# Stop being autónomo or leave Spain > How to de-register as an autónomo with Social Security and your Hacienda Foral, what you still file afterwards, and the extra steps if you leave Spain. - Page: https://autonomo.eus/steps/closing-down - Part: Part D: Run your business - For: Everyone - Last checked: 14 October 2026 Stopping as an autónomo is two de-registrations (*baja*), not one: Social Security and your Hacienda Foral. Each one has its own deadline, and neither tells the other. **Give both the same end date: Social Security within 6 days of stopping, Hacienda within 1 month.** Your tax returns do not stop on that date. You still file the quarter you stopped in, the annual VAT return in January and your Renta the next spring. ## Before you start - Your end date: the last day you work as an autónomo - Your digital ID: [Cl@ve](https://autonomo.eus/steps/clave) or a [digital certificate](https://autonomo.eus/steps/fnmt-certificate) for Import@ss, and [BakQ](https://autonomo.eus/steps/bakq) or a certificate for your Hacienda - Your IAE code and the name of your tax office (your Hacienda Foral), which Import@ss asks for - Your last invoices issued and your records up to the end date. See [Keep your records](https://autonomo.eus/steps/records) - A bank account that stays open until your last Social Security fee and your last tax return are paid ## How to do it 1. Choose your end date. Use the same date everywhere. If you can, stop at the end of a month: you pay the fee for the days of the month you were registered, so a mid-month date saves a little, but a clean quarter end makes the last returns simpler. 2. De-register with Social Security. Open the Import@ss service [Baja en trabajo autónomo](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass/Categorias/altas%2C+bajas+y+modificaciones/bajas+y+modificaciones/baja_trabajo_autonomo) (de-registration as a self-employed worker), press "Solicitar baja" (apply for de-registration) and log in. Enter your end date, the reason, and the IAE code of each activity with the tax office it is registered at. You can file it up to 60 days before your end date, or up to 6 calendar days after. Download the proof (*justificante*). 3. Watch the date rule. If you file later than 6 days after stopping, Social Security treats the de-registration as late and sets the end date to the last day of the month in which you stopped, so you pay that whole month. You can only choose the exact day of a registration or de-registration 3 times a year, and only if you file on time. 4. De-register with your Hacienda Foral with the same end date, within 1 month of stopping. This is a census form (*declaración censal*). The form and the place differ by territory: see your territory below. 5. Keep both proofs together with your last returns. A voluntary de-registration does not give you the cessation benefit (*prestación por cese de actividad*): see [Claim the autónomo unemployment benefit](https://autonomo.eus/steps/cese-actividad) for the cases that do. ### Álava - Form: modelo 037, the same form you registered with. For a person, stopping the activity is a change (*modificación*) on the form, not a full de-registration from the census. File it online in the Álava electronic office: [modelo 037](https://egoitza.araba.eus/es/inicio/tramites/fitxa/modelo-037). Log in with Bak, BakQ or a digital certificate. Deadline: 1 month from the event. - IAE: a separate de-registration (*declaración de baja*) on [modelo 840](https://egoitza.araba.eus/es/buscador-de-modelos/fitxa/modelo-840) for business activities or [modelo 841](https://egoitza.araba.eus/es/buscador-de-modelos/fitxa/modelo-841) for professional ones, within 1 month of stopping. Hacienda asks you to file the 037 first. When the IAE fee is municipal, the form goes to the town hall (*Ayuntamiento*) where you worked; in Vitoria-Gasteiz you can do it online. See Hacienda's page on [economic activities](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/actividades-economicas) and its page on [census forms](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/modelos-censales). - Questions: 945 181 555. [Book an appointment](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/cita-previa) if you want to do it at the office. ### Bizkaia - Form: modelo 036. Tick box 31, "Baja" (de-registration), and give the reason and the date you stopped. If you are also moving your tax address out of Bizkaia, tick box 15 as well. Deadline: 1 month from the day after you stopped. - How to file it: fill it in with [BILA](https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/bila), the Hacienda program you installed when you registered, then send it in eBizkaia with the procedure [Presentación de declaraciones censales](https://www.ebizkaia.eus/es/catalogo-de-tramites-y-servicios?procID=1760) (filing census forms). Press "Tramitar" next to "Modelo 036. Declaración censal de alta, modificación y baja". Log in with Bak, BakQ or a digital certificate. Read the [modelo 036 instructions](https://www.bizkaia.eus/fitxategiak/05/ogasuna/ereduak/Argitaratu/036CasInst.PDF). - IAE: if you were exempt and declared your activity in annex 3 of the 036, the same de-registration covers it. - LROE: finish your record book up to your end date in the [LROE app for individuals (modelo 140)](https://appsec.ebizkaia.eus/JXSS001C/?procedimiento=1736&formulario=5883&idioma=C&sede=S). Batuz still prepares your last VAT draft from it. - Questions: 946 125 500, Monday to Friday 8:30 to 19:00. ### Gipuzkoa - Form: modelo 036, declaring the end of your activity (*cese de la actividad*). File it online in [ZergaBidea](https://zergabidea.gipuzkoa.eus/WAS/HACI/HGFZergaBideaWEB/login?locale=es_ES&modeloParam=036) with BakQ, a digital certificate or a *Clave Operativa*, or with help at a citizen office (*Oficina de Atención Ciudadana*). Deadline: 1 month from the day after you stopped. See the [modelo 036 page](https://egoitza.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/impuestos/modelo/036) and its [deadlines](https://egoitza.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/impuestos/modelo/036/plazo-presentacion). - IAE: a separate de-registration on modelo 840 within 1 month of stopping, at a citizen office or your town hall, or online in [ZergaBidea](https://zergabidea.gipuzkoa.eus/WAS/HACI/HGFZergaBideaWEB/login?locale=es_ES&modeloParam=840). See the [modelo 840 page](https://egoitza.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/impuestos/modelo/840). - Questions: 943 113 000. ## If you only pause There is no pause status. You either stay registered and pay the monthly fee, or you de-register and register again later. Before you choose: - Staying registered costs your full fee every month, even with no income. See [Understand your monthly fee](https://autonomo.eus/steps/monthly-fee). You can lower your contribution base if your expected income drops. - De-registering and coming back later is allowed, but you can only pick the exact day 3 times a year. A fourth change counts from the start or end of the month, so you pay the whole month. - You will not get the reduced flat fee (*tarifa plana*) again unless you have been out of the autónomo scheme for 2 years, or 3 years if you had the flat fee before. - If you stop one activity but keep another, you stay registered. You report the change of activity, not a de-registration. ## What you still file afterwards De-registering ends your fee. It does not end the returns for the time you worked. - Your last fee. At the end of the month Social Security charges the part of the monthly fee up to your end date, by direct debit as usual. Keep the account open for it. - The quarterly returns for the quarter you stopped in: VAT, the modelo 130 if it applied to you, and the modelo 349 if you had EU clients. Same deadlines as always. See [File your quarterly returns](https://autonomo.eus/steps/quarterly-returns). - The annual VAT return (modelo 390) by 31 January of the next year, which also settles the fourth quarter. See [File your annual returns](https://autonomo.eus/steps/annual-returns). - In Bizkaia, the LROE entries up to your end date and the yearly section in January. See [Keep your records](https://autonomo.eus/steps/records). - Your income tax return (*Renta*) the next spring, with your business income up to the end date. Every autónomo files one, whatever the income. - Keep your invoices and records. Your Hacienda can still check the years you worked after you stop. - Keep your [BakQ](https://autonomo.eus/steps/bakq) or digital certificate alive until the last return is filed. You will need it even from abroad. ## If you leave Spain Do the two de-registrations above first, then these. - **Your permit (non-EU citizens).** Ask a lawyer before you go, because the rules depend on your permit. Renewing a self-employed permit needs you to have kept up your tax and Social Security obligations and to continue the activity, or to qualify another way. Long-term residence needs 5 years of continuous residence: absences of up to 6 months in a row, and under 10 months in total, do not break it (18 months if the absence is for work). See the Ministry's sheets on [renewing a self-employed permit](https://www.inclusion.gob.es/web/migraciones/w/15.-renovacion-de-la-autorizacion-de-residencia-temporal-y-trabajo-por-cuenta-propia) and [long-term residence](https://inclusion.gob.es/web/migraciones/w/49.-autorizacion-de-residencia-de-larga-duracion-nacional), and [Free legal help in Euskadi](https://autonomo.eus/steps/legal-help). - **Your NIE.** It is a personal number that stays yours and appears on every document Spain issues you. It is your TIE card that expires, not the number. Keep a copy of both. - **Padrón.** If you move to another town in Spain, registering there de-registers you here automatically. If you leave the country, ask your town hall for a de-registration (*baja por cambio de residencia*): foreigners who leave Spain are the one case where the town hall accepts it on request. If you do nothing, the town hall de-registers you later on its own, and a non-EU registration without permanent residence lapses after 2 years anyway. See [Register at the town hall](https://autonomo.eus/steps/padron). - **Health card.** Tell your health centre about any change of address or insurance status, so your Osakidetza card (*TIS*) matches your real situation. The European health card does not cover you once you move your residence to another EU country: you apply for cover in the new country. - **Social Security record.** Before you leave, download your working life report (*informe de vida laboral*) from Import@ss: [Informe de tu vida laboral](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass/Categorias/Vida+laboral+e+informes/Informes+sobre+tu+situacion+laboral/Informe+de+tu+vida+laboral). It lists every registration and de-registration and the days you contributed. Your contributions can count towards a pension in another country under EU rules or a bilateral agreement: see [Social Security: international](https://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/InformacionUtil/32078) and the list of [countries with a bilateral agreement](https://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/InformacionUtil/32078/32253). - **Tax residence.** You are tax resident in Spain for a whole calendar year if you spend more than 183 days of it here, or if your main economic interests are here. There is no half year. So if you leave after June, you still file a full Renta the next spring from abroad, for the whole of that year. See the [Tax Agency's page on tax residence](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/no-residentes/residencia-personas-fisicas-juridicas/persona-fisica-residente-espana.html). In Bizkaia, tick box 15 on your modelo 036 as well, to report the change of tax address. - **Bank account.** Close it only after the last fee and the last return have been charged. You can close a current account at any time, the bank must do it within 24 hours, and closing an open-ended account is free. See [Banco de España: closing an account](https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/menu-horizontal/productosservici/cuentasdepositos/cuentascorriente/guia-textual/cancelacion/Cancelacion_por_el_titular.html). ## Common mistakes - De-registering with Social Security but not with Hacienda, or the reverse. Each one keeps expecting what it has not been told: fees from Social Security, returns from Hacienda. - Different end dates at Social Security and Hacienda. - Filing the Social Security de-registration more than 6 days after stopping. The end date moves to the last day of the month and you pay the whole month. - Skipping the last quarterly return, the January VAT return or the next Renta because "I am not autónomo any more". - Leaving with fees unpaid. Late fees carry a surcharge of 10%, or 20% after the first month, and the debt stays. You must be up to date with Social Security and tax to get benefits, the flat fee again, or a permit renewal. - Closing the bank account before the last direct debit, so the last fee bounces and becomes a debt. - Letting your digital certificate or BakQ expire before you have filed the last returns from abroad. ## Official sources - [Import@ss: Baja en trabajo autónomo](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass/Categorias/altas%2C+bajas+y+modificaciones/bajas+y+modificaciones/baja_trabajo_autonomo) - [Social Security: guide for autónomos](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass/Colectivos/trabajo+autonomo/guia) - [Import@ss: Informe de tu vida laboral](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass/Categorias/Vida+laboral+e+informes/Informes+sobre+tu+situacion+laboral/Informe+de+tu+vida+laboral) - [Social Security: international rules and bilateral agreements](https://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/InformacionUtil/32078) - [Bizkaia: modelo 036 instructions](https://www.bizkaia.eus/fitxategiak/05/ogasuna/ereduak/Argitaratu/036CasInst.PDF) - [Bizkaia: filing census forms in eBizkaia](https://www.ebizkaia.eus/es/catalogo-de-tramites-y-servicios?procID=1760) - [Batuz: the LROE](https://www.batuz.eus/es/lroe) - [Gipuzkoa: modelo 036](https://egoitza.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/impuestos/modelo/036) and [its deadlines](https://egoitza.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/impuestos/modelo/036/plazo-presentacion) - [Gipuzkoa: modelo 840](https://egoitza.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/impuestos/modelo/840) - [Álava: census forms](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/modelos-censales) and [economic activities](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/actividades-economicas) - [Ministry of Inclusion: renewing a self-employed residence and work permit (sheet 15)](https://www.inclusion.gob.es/web/migraciones/w/15.-renovacion-de-la-autorizacion-de-residencia-temporal-y-trabajo-por-cuenta-propia) - [Ministry of Inclusion: long-term residence (sheet 49)](https://inclusion.gob.es/web/migraciones/w/49.-autorizacion-de-residencia-de-larga-duracion-nacional) - [Ministry of the Interior: the NIE](https://www.interior.gob.es/opencms/es/servicios-al-ciudadano/tramites-y-gestiones/extranjeria/ciudadanos-de-la-union-europea/numero-de-Identidad-de-extranjero-nie/) - [Padrón technical instructions (Resolución de 29 de abril de 2020)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2020-4784) - [Basque Government: the health card (TIS)](https://www.euskadi.eus/informacion/tarjeta-individual-sanitaria/web01-a2inform/es/) - [Tax Agency: tax residence of individuals](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/no-residentes/residencia-personas-fisicas-juridicas/persona-fisica-residente-espana.html) - [Banco de España: closing a current account](https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/menu-horizontal/productosservici/cuentasdepositos/cuentascorriente/guia-textual/cancelacion/Cancelacion_por_el_titular.html) --- Free, independent information. Not an official government website or a gestoría. General information, not legal, immigration or tax advice. Confirm current requirements with the authority before you act. Report a mistake: a@halawa.io. Source: Autónomo.eus (https://autonomo.eus).