Recargo de equivalencia (retail VAT surcharge scheme)

In practice it mostly affects small shops: a haberdashery, a clothing store or a variety shop that buys stock and sells it as is to the public. If you are an autónomo and meet those conditions, you do not choose the scheme: it applies by law and you must tell your suppliers so they invoice you with the surcharge. Your VAT paperwork becomes much simpler, because you do not settle VAT on those sales, but you pay more on every purchase and recover nothing.

The current surcharge rates are 5.2% for goods taxed at 21% VAT, 1.4% for goods at 10%, 0.5% for goods at 4% and 1.75% for tobacco (article 161 of the Spanish VAT law). Companies (SL) are outside this scheme, and if you are the one selling to a retailer under it, you as the supplier must invoice the surcharge and pay it over.

The typical mistake: staying in the scheme when you transform the product (you customise, assemble or alter what you sell), or a supplier forgetting to add the surcharge on an invoice to a retailer who is under it.

It is linked to the general VAT regime and to modelo 303: the retailer does not file it for those sales. In your books the surcharge you pay is simply part of the purchase cost. kontora records it that way in double entry bookkeeping.

Guides that use this term

• Modelo 309: what it is and when a self-employed person files it
• Verifactu for bars, restaurants, hairdressers and shops with a POS
• Quarterly tax returns for the self-employed in Spain: which forms you file each quarter and by when
• What is Verifactu and does it affect you?
• Verifactu FAQ: the real questions of autónomos and small companies

Related terms

• Autónomo: An autónomo is a self-employed individual who works independently in Spain and bears the financial risk of their own business.
• Modelo 303: Modelo 303 is the quarterly VAT self-assessment, where you declare the VAT charged on your invoices and deduct the VAT paid on eligible purchases and expenses.

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