Which IAE code for private teachers in Spain?

IAE epígrafes for teachers, straight from the BOE

These four epígrafes are the ones to know for private lessons and language academies: two in the professional section, for individuals, and two in the business section. The table quotes what the BOE tariffs say each one covers.

Which epígrafe if...

Start from how you teach, not from the subject. Where you teach and whether you're a person or a company decide the section; the subject then picks the epígrafe.

1. 1

   You teach on your own, at home or at your students' homes

   Epígrafe 826. The IRPF regulation counts teachers who work at home, in private homes or in an academy as professionals, whatever they teach.

2. 2

   You also teach at someone else's academy, on invoice

   Still 826: the same rule includes teaching in an academy that isn't yours. If the academy hires you as an employee, that work is a salary, not an activity, and needs no epígrafe.

3. 3

   You open your own academy

   Epígrafe 933.9. The same IRPF rule says teaching in your own academy or premises is a business activity, even if you're still autónomo.

4. 4

   You set up an SL

   A company can't register in the professional section: the IAE rules send it to the matching business epígrafe, which is 933.9 for languages.

5. 5

   You teach professional training

   Look at 824 as an individual or 932.1 as a business. Which one fits depends on your courses, so check it with your gestor.

6. 6

   You do more than one thing

   Declare every activity you carry out. Hacienda's guide to modelo 036 asks for all of them, each with its IAE code.

Professional or business: why it matters

The section decides more than a code: whether your lessons can be VAT-exempt and whether clients withhold IRPF from your invoices.

VAT: article 20.Uno.10º of the VAT law exempts private lessons given by individuals on subjects in the education system's curricula. The same article says lessons that need a business or artistic epígrafe in the IAE don't count as private lessons. Our guide to VAT on language lessons covers the details.

IRPF: companies and other autónomos who pay you for professional work must withhold 15% of the invoice, or 7% in your start year and the next two if you didn't work as a professional the year before (IRPF regulation, article 95.1). Parents paying privately for their child's lessons don't withhold anything.

Do teachers pay IAE?

Not as individuals: the law exempts every individual. Companies are exempt in their first two years and while their turnover stays under 1,000,000 €.

Article 82 of the local finance law lists these exemptions. Being exempt doesn't mean skipping the epígrafe: it tells Hacienda what you do, and its section decides how VAT and IRPF work for you.

How to register your epígrafe

You choose it in modelo 036, your census registration with Hacienda, before you start teaching. You can file it online yourself or ask a gestor.

Hacienda asks you to register before you start the activity. If you're an individual registering for the first time, Censos WEB walks you through modelo 036. If what you do changes, you update your epígrafe with another 036.

Not sure you need to register yet? Read private lessons without being autónomo. Opening an academy? Our guide to starting a language school has the full checklist.