Company Formation in Spain

What kind of corporation is right for your company? As in all European countries, there are many different kinds of corporations in Spain. Important: Depending on the industry and personal situation various legal forms offer great advantages in taxation and liabiliy. The following is an overview of the main types of corporations. We are happy to analyse your personal situation – a competent proposal is important in any case before the company is founded!

Limited Liability Company

Steps required for the foundation of a Sociedad Limitada:
Request for confirmation of the desired company name An indication of three possible names is required, since it is possible that the desired name is already assigned to another company. For this application we require a photocopy of your passport or identity card of one of the founding partners.

Share Capital
Once the name of the corporation is confirmed an account needs to be set up at a Spanish bank in the name of the founding corporation and the share capital to be paid. The bank will issue a certificate of the account opening, the payment of the share capital and the division of the founding shareholders. This original needs to be presented at the notarisation of the founding of corporation and will be attached as a photocopy to the memorandum.

Minimum Capital
The minimum capital for the foundation of a Spanish S.L. (Sociedad Limitada) is 3.000 EUROS. The company may be founded by a person who holds 100 % of the shares (one-person-Limited Liability Company.

Civil Law

(Comunidad de Bienes)
Necessary steps for establishing a Comunidad de Bienes:

Creating a Founding Treaty
This can be both, in private written form or in the form of a notarial deed of incorporation. This type of corporation must be founded by at least two people.

Minimum Capital and Capital Proof
are not required and will be set by the shareholders.

For the preparation of the charter the following data and documents are required:

Photocopies of the passports or identity cards of the shareholders
Names of parents, marital status, occupation and home address of the shareholders
Company address
Business purpose
Amount of paid-up capital
Distribution of the initial capital to shareholders (%)
Name of the director – if more than one director:
Indicate whether the directors should be independent or are only entitled to act together.

Sole Proprietorship

(Persona físcia - Autónomo)
Following steps are required for the founding of a sole proprietorship (self-employment):

Application of a foreigner identification number (N.I.E.) at the immigration office
Registration of business with the tax authorities
Application of self-employed person with social security. Independent companies in Spain are obliged to pay social security contributions. This amount is about 260 Euro/Month and include health and pension insurance for the entrepreneur.
Application of sol