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 |
Worked examples in Cataluña
What each salary costs the company and leaves you, what you would have to bill as an autónomo with no business costs to keep the same, and what you would keep if you billed the company's full cost. Single, 34, no children, permanent contract.
| Gross salary | Employee net | Cost to the company | Billing to match | Autónomo net, billing the cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €20,000 | €16,652 | €26,430 | €23,758 | €18,495 |
| €25,000 | €19,844 | €33,038 | €28,527 | €22,808 |
| €30,000 | €23,091 | €39,645 | €33,439 | €27,252 |
| €40,000 | €29,464 | €52,860 | €42,911 | €35,343 |
| €50,000 | €35,308 | €66,075 | €52,803 | €43,181 |
| €60,000 | €41,124 | €79,290 | €62,647 | €50,680 |
| €80,000 | €52,494 | €99,871 | €83,271 | €61,778 |
Questions about being an employee or an autónomo
How much do I need to bill as an autónomo to earn the same as a €30,000 salary?
In Cataluña, a €30,000 gross salary leaves €23,091 net a year. To take home the same as an autónomo with no business costs, you need to bill about €33,439 a year before VAT: 1.11 times the salary, or €2,787 a month. Each euro of business costs adds one more euro to that billing.
Is it better to be an employee or an autónomo?
It depends on what a client will pay you compared with what a company would. For the same gross amount, the employee always keeps more, because the company pays its own Seguridad Social on top. Compared at the same cost to the company, the autónomo keeps more: in Cataluña, billing the €39,645 that a €30,000 salary costs leaves €27,252, €4,160 more than the €23,091 on the payroll. That advantage is gone with about €6,200 of business costs a year, and it still has to pay for what the figures leave out: paid holidays, unemployment benefit, sick pay and severance.
How much does an employee cost the company?
About a third more than the gross salary. In 2026 the company pays around 32.1% on top in Seguridad Social: common contingencies, unemployment, training, FOGASA, MEI and accidents at work. A €30,000 salary costs €39,645 a year, €9,645 more than the gross.
How much is the cuota de autónomo in 2026?
It depends on your net income: from €206 a month on the lowest bracket to €607 on the highest. In your first year you can pay the tarifa plana of €80 a month instead. An autónomo billing €33,439 with no costs pays €5,126 a year.
Does an autónomo pay more IRPF than an employee?
The tax scales are the same; what changes is the taxable base. Employees deduct their Seguridad Social, €2,000 of general expenses and, on low wages, a work reduction. Autónomos deduct their cuota, their business costs and, in estimación directa simplificada, 5% for hard-to-justify costs. For the same €23,091 net in Cataluña, the employee pays €4,959 of IRPF and the autónomo billing €33,439 pays €5,221.
How many days a year does an autónomo bill?
Around 220: the year minus weekends, about 14 public holidays and 22 working days of holiday. To bill €33,439 a year over 220 days you need about €152 a day, before VAT. If you also need time for sales, admin or training, count fewer billable days and raise the day rate.
Does the tarifa plana change the result?
In the first year, yes. The tarifa plana fixes the cuota at €80 a month for 12 months, whatever you earn. Billing €33,439, it saves about €4,166 that year compared with the normal cuota. From the second year the normal brackets apply, so compare both years before you decide.
Do I have to charge VAT as an autónomo?
Most autónomos add 21% VAT to their invoices, but it is not income: you pay it to Hacienda every quarter with the modelo 303, after taking off the VAT on your business costs. That is why every figure here is billing before VAT. Some activities, such as healthcare and education, are exempt.
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.