If you are taxed under estimación objetiva, which everyone calls módulos, your IRPF (personal income tax) is not calculated from your real income and expenses but from fixed indicators: staff, floor area, electrical power, tables or kilometres, depending on the activity. Your quarterly IRPF advance is not modelo 130 either but modelo 131. It is part of autónomo taxes in Spain, the guide with every other return and deadline.
If you calculate your profit under estimación directa (real income and expenses), your return is modelo 130: see how to fill in modelo 130 and the summary in the short modelo 130 guide. Here we explain modelo 131: who files it, how it is calculated, what you can subtract, when it is due and how to leave módulos if that suits you.
Who files modelo 131
Autónomos (self-employed people) who calculate their business income under estimación objetiva file it (article 4 of Orden EHA/672/2007, which approves modelos 130 and 131). The activities covered are those listed each year in the módulos order, provided you have not opted out and stay under the turnover and purchase limits of article 31.1 of Ley 35/2006 (the IRPF Law).
You cannot have one activity under módulos and another under estimación directa at the same time: if a single activity uses estimación directa, all of them do (article 31.1.3.ª.a of the Law). That is why you never file a 130 and a 131 for the same quarter.
There is an exception for farming. If your activity is agricultural, livestock or forestry and at least 70% of its income carried withholding the year before, you do not have to file modelo 131 for it (article 109.3 and 109.4 of the IRPF Regulation, Real Decreto 439/2007).
How it is calculated
Modelo 131 does not look at what you invoiced in the quarter. It looks at your módulos as they stood on 1 January, or on the day you started if you registered during the year. With that data you calculate the annual net income your módulos give and each quarter you pay a percentage of that figure (article 110.1.b of the Regulation):
| Your activity | Percentage each quarter |
|---|---|
| With more than one employee | 4% of the módulos net income |
| With one employee | 3% |
| With no employees | 2% |
| If none of the módulos data can be determined | 2% of the quarter's sales or income |
| Agricultural, livestock, forestry or fishing activities | 2% of the quarter's income, excluding capital subsidies and compensation (article 110.1.c) |
If some data cannot be known on 1 January, the previous year's figure is used. Only if there is none at all do you move to 2% of the quarter's sales. In Ceuta and Melilla the percentages fall by 60% for activities entitled to that deduction (article 110.2).
What you can subtract
The quarter's withholding
Some activities under módulos, such as bricklaying, plumbing, painting, carpentry, road freight or removals, carry 1% withholding when they invoice businesses (article 95.6 of the Regulation). That quarter's withholding is subtracted in modelo 131. If in one quarter more was withheld than you owe, you subtract the difference in the following payments of the same year (article 110.3.b). Which invoices carry that 1% is explained in IRPF withholding on your invoices.
The reduction if you earned little the year before
If your net business income the year before did not exceed €12.000, you also subtract a fixed amount from each payment (article 110.3.c):
- Up to €9.000: €100 per quarter.
- From €9.000,01 to €10.000: €75.
- From €10.000,01 to €11.000: €50.
- From €11.000,01 to €12.000: €25.
If the reduction is larger than what you owe, the rest is subtracted in the following payments of the same year.
An example
You run a bar with one employee. With your módulos at 1 January, your annual net income comes to €18.000. Each quarter you owe 3%: €540. In the first quarter €120 was withheld from you and your net income the year before was €11.500, so you also subtract €25. Your first-quarter modelo 131 is €395. In a quarter with no withholding, you pay €515.
If you want to pay more in advance to avoid surprises in the Renta, you can apply higher percentages (article 110.4).
Deadlines and nil returns
Modelo 131 is filed every quarter, on the same dates as modelo 130 (article 111.1 of the Regulation):
- First quarter: 1 to 20 April.
- Second quarter: 1 to 20 July.
- Third quarter: 1 to 20 October.
- Fourth quarter: 1 to 30 January of the following year.
If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day. The fourth quarter of 2026 is due on 01/02/2027, because 30/01/2027 is a Saturday. All the dates are in the tax calendar.
If after subtracting withholding and reductions nothing is left to pay, you still file a nil return (article 111.1). Besides online, modelo 131 is one of the few returns that can still be filed on paper, printed with the Agencia Tributaria's service (article 2.b of Orden HAP/2194/2013). If you miss a deadline, what happens is covered in surcharges for filing late.
What happens in the Renta
Modelo 131 is an advance. In the Renta (annual income tax return) you declare your módulos income for the year and subtract what you paid in your four 131s plus withholding (article 79.e of the Law). If you paid too much, you get it back. We explain it in the Renta for autónomos.
How to leave módulos
You can opt out of módulos in two ways (article 33.1 of the Regulation). The first is through your census return during December before the year you want the change: to leave módulos in 2027, in December 2026. The second is filing the first-quarter payment on time with modelo 130 for estimación directa instead of modelo 131.
Opting out binds you for at least three years (article 33.3 of the Regulation and article 31.1.5.ª of the Law). You move to estimación directa simplificada, with your real income and expenses and modelo 130.
How Facturaz helps
If you are under módulos, Facturaz calculates your modelo 131 every quarter from your activity data and reminds you by email and in the app before each deadline. You can try it free for 14 days: see taxes in Facturaz.
