Employee or autónomo with €40,000 gross?
As an autónomo you keep €5,967 more a year.
A gross salary of €40,000 against billing €53,000, living in Cataluña. That is €497 a month.
What a €40,000 gross salary leaves you, and what you would need to bill as an autónomo to keep the same: €42,911 a year in Cataluña.
Where they break even
To match this salary, bill €42,911 a year.
That is €3,576 a month, or €195 for each of 220 working days.
After holidays and public holidays, about 220.
To match this billing, a job would have to pay €50,211 gross.
What the job costs the company
The company pays €52,860 a year for this salary: €40,000 gross plus €12,860 of employer Seguridad Social.
If it paid you that as an autónomo, you would keep €35,343 net, €5,879 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 |
€40,000 as an employee or as an autónomo
In Cataluña, a €40,000 gross salary leaves you €29,464 net a year, or €2,105 in 14 payments. The company pays €52,860 for it, €12,860 of its own Seguridad Social on top. To keep the same €29,464 as an autónomo with no business costs, you need to bill €42,911 a year: €3,576 a month, or €195 for each of 220 working days.
If the company paid you its full cost of €52,860 as invoices instead, you would keep €35,343: €5,879 more than on the payroll. The comparison at the top starts with these figures; change them to match your offer.
Billing that matches €40,000 in every region
From the lowest to the highest billing needed: from €40,924 in Gipuzkoa to €44,171 in Navarra. Single, 34, no children, no business costs.
| Region | Employee net | Billing to match | Per working day | Autónomo net, billing the cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gipuzkoa | €30,287 | €40,924 | €186 | €38,762 |
| Álava | €30,287 | €41,876 | €190 | €38,149 |
| Bizkaia | €30,287 | €41,876 | €190 | €38,149 |
| Ceuta | €34,302 | €42,858 | €195 | €42,317 |
| Melilla | €34,302 | €42,858 | €195 | €42,317 |
| Canarias | €29,905 | €42,896 | €195 | €35,855 |
| Aragón | €29,708 | €42,899 | €195 | €35,689 |
| Comunidad de Madrid | €30,196 | €42,904 | €195 | €36,227 |
| Comunitat Valenciana | €29,801 | €42,905 | €195 | €35,801 |
| Illes Balears | €29,572 | €42,906 | €195 | €35,593 |
| La Rioja | €30,078 | €42,907 | €195 | €36,047 |
| Región de Murcia | €29,918 | €42,908 | €195 | €35,901 |
| Cantabria | €29,919 | €42,908 | €195 | €35,893 |
| Galicia | €29,796 | €42,909 | €195 | €35,732 |
| Andalucía | €29,719 | €42,909 | €195 | €35,645 |
| Castilla-La Mancha | €29,655 | €42,909 | €195 | €35,581 |
| Castilla y León | €29,840 | €42,909 | €195 | €35,766 |
| Cataluña | €29,464 | €42,911 | €195 | €35,343 |
| Asturias | €29,724 | €42,912 | €195 | €35,585 |
| Extremadura | €29,630 | €42,917 | €195 | €35,321 |
| Navarra | €29,854 | €44,171 | €201 | €34,861 |
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.