000 | €23,265 | €27,502 | +€4,238 |
| €50,000 | €28,135 | €33,556 | +€5,420 |
| €60,000 | €32,621 | €39,497 | +€6,876 |
| €80,000 | €41,425 | €50,662 | +€9,237 |
| €100,000 | €52,566 | €61,848 | +€9,283 |
€26,000 as an employee or as an autónomo
In Cataluña, a €26,000 gross salary leaves you €20,511 net a year, or €1,465 in 14 payments. The company pays €34,359 for it, €8,359 of its own Seguridad Social on top. To keep the same €20,511 as an autónomo with no business costs, you need to bill €29,472 a year: €2,456 a month, or €134 for each of 220 working days.
If the company paid you its full cost of €34,359 as invoices instead, you would keep €23,740: €3,230 more than on the payroll. The comparison at the top starts with these figures; change them to match your offer.
Billing that matches €26,000 in every region
From the lowest to the highest billing needed: from €27,962 in Álava to €30,548 in Navarra. Single, 34, no children, no business costs.
| Region | Employee net | Billing to match | Per working day | Autónomo net, billing the cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Álava | €20,862 | €27,962 | €127 | €25,443 |
| Bizkaia | €20,862 | €27,962 | €127 | €25,443 |
| Gipuzkoa | €20,862 | €27,962 | €127 | €25,443 |
| Ceuta | €22,788 | €29,234 | €133 | €27,056 |
| Melilla | €22,788 | €29,234 | €133 | €27,056 |
| Comunidad de Madrid | €20,752 | €29,424 | €134 | €24,156 |
| Región de Murcia | €20,604 | €29,431 | €134 | €23,981 |
| La Rioja | €20,748 | €29,436 | €134 | €24,108 |
| Canarias | €20,618 | €29,442 | €134 | €23,957 |
| Castilla y León | €20,562 | €29,442 | €134 | €23,900 |
| Asturias | €20,562 | €29,442 | €134 | €23,901 |
| Illes Balears | €20,493 | €29,445 | €134 | €23,819 |
| Cantabria | €20,705 | €29,449 | €134 | €24,016 |
| Comunitat Valenciana | €20,674 | €29,451 | €134 | €23,980 |
| Galicia | €20,634 | €29,455 | €134 | €23,923 |
| Andalucía | €20,570 | €29,457 | €134 | €23,854 |
| Aragón | €20,552 | €29,457 | €134 | €23,836 |
| Castilla-La Mancha | €20,506 | €29,457 | €134 | €23,790 |
| Cataluña | €20,511 | €29,472 | €134 | €23,740 |
| Extremadura | €20,780 | €29,472 | €134 | €23,956 |
| Navarra | €21,289 | €30,548 | €139 | €23,688 |
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 5% off for hard-to-justify costs, up to €2,000. The cuota bracket uses net income less a further 7%.
- 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.