For those who practise on their own or run a small firm: contributions, taxation, winning clients and day-to-day management.
The General Statute of the Spanish Legal Profession, approved by Royal Decree 135/2021, devotes several articles to individual practice. We summarise the rules that affect the lawyer working on their own every day, from where they can act to what to do when they take over a matter a colleague was handling.
A lawyer who practises on their own account can calculate their income tax return by direct estimation. In the simplified version, the Tax Agency allows a fixed percentage to be deducted for hard-to-document expenses. We review how it works according to the official manuals of the 2025 tax return campaign.
Professionals taxed under direct estimation must keep four income tax record books. For a lawyer, the book of advances on account and disbursements has special importance, because it records the money received from clients for expenses. We explain what the Tax Agency requires.
Before invoicing their first matter, a lawyer setting up on their own must register in the census of businesspeople, professionals and withholding agents. Since February 2025 the only form is 036: 037 has disappeared. We review the deadlines according to the Tax Agency.
The publication of the order regulating the public e-invoicing solution has started the deadlines of Royal Decree 238/2026. For lawyers who practise on their own and do not exceed 8 million euros in turnover, the obligation to issue and receive e-invoices with business or professional clients will arrive in October 2028.
For the lawyer who works from a room at home, since 2018 the income tax law allows deducting part of the home's utilities under a fixed rule: 30% of the proportion of square metres devoted to the activity. We explain how it is calculated.
