Private lessons without being autónomo: what Spanish law says

Do you need to be autónomo to give private lessons?

Yes, if you teach habitually and charge for it. The law asks anyone who works for themselves habitually, personally and directly to register with Social Security as autónomo.

Two laws say it in almost the same words. The self-employment statute (Ley 20/2007, article 1) applies to people who carry out an economic or professional activity for profit "habitually, personally, directly", on their own account. The Social Security law (article 305.1) puts everyone over 18 who works that way in the autónomos scheme (RETA). A teacher who gives their own private lessons and charges for them fits that description.

Neither article sets a minimum income, a number of hours or a number of students. The word that decides it is "habitual", and the law doesn't define it with a figure.

What about "below the minimum wage you don't need to"?

It isn't in the law. Neither the statute nor the Social Security law exempts you below the minimum wage (SMI). The SMI does appear in two other places: the reduced cuota table and the tarifa plana's second year.

You'll read it in every forum: if you earn less than the SMI, you can teach without registering. Some people take it as a rule. It isn't one: none of the articles we link here says it, and Social Security may see your case differently.

Where the SMI does count: the 2026 SMI is €1,221 a month, or €17,094 a year. If you expect to earn less than that, you can choose a lower cuota from the reduced table, and if you're on the tarifa plana you can keep it for a second year. Both rules are in Social Security's guide for autónomos.

So if teaching is a regular income for you, the safe move is to register before your first paid lesson. If you only teach now and then, ask a gestor about your case before you decide.

How much is the cuota de autónomos in 2026?

It depends on your net income: from €205.88 a month on the lowest band to €607.35 on the highest. You pick a band when you register, and the next year Social Security checks it against what you earned.

The first three bands, up to €1,166.70 a month, are the reduced table. Each figure is the minimum for its band: you can choose a higher base and pay more.

Net income is, roughly, what you earn from lessons minus your expenses. You give an estimate when you register; the next year Social Security compares it with what you declared to Hacienda and refunds or charges the difference. You can change band up to six times a year, as Social Security's guide explains.

Tarifa plana: €80 a month to start

If it's your first time as autónomo, or you've gone two years without being registered, you pay a reduced cuota for your first 12 months. Social Security's guide lists it at €80 a month.

The tarifa plana is in article 38 ter of Ley 20/2007. It covers the first 12 full calendar months after you register. After that you can keep it for 12 more months if your yearly net income stays below the SMI. If you've had it before, the gap without being registered has to be three years, not two.

The law leaves the amount to each year's budget law. Social Security's guide lists the tarifa plana at €80 a month for anyone who got it from 1 January 2023 on (checked on 30th of October 2026).

Ask for it when you register: the law ties the request to the moment you sign up. And register on time: if you register after you start, you lose the right to reductions on the cuota.

How to register as autónomo to give lessons

Register with Hacienda first, then with Social Security, both on or before the day of your first paid lesson. A gestor can do both for you.

1. 1

   Register with Hacienda (modelo 036)

   File the census declaration before you start. That's where you pick your IAE epígrafe, the code for your activity.

2. 2

   Register with Social Security

   In the Importass app or website, on your start day or up to 60 days before. You give your expected net income a month, pick your band and ask for the tarifa plana.

3. 3

   Record every payment

   Private lessons given by an individual on subjects in the school curriculum are VAT-exempt under article 20.Uno.10º of the VAT law. Keep a record of every payment you receive.

4. 4

   Adjust your band during the year

   If you earn more or less than you expected, change band. You can do it up to six times a year, so the yearly check ends close to zero.

Next: which IAE epígrafe for teachers fits your lessons, how VAT on language lessons works, and a free invoice generator for tutors.

Already have a job? You still register

Yes. If you're employed and also give your own lessons, you register as autónomo too. Social Security calls it pluriactividad.

Social Security's guide is clear: everyone who works on their own account registers as autónomo, even with a job. In pluriactividad, sick-leave cover in the autónomos scheme is optional if your job already covers it, and you can get back half of what you overpay in common contributions across both schemes.

Hacienda: your lesson income is taxed either way

Whatever happens with Social Security, what you earn from lessons is income. You declare it in your income tax return (renta) as income from an economic activity.

The income tax law taxes all your income (Ley 35/2006, articles 6 and 27), and income from work you organise on your own account is income from an economic activity. Not being registered doesn't make that money tax-free.

Hacienda also expects the census registration, with modelo 036, before you start the activity.