Planning to set up your company in Spain? Get the decisions right before you commit.
A practical guide to the structures, tax rates, hiring rules and timelines that will shape your first year in Spain.
If your company is opening a subsidiary or a branch, hiring a first local team, invoicing Spanish or European clients, or relocating staff, the decisions taken at the outset determine what you pay, what you can do and how long it takes.
At Certus, we advise international companies throughout the process of establishing and running their operations in Spain, with the corporate, tax, employment and commercial workstreams managed as one project rather than four.
15%
The reduced tax rate most groups budget for — and rarely get.
Setting up in Spain looks straightforward. The details are where it gets expensive.
More and more international companies are establishing operations in Spain, attracted by its talent, its cost base and its access to the European and Latin American markets.
But when it comes to organising the entity itself, the same questions come up every time:
- Should we set up a subsidiary or a branch?
- Which corporate tax rate will actually apply to us?
- When will we be able to invoice EU clients without VAT?
- What does an employee really cost, beyond the salary?
- How long before we can genuinely start operating?
Answering these late, or answering them separately, is what turns a straightforward set-up into an expensive one.
Important: the reduced corporate tax rates that most groups budget for — including the 15% rate for new companies — do not normally apply to a subsidiary that forms part of a group.
Is this guide for you?
If your company is considering Spain or has already decided to come, this guide will help you understand what the process involves before you commit resources to it.
It is particularly useful if you are:
Opening your first Spanish entity
And weighing a subsidiary against a branch
Hiring your first local team
And need to understand the real cost and the rules
Already selling into Spain
And considering establishing a permanent presence
Relocating staff from abroad
Employees, directors or founders moving to Spain
Coordinating the project internally
Finance, legal or expansion leads scoping the work
If any of these applies, planning the structure from the outset will save you time and money later.
Download the guideWhat is inside
Six pages, written for decision-makers rather than for lawyers:
- A comparison of the subsidiary, the branch and the representative office — liability, capital, taxation and set-up time.
- The corporate tax rates in force in 2026, and which of them actually reach a company that belongs to a group.
- Why a Spanish tax number is not an EU VAT number, and when you can start invoicing EU clients without VAT.
- What an employee really costs, and the collective agreement that applies to you whether you sign it or not.
- A step-by-step timeline of incorporation, with realistic durations and the two steps that usually slip.
- Five mistakes that cost international companies money, and a checklist you can take to your next board meeting.
The aim is not to replace advice on your specific case. It is to let you arrive at that conversation already knowing what the questions are.
6–12 weeks
Realistic time from decision to fully operational
Relocating people to Spain as well?
Employees, directors and founders moving to Spain may qualify for the special tax regime known as the Beckham Law — a flat rate instead of the standard progressive scale. The election has a six-month window.
Moving to Spain: taxation and the Beckham Law for inbound professionals.
Check your eligibilityBeckham Law flat rate
24%
Standard scale up to
47%
A difference that compounds over every year of the assignment.
Expanding into Spain?
The structure you choose decides how you are taxed, how you hire, and what the parent company is liable for.
Most of the problems international companies run into in Spain are not caused by bad advice. They are caused by good advice given in isolation: a structure chosen without the tax consequence, a hiring plan made without the collective agreement, a contract signed before the entity exists.
At Certus, we advise international companies on establishing and running their operations in Spain, from incorporation through to ongoing legal, tax and corporate support.
Coordinated advice
Corporate, tax, employment and commercial handled as one project
Written for 2026
Rates, thresholds and deadlines checked and dated
International focus
We work with foreign parent companies every day
Spain is a real opportunity.
The wrong structure is an expensive thing to undo.
Converting a branch into a subsidiary, correcting a tax assumption after the first filing, or renegotiating a salary that fell below the collective agreement all cost more than getting the decision right at the outset. Start with the guide.