Hi All,

I am an EU citizen who has been living and working in Spain for 5 years now. Recently I came up with this idea to start up an online business similar to selling online vouchers/services. After looking into the set up process in Spain I must admit it is very very annoying how hard the make it for you. I consulted with lawyers on Monday and the set up procedure itself is not complicated and costs you around 600? . As it is a small business and online then I do not have to register as an SL right away but I can form it as “sociedad civil” - e official partnership. All looked good but the taxes I need to pay are between 24-43% on my income ( as soon as I make over 33? K the tax already goes up to 37% on income, plus they require 250? per person per month social security tax per person ( there 2 of us trying to build this business ) , plus as the tax system is complicated you need most probably to hire an accountant to help you with your monthly/quarterly and annual tax reports which is another 150? per month etc. So before I even know if the idea will work I am already paying more than I can afford. not mentioning how complicated it is to get an online payment terminal to your website ( not paypal - as I want something simple and easy without registration and hassle so people can buy impulsively ) - still not sure if that is even possible over here, working with different banks to find out more..

All this has brought me to a conclusion that I should be looking into setting the company up elsewhere, as it is an online business. Can anybody advise me how things would work in Gibraltar?

Any ideas and suggestions are welcome!:)

Hi,

I am in the identical situation, although I have already set up my business and have been paying the ?fine? of 400+ Eur a month, it makes me incredibly angry, it?s just rediculous, it feels like the whole Spanish system and philosophy is to try and bleed as much money out of you as quickly as posslbe, rather than help you build a business. It also cost something like 3000 EUR to set up in Spain, what for I don?t know cost about 50 pounds in England and once you are up and running it?s very difficult to claim any expenses unless the receipt has your company details on, so things like train, bus, flight tickets, food and any general travel costs don?t really qualify. As a result I am looking into closing down the Spanish company and reregistering the business in either the UK or Holland(I lived in both countries), I would recommend you look into doing something similar.

Actually I also had the same issue in terms of payment, I did manage eventually to get a payment system set up with the Santander but it took so long and was such a painful process I had already decided to just go with paypal, which of course was up and running within a day. One big advantage of going with paypal is that it is not directly linked to any Spanish bank, so you can effectively manage your finances online and deposit funds into any account in the world.

Question - Does anyone know if the following is legal? - If I have a company registered somewhere in the EU (but not Spain) but I live in here can I buy a Spanish product and resell it to a Spanish buyer using

Send me a PM please I would be interested to discuss things further since we are in the same boat we might be able to help each other figure out the best way forward.

Hi David,
Not sure why but I am unable to PM you as it keeps saying not valid screen name..?
So far I have found out that the best way forward is still stick to register your business/partnership/sole trader or which ever you decide to go for in Spain. I have been looking really extensively into Gibraltar option as the tax system ( or shall I say the lack of one ) was very appealing as was the rest, including no language barrier etc. But in the end although this option is possible it will require a longer set up time and larger amounts of money to do so as there are many complications involved due to being border country with Spain, so for now I have decided to proceed as non resident sole trader in Spain for the first few months of my business to see how it goes and then decide how and where to proceed as I should have a better idea in few months what my monthly income will be and if it is worth going through with the hassle. The same applies to another EU countries as you mentioned you will be selling services in Spain? that means that even without physically being present in Spain, you would still qualify under their tax system ( except when you can prove relation to another country and get taxed there)..but there is always a chance they will come after you..
My question to you is if you could give me some more information on the process of Santander and the payment getaway setup? I looked into the same options with Solbank - but they told me no right away..Now I am considering between paypal and moneybookers (charges less commissions then paypal) - my only concern is that I have read many reviews for both about how they freeze merchant accounts with no apparent reasons and difficulties in payments..and as this will be a vital part of my business model, it is really important that I will get it right. I m expecting a large volume of small transactions per day so the system must be solid and trustworthy..any recommendations regarding that?

Hi freeenvio that is pretty much my understanding too, so an online business shouldn?t really be a problem.

My problem is that I sell a Spanish product and sometimes to Spanish residents with the transaction being outside of the website, I don?t know where I stand with that if my business is registered outside of Spain.

I don?t know where to find the answer either.

Any thoughts much appredciated.

greatK did you get my PM?

Hi David,

Indeed I got your message but again when trying to reply it keeps saying> One or more of the Screen Names submitted were invalid.
Not sure why???

Freeenvio - Thanks a lot that?s great, pretty much how I see it too, that?s one of the main points of the EU right? good idea to contact chamber of commerce - of course never thought of it.

Interesting conversation you guys have had here. I was actually (relatively) unaware of the arduousness of writing off expenses. This is really the only major difference I can identify as to doing business in Spain vs elsewhere (to my knowledge but I’m almost completely ignorant of the UK system). Since you can set up a business anywhere, why not go Isle of Mann since we’re trying to avoid paying taxes?

Freeenvio - please remove those promotional links from your posts before a moderator comes along and bans your account. 😉 Check the forum rules.

greatK - sounds like you’re going to try to do a Spain version of Groupon. Is that the case?

HI Guys,

I am italian thus very accustomed to burocracy, unnessecary expenses, slow moving paper work etc etc.

After living and working online for 8 years in italy I moved here 2 years ago and beside initial slow internet set up (took 2 months as I am in the sticks), opening a company, setting up card and internet payments etc was very staright forward with no problems. I already had a website and I just needed to link up the new online payment options with my old website. I am using Caixa Penedes btw.

I now have no problems with internet service, I find Iberbanda give a good service and are very courteous.

Yes I pay my 250 euro/month for social security and yes taxes are to be paid regularly (if you make a profit that is), accountants I pay 800 euro a year (almost half of what I paid in Italy), write off all my expenses and find things very straight forward and have not experienced all the hassels you seem to.

Setting up a company cost me peanuts (don’t remember but along the lines of 100-200 euro), very important to get a vat number whihc is your personal NIF number (this is fundamental) and after waiting sometime for this (approx 2 months through my accountant), I was set. No major problems.

Do you speak castellano? could there be communitcation problems? This of course is fundamental to work and live in a foreign country. I am near Girona so maybe different here in catalunya compared to other parts of Spain.

Good luck

CLaudio

Great points Claudio. Thanks for piping up.