Deregistering as an autónomo (self-employed person) takes two steps, just like registering: deregistration with Hacienda (the tax agency) using modelo 036 and deregistration from Social Security (the RETA, the self-employed scheme). Each has its own deadline and neither releases you from the taxes for the period you worked. Here is the order, the deadlines under the law and what is still outstanding afterwards.
It is the reverse of what we cover in how to register as an autónomo in Spain. One warning before you start: since 01/08/2026 the deadline to deregister from Social Security is six calendar days, not three, because Real Decreto 643/2026 changed it. Many guides still say three.
Before you deregister: are you closing by choice?
If you stop for reasons beyond your control, such as losses, losing a licence or force majeure, you may be entitled to the cese de actividad benefit, unemployment benefit for autónomos. Your deregistrations from Hacienda and Social Security are among the documents the mutua (Social Security partner insurer) will ask for, so read how cese de actividad works for autónomos first. If you close because you want to, there is no benefit (article 331.2.a of the General Social Security Law).
Step 1: deregistering from Social Security
RETA deregistrations are made electronically (article 46.1 of Real Decreto 84/1996, the regulation on registrations and deregistrations). In practice, in Import@ss, the Social Security Treasury's (Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social) online portal, with a digital certificate or Cl@ve.
The deadline
You have six calendar days from the day after you stop (article 32.3.2 of Real Decreto 84/1996, as worded by Real Decreto 643/2026, in force since 01/08/2026). If you stop working on a Tuesday, the period ends the following Monday.
When you stop paying
Your first three deregistrations in each calendar year take effect from the day you stop, if you apply in time (article 46.4.a). That month you only pay the share of the contribution for the days worked: the monthly contribution is divided by 30 and multiplied by those days (article 47.1 of Real Decreto 2064/1995). From the fourth deregistration in the same year, it takes effect on the last day of the month in which you stop (article 46.4.b).
If you do not apply or apply late
Your obligation to contribute does not end until the Treasury learns that you have stopped (article 35.2.2 of Real Decreto 84/1996). Meanwhile you keep running up contributions, but you do not count as registered for benefits (article 46.4.c). The Treasury also reports late deregistrations to the Labour Inspectorate. You can later prove that you stopped on another date and claim back what you overpaid (article 35.2.4), but it is far simpler to deregister in time.
Step 2: deregistering with Hacienda using modelo 036
Anyone who stops all business or professional activity files the census deregistration return within one month of stopping (article 11 of Real Decreto 1065/2007). You use the same modelo 036 you used to register, on the Agencia Tributaria's online office. If you only drop one of several activities, it is not a deregistration but a change to your registration with the same form. We explain it in modelo 036.
The same rule makes clear that deregistering does not release you from filing the returns and meeting the obligations that apply to you (article 11.2). That is step 3.
The cleanest approach is to use the same cessation date for both and file them on the same day or on consecutive days: Social Security first, as it has the shorter deadline.
Step 3: the returns still to file
Deregistering closes your activity, not your last quarter. The usual ones under the general VAT regime and direct assessment (estimación directa):
- Modelo 303 for the quarter of deregistration, within the first 20 calendar days of the month after the quarter (by 30 January if it is the fourth) (article 71.4 of the VAT Regulation).
- Modelo 130 for the same quarter, if you filed it: 1 to 20 April, July or October (1 to 30 January for the fourth quarter) (article 111.1 of the IRPF Regulation).
- Modelo 390, the annual VAT summary for the year of deregistration, within the first 30 calendar days of January of the following year (article 8 of Orden EHA/3111/2009).
- Withholding returns, if you withheld tax: modelo 111 or 115 for the last quarter and their annual summaries in January. The one for professionals is modelo 190.
- The income tax return for the year, in the following year's campaign, with your business income up to deregistration. We cover it in the autónomo income tax return.
That income tax return also triggers the last adjustment of your contributions: Social Security compares what you paid in the year of deregistration with your real earnings, as in any other year (article 308.1.c of the General Social Security Law). We explain it in the autónomo contribution adjustment.
Step 4: invoices for work already done
Invoice all the work you have done before you deregister. VAT (IVA) becomes due when you provide the service or deliver the goods (article 75 of the VAT Law), not when you are paid, so it goes in the 303 for the quarter in which you worked. The invoice is issued when the transaction takes place or, if your client is a business or another autónomo, before the 16th of the following month (article 11 of Real Decreto 1619/2012). Anything you are paid after deregistering for that work is still income from your activity.
Step 5: keep your books and invoices
Hacienda can review your returns for four years, counted from the day after the filing deadline of each one (articles 66 and 67 of the General Tax Law, Ley General Tributaria). During that time you must keep the invoices you issued and received (article 19 of Real Decreto 1619/2012) and your record books (libros registro). The income tax return for the year you deregister, for example, is filed the following year and its four years only start when that filing period ends, so plan to keep everything for well over four years from your deregistration.
Also keep proof of your Social Security deregistration: the regulation requires you to keep it for four years (article 35.4 of Real Decreto 84/1996).
If you come back one day
- You lose the tarifa plana (reduced flat rate for new autónomos) when you deregister if you were still on it (article 38 ter.4 of Ley 20/2007).
- To get it again you must have spent two years without being registered as an autónomo (three if you already had it in your previous registration) (article 38 ter, opening paragraph and point 4).
- You can register and deregister up to three times a year with effect from the exact day you start or stop working (articles 46.2.a and 46.4.a of Real Decreto 84/1996).
Facturaz does not process deregistrations. If you keep your activity in Facturaz until you close, your last returns (the 303 and 130 for the quarter of deregistration and the 390 in January) come from the same data as the earlier ones. With Autónomo Go (€24 + IVA a month) you file them yourself with everything prepared. With Autónomo Plus (€44 + IVA a month) our team files them. See pricing for autónomos.