# Work with foreign clients and suppliers > How to invoice clients in other EU countries and outside the EU, handle services you buy from abroad, and save for your taxes. - Page: https://autonomo.eus/steps/foreign-clients - Part: Part D: Run your business - For: Everyone - Last checked: 14 October 2026 Many newcomers work for clients abroad and buy software from abroad. These sales and purchases usually leave no Spanish VAT to pay, but they still need the right invoices, records and forms. ## Before you start - [Your Hacienda registration](https://autonomo.eus/steps/register-hacienda), with ROI inclusion if you work with EU businesses ## Clients in other EU countries 1. Ask to be included in the EU traders register (*ROI*) before your first invoice. You do it on your census form (*declaración censal*). See [Register with your Hacienda Foral](https://autonomo.eus/steps/register-hacienda) for the form and box in your territory. 2. Check the client's EU VAT number in the European Commission's [VIES VAT number check](https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/). Choose the client's country and type the number. You need the answer "Yes, valid VAT number". Save or print it. 3. Invoice without Spanish VAT. Show the client's EU VAT number and the words *inversión del sujeto pasivo*. 4. Report each sale on the EU sales list (modelo 349). See [File your quarterly returns](https://autonomo.eus/steps/quarterly-returns) for where to file it in your territory. ## Clients outside the EU - Services to a business outside the EU are not subject to Spanish VAT. - You still issue an invoice through TicketBAI. There is no fixed wording. Common practice is *operación no sujeta a IVA* plus the article of the VAT law. ## Buying services from abroad Software subscriptions and other services from foreign companies use reverse charge (*autorrepercusión*). You add the VAT and deduct it on the same VAT return, so the net is usually zero. Purchases from EU businesses also go on the modelo 349. Record each one as it arrives: see [Record your income and expenses](https://autonomo.eus/steps/records). ## Selling to private people abroad Sales to private people follow other rules than sales to businesses. Some sales to private people in other EU countries, such as online services and goods sent to the buyer, carry the VAT of the buyer's country once they pass €10,000 a year across the EU. That VAT can be declared through the EU One Stop Shop (*ventanilla única*, OSS): the modelo 035 to sign up and the modelo 369 every quarter. Before your first sale, contact your Hacienda Foral and ask: "I am an autónomo and I will sell [your service] to private people in [country]. Does it carry Spanish VAT or the VAT of the buyer's country? Do I need to sign up for the One Stop Shop with the modelo 035?" The contacts for your territory are below. For every office and phone number, see [Contact your Hacienda Foral](https://autonomo.eus/steps/offices#contact-your-hacienda-foral). ### Álava Call the tax information line (*Información fiscal*) on 945 181 555, Monday to Friday 8:00 to 14:30, or send the [online VAT question form](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/formulario-hacienda-iva-imp-especiales) with your NIF or NIE and an email address. Álava explains the OSS and links the [modelo 035](https://egoitza.araba.eus/es/buscador-de-modelos/fitxa/modelo-035) on its page on [VAT and online sales](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/impuestos/iva/iva-y-comercio-electronico). ### Bizkaia Call the Hacienda Foral de Bizkaia on 946 125 500, Monday to Friday 8:30 to 19:00. To go in person, [book an appointment](https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/cita-previa-hacienda) with "Solicitar cita para trámites tributarios" (book an appointment for tax procedures). ### Gipuzkoa Call the Hacienda Foral de Gipuzkoa on 943 113 000, Monday to Friday 8:00 to 15:00, or write in the online form for questions ([Gertubide](https://w390w.gipuzkoa.net/WAS/CORP/DMDGertubideWEB/sarrera?locale=es_ES)). The answer comes within 20 days. To go in person, [book an appointment](https://www.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/oficinas-departamento/cita-previa) for "Trámites tributarios" (tax procedures). ## Save for your taxes Foreign clients keep back no income tax from your invoices. Nothing is prepaid for you, so set money aside for your modelo 130 and your Renta every month. ## Digital nomad permit holders If you hold the international remote work permit, work for Spanish clients can be at most 20% of your total work. ## Common mistakes - Charging Spanish VAT to an EU business. - Forgetting foreign purchases on your VAT return and the 349. - Selling to private people abroad without checking the rules first. Call your Hacienda Foral with the question above before your first sale. ## From our experience Our software subscriptions from companies in other EU countries go in our records as purchases of services from the EU, with reverse charge. The VAT is added and deducted on the same return. ## Official sources - [Spain's invoicing rules (RD 1619/2012)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2012-14696) - [Bizkaia: modelo 036 instructions, ROI boxes](https://www.bizkaia.eus/fitxategiak/05/ogasuna/ereduak/Argitaratu/036CasInst.PDF) - [UGE: international teleworkers FAQ](https://bibliovirtual.inclusion.gob.es/documents/d/unidadgrandesempresas/nomadas-digitales-faqs-espanol) - [European Commission: VIES VAT number check](https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/) and [what VIES answers mean](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/vies-vat-information-exchange-system_en) - [Álava: VAT and online sales (OSS, modelo 035)](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/impuestos/iva/iva-y-comercio-electronico) - [Álava: contact Hacienda](https://web.araba.eus/es/hacienda/cita-hacienda) - [Bizkaia: Hacienda appointments](https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/cita-previa-hacienda) - [Gipuzkoa: Hacienda phone line](https://www.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/departamento/asistencia-telefonica) and [appointments](https://www.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ogasuna/oficinas-departamento/cita-previa) Next step: [Sick leave and parental leave as an autónomo](https://autonomo.eus/steps/sick-leave.md) --- 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).