As an autónomo (self-employed person), your profit is taxed in your IRPF (personal income tax). When you work through a sociedad limitada (SL, a limited company), the profit belongs to the company and the company pays: the Impuesto sobre Sociedades, Corporate Tax, declared once a year with modelo 200. It is an SL's most important return and one of the differences covered in the guide autónomo or SL.
Here is who files it, the deadline, the 2025 and 2026 rates, how you get from the accounting result to what you pay, how the modelo 202 payments on account are subtracted and what to do if your SL had no activity. Each rule comes from Ley 27/2014, the Corporate Tax Law (LIS).
Who files modelo 200
Every company. The law requires every taxpayer of this tax to file (article 124.1 of the LIS) and only exempts the fully exempt entities in article 9.1, such as the State or the regional governments (article 124.2). An SL files even if it made a loss, invoiced nothing or had no activity at all during the year.
The deadline
It is filed within the 25 calendar days following the six months after the end of the financial year (article 124.1 of the LIS). If your financial year is the calendar year, that is 1 to 25 July. If it closes on 30 September, 1 to 25 April.
- Financial year 2025: the deadline ended on 27/07/2026, because 25/07/2026 was a Saturday. Direct debit of the payment ran from 01/07/2026 to 22/07/2026 (article 3.2 of Orden HAC/529/2026, which approves that year's form).
- Financial year 2026: it will be filed from 01/07/2027 to 26/07/2027, because 25/07/2027 is a Sunday. As of 07/11/2026 the order with that year's form has not been published: the LIS already provides for what happens if it is not approved when the period opens (article 124.1).
Modelo 200 is always filed online (article 4.1 of Orden HAC/529/2026).
The rates: 2025 and 2026
The general rate is 25%, but small companies pay less and their rates are falling each year (article 29.1 and the forty-fourth transitional provision of the LIS). The rate depends on the year in which the financial year starts:
| Type of company | Financial year 2025 (modelo 200 of July 2026) | Financial year 2026 (modelo 200 of July 2027) |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover in the previous year under €1 million | 21% on the first €50.000 and 22% on the rest | 19% on the first €50.000 and 21% on the rest |
| Small company (empresa de reducida dimensión, turnover under €10 million) | 24% | 23% |
| Newly created company, in its first profitable year and the next | 15% | 15% |
| Others | 25% | 25% |
From financial years starting in 2027 the scale for companies under €1 million settles at 17% and 20%. The small company rate drops to 22% in 2027, 21% in 2028 and 20% from 2029. If the financial year lasts less than a year, the €50.000 first band is reduced in proportion to the days.
Two exceptions worth knowing. The 15% new company rate does not apply if a related person or entity carried out the activity before, or if during the previous year it was carried out by an individual who holds more than 50% of the new company: the typical case of moving your autónomo business into your own SL. And holding companies, those mainly owning assets not used in a business, cannot apply those reduced rates (article 29.1 of the LIS).
From the accounting result to what you pay
Modelo 200 does not start from scratch: it starts from the result of your profit and loss account, calculated under the Código de Comercio (Commercial Code). Then it corrects it with the adjustments the LIS requires (article 10.3). The path is this:
- Accounting result for the year.
- Adjustments: expenses the law does not allow are added back and income that is not taxed is subtracted. The result is the taxable base before losses.
- Losses from previous years: you offset them up to 70% of the base, although you can always offset up to €1 million (article 26.1). In its first three profitable years, a newly created company has no 70% limit (article 26.3).
- Tax rate: gives the gross tax.
- Deductions and allowances: give the net tax.
- What was paid in advance: you subtract withholding, payments on account and the year's instalment payments (article 41). The result is the amount to pay or to be refunded.
An example
Your SL's turnover in 2025 was under €1 million and in 2026 it has a taxable base of €80.000. The first €50.000 are taxed at 19% (€9.500). The remaining €30.000, at 21% (€6.300). The tax is €15.800. If during 2026 it paid €3.000 through its modelo 202 returns and €400 was withheld from it, in July 2027 it will pay €12.400 with modelo 200.
If the 202 payments exceed the tax
If what was paid in advance exceeds the tax, Hacienda (the Spanish tax agency) refunds the difference automatically (article 41 of the LIS). It has six months from the end of the filing period to review the return. If after that time it has not ordered the refund for reasons not attributable to the company, it also owes late-payment interest (article 127).
What your accounts must show
Because modelo 200 starts from the accounting result, you first have to close the books: depreciation plus income and expenses allocated to the right year. The form also includes the company's balance sheet, profit and loss account and statement of changes in equity (article 2.3 of Orden HAC/529/2026). What each statement is we explain in P&L and balance sheet for your SL.
The company law calendar comes before the tax one. The director prepares the accounts within three months of the year end (article 253 of the Ley de Sociedades de Capital, the Companies Act), the shareholders' meeting approves them within the first six months (article 164) and they are filed with the Registro Mercantil (Companies Register) within a month of approval (article 279). If your financial year is the calendar year, by July, when you file modelo 200, the accounts are already approved.
If the company pays its director a salary, that expense and its withholding also run through here. We cover it in the salary of an SL director.
If your SL had no activity
The obligation to file does not depend on activity (article 124.1 of the LIS). A dormant SL files its modelo 200 with its result, usually a small loss from fixed costs. That loss is not wasted: it stays as a negative taxable base to offset against future profits (article 26). The annual accounts are also prepared, approved and filed in the same way.
How Facturaz helps
Facturaz keeps your SL's accounts with every invoice and expense and leaves the annual accounts ready to download. With Empresa Go (€44 + VAT a month) you also get modelo 200 and the 202s ready to download and file yourself. With Empresa Plus (€84 + VAT a month) our team files all the company's returns. You can try it free for 14 days: see both plans on SL pricing.
