Self-employed workers have the possibility of deducting some of the expenses that correspond to their activity. Being aware of them is very important, since it allows us to enjoy significant tax savings at the end of the year. But what are the deductible expenses?
Self-employed people have a series of expenses that are essential for the correct development of their professional activity. The most common examples are office rent, the cost of raw materials or the Social Security fee, among many others.
The tax legislation that we have in Spain allows self-employed workers to make these and many other expenses considered as deductible. That is, the Treasury allows us to deduct them from our sales and income to calculate the net profit of our activity and, from there, apply the corresponding personal income tax.
In this article we tell you what are the most common expenses that self-employed people can deduct and what requirements they must have so that we do not have problems with the tax organization afterwards.
What requirements must an expense meet to be deductible?
The Treasury requires compliance with different requirements to consider an expense deductible. The most important are the following:
- It must be linked directly to our economic activity. The less direct relationship they have, the more difficult it will be to justify them when the tax agency carries out the pertinent review.
- Furthermore, they must be justified by the corresponding invoice. In it, our data must appear, if we are self-employed, or our company’s data if we are a company. Sometimes, simplified invoices are also valid, as long as our tax data appears.
- The expenses must be recorded by the self-employed person in the corresponding book.
In those expenses in which the expense is shared between our private activity and our professional activity, we must talk to our expenses to know what percentage we can deduct and what we cannot. Although, we insist, everything has to be perfectly justified.
These are the expenses that you can deduct
It is common for there to be doubts when it comes to identifying exactly what expenses we can deduct from the exercise of our activity. Below we have prepared a list of the most common expenses that can be deducted, as long as they meet the necessary requirements for this and, furthermore, our activity gives rise to it.
Independent professional services
As a freelancer, you may have to hire a manager, a notary or any other independent professional to help you with your activity, such as a graphic designer or an editor for our website. Their fees, being closely related to the correct performance of your duties, are deductible as long as you have the corresponding invoices.
Yes, you must consider, and this is transversal to all the expenses that we are going to mention in this article, that at the time the Treasury asks us for proof of said service, we must be able to demonstrate that we have contracted it for the exercise of our duties. professional responsibilities.
Financial expenses
Many self-employed people have to face a series of financial expenses derived from the different entities with which they have contracted services. This is a fairly common situation and one that, in many cases, is overlooked; it is an expense related to our activity and, therefore, should be deductible. Depending on our financial situation, we have different expenses that could be deductible: surcharges for deferring payment of debts or late payment interest are two of the most common, but not the only ones.
Tax deductible taxes
Some taxes can also be considered as deductible expenses depending on our activity. The Real Estate Tax, known as IBI, or the Economic Activities Tax, known as IAE, are the best known, but there are more taxes and surcharges that can be taken into account for this.
It is important to note that we will not be able to deduct those penalties imposed for having filed a tax late, for example. Therefore, it is important that we have the tax calendar well controlled to avoid falling into this type of situation.
Self-employed fee
There is no other expense that is as necessary to be able to be self-employed as the self-employed fee. The amount of this fee is deductible in the personal income tax return and, in addition, it is very easy to contribute, since we do not need any invoice to justify the expense. The bank statement is sufficient for it to be accounted correctly. In fact, it is so simple that in many cases we forget to account for it, but it is essential in order to calculate the tax savings at the end of the year.
Adwords and social networks
How do we make our business or our services known? This is one of the first questions that any freelancer must answer before even starting the activity. One of the fastest and most used ways is to opt for ads in Google Ads and the social networks.
All expenses we have for advertising in both media, or in any other, are deductible as they are considered necessary for the correct development of our activity.
Computer peripherals
Have you bought a mouse, a USB stick or a second monitor to be able to work more comfortably from your home or office? Don’t worry, in this case you can also deduct this case. It is not usual for the Treasury to raise any problems in this regard, since it is one of the expenses that are considered essential.
Any computer product that is related to our work can be deductible without problems, including software licenses for those programs that are important for the exercise of our activity.
Web domain and hosting
Many self-employed people need a web page to show their services or sell their products and this represents an expense both when it is created and in terms of maintenance and hosting. All of this is deductible both in the IRPF as in VAT.
In the case of having received a subsidy for its creation, it is important that we inform ourselves in advance about the minimum maintenance time and how it should be included in tax terms.
Repairs and conservation
The maintenance and adaptation costs of material goods can also be deducted from our income. We should not confuse these expenses with the expansion works of our facilities, for example, in which case they are considered investments that can be amortized over several years.
Maintenance diets
The maintenance diets They are also deductible, as long as we respect the limits defined by the AEAT itself. A self-employed person can deduct €26.67 per day in national territory, a figure that rises to €48 if we are abroad. In both cases, if you don’t spend the night. If you spend the night away, the limit amounts to €53.34 per day in Spain and €91.35 abroad.
All these expenses must be related to the development of economic activity and always occur in restaurant and hospitality establishments and, in addition, they must be paid by electronic means.
household supplies
As long as we have notified in the census declaration that we work from home, we can deduct up to 30% of household supplies such as water or electricity for the proportional part of the home that is intended for said activity. It is not a complete deduction, but it can help.
Other external services
Through the concept of external services This refers to office expenses that are not included in any other category, advertising investments or investment and development expenses. Other concepts that can be included within this category are insurance premiums or public relations costs, for example.
Amortizations
He amortization calculation It is stipulated in the corporate tax and refers to the amount of impairment or depreciation of the investments made. It should be taken into account that if we have adopted the direct estimation regime, it is likely that we will have more difficulties in making this calculation, since they are counted differently.
Input VAT
He Supported VATor it can only be deducted when it cannot be deducted through the VAT declaration. That is, in those cases in which, for whatever reason, they are not presented with form 303 that we must regulate with the Treasury on a quarterly basis. It is quite common that we find ourselves faced with these situations in VAT-exempt activities, such as doctors or some special regimes.
Leases and fees
Have some property leasing to be able to do your job? In addition to the car, don’t forget that it can also be technological, for example, if you have trusted one of the different companies specialized in it. If you do not have it, you may be paying a lease fee that does not relate to solar land or other assets and that may be deductible.
Salaries and wages
If we are a company with several employees, it is likely that we have avary workers on payroll. Therefore, we will have several salaries, extraordinary payments or allowances to pay. As well as remuneration in kind or bonuses that we have agreed upon. All of this is considered a deductible expense.
Operating consumption
As we mentioned in the introduction, one of the most common deductible expenses is raw materials that we need to have in possession to be able to carry out our activity. In addition to raw materials, aspects such as merchandise, fuel, containers or possible packaging that we need must also be considered, always depending on the nature of our work. All of this belongs to operating consumption and is fully deductible.
Other personnel expenses
Not only salaries are considered deductible expenses, Training expenses, compensation or contributions to pension plans must also be taken into account to deduct them from our income. Any expenses that we need to make to improve the skills of our workers or our own must be taken into account as such.
The cell phone, gasoline and the vehicle
We come to one of the issues that generates the most problems: deductions for mobile phones, gasoline and our vehicle. Three aspects that are always the subject of controversy, especially if we receive an inspection by the Tax Agency.
Tax authorities allows you to deduct the expense of our mobile phone with one condition: that we have a line for work and another for our personal life. In this case, the expense may be included so that it is taken into account. In any other scenario it will not be possible and we will be exposed to receiving a sanction if they deem it appropriate.
This scenario is quite similar in the event that we mention our car and the cost of gasoline. For personal income tax purposes, we can only deduct the expense if we are professionally dedicated to transport. Otherwise, we will not be able to include this deduction for personal income tax purposes. Regarding VAT, we can deduct up to 50% of the amount paid in VAT as long as the vehicle is partially used for our activity.
However, in the event that the Treasury determines that the damage to the vehicle is less than indicated or that the gasoline used has been more for private events than for professional ones, it could reduce the percentages. Even, ultimately, eliminate them.
