How to fill in the modelo 036 box by box: registering as an autónomo or an SL, IAE heading, ROI, changes and deregistration

The modelo 036 in 2026: a single form after the 037 was abolished

Since 3 February 2025 the modelo 037 no longer exists. Orden HAC/1526/2024 abolished it and replaced the 036 form for all returns filed from that date. The simplification the 037 used to offer now sits inside the 036 itself: the AEAT calls it the simplified 036 (036 simplificado).

According to the AEAT guide, it can be used by a resident individual who already has a NIF (Spanish tax identification number), whose tax address is the same as their business management address, who is not a large company, is not in the ROI (registro de operadores intracomunitarios, the register of intra-community operators needed to trade with businesses in the EU) or in the monthly refund register, does not make distance sales and applies either the general VAT scheme or one of these: simplified, agriculture, equivalence surcharge or cash accounting, among other requirements. It accepts the reason boxes 111, 122, 124, 125, 127, 131, 132, 136, 142 and 150. If you need the ROI or you are an SL, you will use the full 036:

When and how to file the modelo 036: registration, changes and deregistration

Registration comes before you start. Article 9.4 of the Regulation on tax management and inspection (RGAT) treats the activity as started with the first purchase, sale, receipt, payment or hiring made for the business. If you are going to buy your computer before you invoice, the 036 goes in before that purchase.

How to file it. At the AEAT e-office (sede electrónica). Individuals can use Cl@ve (the government's online ID system) or a digital certificate; SLs and SAs (sociedades anónimas, public limited companies) need a certificate, unless the 036 only requests the provisional or definitive NIF (art. 12 of Orden EHA/1274/2007). For an individual's initial registration, deregistration or change of address, the AEAT also offers Censos WEB, a question-based assistant that fills in the 036 for you. If you are an individual, another route is to fill it in on the e-office and obtain the modelo 036 as a PDF to hand in, signed, at the office for your tax address; according to the AEAT, within one month at most of printing it. If you file online, keep the receipt with its secure verification code (código seguro de verificación).

Page 1: reason for filing the modelo 036 (registration, change or deregistration)

Here you tick why you are filing: A) registration (alta), B) change (modificación) or C) deregistration (baja). Tick every reason that applies: if you move house and start another activity at the same time, you tick 122 and 127.

Two rules prevent a lot of mistakes. Box 111 is only ticked when starting for the first time or returning after deregistering with box 150; if you are already registered and start another activity, it is a change (127 and page 4). And box 150 is for anyone giving up all their activities; if you close one of two, it is box 127 again. According to the AEAT, an SL can only deregister once it has been dissolved and its entries at the Registro Mercantil (Companies Registry) have been cancelled; if it simply stops trading, it uses box 140 (see dormant SL).

Pages 2 and 3: identification, addresses and representatives

Page 2A is for individuals and 2B for companies. Watch out for the three addresses:

• Tax address (A11 to A25; B11 to B25): your habitual residence or, for an SL, the place where it is actually managed (art. 48 of the General Tax Law, LGT). It includes the cadastral reference (A30 or B30) and the indicator in A39 or B39; if the property has no reference, you choose option 4.
• Address for notifications (A41 to A60; B41 to B60): only if you want to receive them somewhere else.
• Business management address (A71 to A85): only if you run the business away from home. For an SL, the registered office goes there instead (B71 to B85).

Page 3. An SL always fills it in when applying for the NIF; an autónomo only if appointing a representative (for example, their gestor, the adviser who handles tax paperwork). A second representative uses boxes 350 to 384.

Page 4: activity, IAE heading and premises

Everyone in the census declares each activity and its premises here, whether or not they pay the Impuesto sobre Actividades Económicas (IAE, the business activities tax). The activity is identified by its IAE heading (epígrafe); to find it, the AEAT has a keyword search tool for activities on its e-office.

The section is what matters most. A self-employed consultant or translator usually goes in the 2nd section, reserved for professional activities; a shop or a workshop, in the 1st. The difference matters: professional income carries withholding when you invoice businesses (art. 95 of the IRPF Regulation, RIRPF) and, apart from agricultural, livestock and forestry activities, only professionals can be exempt from the modelo 130 (art. 109 RIRPF). The start date (406, or 425 if you work from premises) is the real one: if you have already bought something for the business, the date of that purchase. If you change premises, you register the new one and deregister the old one.

Page 5: VAT, from the scheme to the ROI and monthly refunds

The start (502 to 509) decides whether you can deduct the VAT on what you buy before invoicing. For VAT, the activity starts when you buy with a proven intention of using it in the business (art. 5.Dos of the VAT Law, LIVA) and those earlier VAT amounts are deductible (art. 111 LIVA). The AEAT cites the 036 with boxes 111 and 504 as proof of that intention. If you tick 504, once you start invoicing you have one month to file another 036 with 131, 508 and 509. Box 586 is only needed if part of your transactions will not give the right to deduct.

The scheme. The equivalence surcharge (recargo de equivalencia, 514) is not chosen: it applies to retailers who meet the requirements, and the surcharge is added by your supplier (art. 154 LIVA). The simplified scheme (550) goes hand in hand with módulos (art. 122 LIVA), and is waived on registration or in December (art. 33 of the VAT Regulation, RIVA). The cash accounting scheme (criterio de caja) is optional up to 2,000,000 € of turnover in the previous year (art. 163 decies LIVA); it is chosen on registration or in December, and a waiver lasts at least three years (arts. 61 septies and 61 octies RIVA).

The ROI. The register of intra-community operators gives you the VAT number with the ES prefix (art. 25 RGAT). You must be in it if you sell goods to or buy goods from businesses in another EU country, if you provide services located in another Member State with the VAT charged to the customer, or if you receive services from non-established businesses and self-assess the VAT yourself under the reverse charge (art. 3.3 RGAT). Tick 582 and the expected date in 584. Being in the ROI means filing the modelo 349 in periods with transactions (art. 78 RIVA); after 12 months with none, apply to leave (583, art. 10.2.e RGAT). If the AEAT does not decide on your inclusion within three months, you may treat it as refused (art. 25.1 RGAT).

Monthly refunds. Outside this register, VAT in your favour is only refunded in the last return of the year; inside it (579), in each period (art. 30 RIVA). In exchange, the modelo 303 becomes monthly and you keep your books through the SII (Suministro Inmediato de Información, the electronic submission of the VAT books). You apply in November of the previous year or within the filing period of a return, with a certificate.

Page 6: the autónomo's IRPF and the SL's Corporate Tax

Autónomo. If you had no activity the previous year, the simplified direct assessment (estimación directa simplificada, 609) applies unless you waive it (art. 28 RIRPF); its limit is 600,000 € of turnover in the previous year (art. 30 of the IRPF Law, LIRPF). A waiver (610) is made on registration or in December and ties you to the normal method for three years (art. 29 RIRPF). The instalment payments of the modelo 130 are compulsory (art. 99.7 LIRPF), except for professionals (or agricultural, livestock or forestry activities) with at least 70% of their previous year's income subject to withholding; in the first year, each period is looked at separately (art. 109 RIRPF). If you are a professional and at least 70% of your income carries withholding, you can leave box 600 unticked; if you do not reach that percentage, you tick it. Changes are made with box 132.

SL. Tick 620 with the date in 641 and the financial year end in 640: the deadlines for the modelo 200 depend on it. Instalment payments are paid in the first 20 calendar days of April, October and December and, by default, are calculated on the tax due for the last year filed (art. 40.1 and 40.2 of the Corporate Tax Law, LIS). Box 621 is for calculating them on the taxable base for the period: you opt on registration or in February if the financial year matches the calendar year; if not (the first year of a new SL), generally within 2 months of its start. It is compulsory with more than 6,000,000 € of turnover in the previous 12 months (art. 40.3 LIS).

Page 7: withholdings (modelos 111, 115 and 123) and large company status (page 5)

Here you state which withholding returns you are going to file, each with its date. If you stop paying that kind of income, according to the AEAT you do not file a nil 111: you report the deregistration in the 036. Calculations and deadlines are in the guide to modelos 111 and 115 and in the withholding calculator.

In a small SL the boxes most often forgotten are 700, when it starts paying the director (see how to pay yourself from your own SL), and 707, with the first dividend (see paying dividends). An autónomo needs 702 when renting premises and 700 when hiring staff.

Large company status goes on page 5: box 541 (yes or no) and 545 (date), ticking 128 on page 1. You are a large company if your turnover in the previous year exceeds 6,010,121.04 € (art. 71.3 RIVA); according to the AEAT, the 303 and the 111 then become monthly. That 036 is filed before the first affected return falls due (art. 10.4.c RGAT).

Three worked modelo 036 cases: autónomo registration, autónomo with EU clients and SL registration

Case 1. Self-employed consultant with business clients in Spain. She works from home, buys her computer on 10 February and invoices from 1 March. She files the 036 before 10 February.

• Page 1: 111.
• Page 2A: A1 "yes"; A4 her DNI; tax address (A11 to A25) with A30 and A39.
• Page 4: 400; 402 with her 2nd section heading; 403 and 404, A05; 405 and 406 (10 February); 411.
• Page 5: 500 "yes"; 501 "no"; 504 and 505; 510. In March, another 036 with 131, 508 and 509.
• Page 6: 609; no 600 if she expects at least 70% of her income to carry withholding. If in any quarter it drops below 70%, she will have to file the modelo 130 and report it with box 132.

Case 2. Self-employed developer invoicing a German company and buying advertising from an Irish platform.

• Page 1: 111. Pages 2A and 4: as in case 1, with his heading and code (A03 or A05).
• Page 5: 500 "yes"; 501 "no"; 502 and 503; 510; 582 and 584. He needs the ROI on both counts: he provides services to a business in another Member State and receives services from a non-established one.
• Page 6: 609 and 600, because his foreign client does not withhold.
• Afterwards: as a rule, the invoice to Germany carries no Spanish VAT, because a business-to-business service is located where the customer is (art. 69.Uno.1.º LIVA), and he self-assesses the Irish advertising (art. 84.Uno.2.º LIVA). Both go on the 303 and the 349 (see invoicing foreign clients).

Case 3. Newly incorporated SL with a paid director and a rented office. The NIF starts out provisional, so there is more than one 036.

• Step 1, provisional NIF: 110; page 2B with B4 blank, B5, B9, 65 "no", 78 and 79; page 3 with 300, 304 to 306, 330 and 331 (code 02), 333 (08) and 334 (11); page 8 with the shareholders. The notary can handle this under an agreement with the AEAT.
• Step 2, before the first purchase or invoice: registration with 111 (if you already know the details, the AEAT accepts reporting the start of activity in the same return as box 110); page 4 with the office as premises (registration and date in 424 and 425); page 5 with 500, 501, 504 or 502 and 510; page 6 with 620, 641 and 640; page 7 with 700 and 720 (director) and 702 and 722 (rent). With the company's certificate.
• Step 3, in the month after registration at the Companies Registry: 120 and 125; B10; 65 "yes"; 68 and 69; page 10 (beneficial owners), compulsory when applying for the definitive NIF (art. 4.2.m RGAT); and the registered deed, uploaded on the e-office (art. 24.4 RGAT). If the notary handles it under the agreement, the AEAT may waive this 036 (art. 24.6 RGAT).

Common mistakes when filling in the modelo 036 and how to fix them

• Wrong heading or section. It changes whether you are subject to withholding and whether you can be exempt from the modelo 130. It is corrected with box 127: deregister the wrong activity and register the right one.
• Forgetting the ROI. Without box 582 you have no valid VAT number for intra-community transactions and your European client will not be able to check it. Apply before the first transaction.
• Not ticking the obligation to withhold. Hiring staff or renting premises without box 700 or 702 leaves an obligation unregistered. And if you stop paying that income, report the deregistration.
• Ticking 111 when already registered. A new activity is box 127.
• A start date later than your first purchases. Without box 504, it will be harder to prove your right to deduct that VAT.
• Not reviewing box 600. If your clients stop withholding, report it with box 132.
• Filing late. A late census return that causes no financial loss costs 400 € if you file it after an AEAT request (art. 198.1 LGT) and 200 € if you file it yourself beforehand (art. 198.2 LGT); it drops by 40% if you pay on time without appealing (art. 188.3 LGT); see I have missed a deadline.

Every correction follows the same pattern: a 036 for changes (modificación), with the page 1 box for the affected block and only the data that changes, as a rule within the following month. kontora prepares your returns box by box from your bookkeeping and reminds you of deadlines, but which returns apply to you is set by your 036: check it before your first quarter. For closing down, see the guide to deregistering as an autónomo.

Frequently asked questions

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