Obligations of the Self-Employed in the Canary Islands: 2026 Checklist

A self-employed worker in the Canary Islands answers to three authorities at once: the AEAT (central tax registration, IRPF and the annual income tax return), the Canary Islands Tax Agency (IGIC registration, Form 420 and Form 415) and Social Security (RETA registration and the monthly contribution). This checklist covers the full cycle — initial registration, quarterly and annual filings, and what arrives in 2027 — using the deadlines and figures in force in 2026.

Most tax guides are written for the mainland and leave out exactly what affects you: that the indirect tax is different here, that there is an autonomous census and that there is a franchise — the REPEP — that can save you entire quarters of settlements. Let’s break it down.

Registration: three windows, not one

The most common mistake on the first day is thinking that “registering as self-employed” is a single procedure. There are three, before three different bodies, and the order matters.

Model 036 before the AEAT

The census declaration of registration in the Census of entrepreneurs, professionals and withholding agents is submitted before starting the activity. Since 3 February 2025, the simplified model 037 no longer exists (Order HAC/1526/2024): everything is communicated through model 036, which the AEAT has redesigned with assistants to make the procedure just as manageable. In it, you declare your activity (IAE heading), your tax address and your obligations (direct estimation, withholdings, etc.).

Model 400 before the Canary Islands Tax Agency

This is the window that mainland guides omit. If you are going to develop business or professional activity in the islands, you must also submit the census declaration of commencement (model 400) before the Canary Islands Tax Agency, also prior to the start of your usual deliveries of goods or services. This is your registration in the IGIC census (and the AIEM, if applicable), and where you communicate if you are joining special regimes such as the REPEP.

Registration in the RETA before Social Security

Registration in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers must be prior to the start of the activity and can be done up to 60 days in advance through Import@ss. If you start working without being registered, the subsequent registration is considered out of time for all purposes: fees from the actual start of the activity with a surcharge, and you may lose access to benefits such as the flat rate. Registration must always be prior to the start.

IGIC, not VAT: your quarter revolves around model 420

In the Canary Islands, your local sales do not carry VAT but IGIC, with a general rate of 7% — compared to the mainland VAT rate of 21%. There are more rates (from 0% to 20% depending on the product or service); you have the complete reference in the table of IGIC rates for 2026.

The quarterly self-assessment is model 420, which is submitted to the Canary Islands Tax Agency — not to the AEAT — electronically. The deadlines, according to the electronic headquarters of the Government of the Canary Islands (in force 2026):

The REPEP in 2026: general limit of 30,000 euros and extraordinary option

If you are an individual established in the Canary Islands, the Special Scheme for Small Entrepreneurs or Professionals (REPEP) exempts your domestic transactions from IGIC when you meet its requirements. In 2026, the general limit is €30,000 of previous-year turnover. Only individuals whose 2025 turnover exceeded €30,000 but did not exceed €50,000 could opt into the scheme through the extraordinary Form 400 window from 1 to 31 July 2026, with effect from 1 July. The general €50,000 limit applies from 1 January 2027.

It is not a free pass: each invoice must include the wording “Exención franquicia fiscal” (or “Operación exenta de IGIC por franquicia fiscal”), the scheme is reported in the census declaration (Form 400), and companies are excluded — it is only for individuals. There is also a trade-off: because you do not charge IGIC, you cannot deduct the IGIC paid on your purchases. If your input IGIC is high, run the numbers before celebrating.

IRPF: model 130, withholdings and income

With IGIC resolved at the Canary Island window, IRPF remains the territory of the AEAT.

Model 130: the fractional payment

If you pay taxes by direct estimation, each quarter you advance to your income account 20% of the net income accumulated since 1 January (discounting previous fractional payments and withholdings borne). The deadlines are: from 1 to 20 April, July and October, and from 1 to 30 January for the fourth quarter.

There is an important exception for professionals: if at least 70% of your business income was subject to withholding in the previous calendar year, you do not have to file Form 130. This commonly applies to professionals who invoice almost exclusively to Spanish companies.

Withholdings on invoices: 15% or 7%

If your activity is professional (section two of the IAE), your invoices to companies and other self-employed individuals have 15% IRPF withholding in general (Article 101 LIRPF, in force 2026). Activities in section three of the IAE (artistic activities) follow their own rules — including a conditional 7% rate for certain groups and income levels — and should not be treated as if they were automatically new professional activities. New self-employed individuals in section two can apply 7% during the year of registration and the following two years — but it’s not automatic: you must communicate in writing to each client that you meet the requirements, and it’s not valid if you already exercised professional activity the previous year.

Annual income

All of the above are advances. The final settlement arrives with the income tax return (model 100), in the campaign that the AEAT opens every spring and which usually closes on 30 June — the exact dates are fixed each year by the taxpayer’s calendar. There, your fractional payments, your withholdings and your actual income are crossed, and the final adjustment comes out.

The self-employed quota 2026: contribution for real income

The monthly RETA quota is calculated based on real income in a system of 15 tranches according to your forecast monthly net income. For 2026, Order PJC/297/2026 does not set a single fee of €200–€590 per month, but a range of contribution bases you choose from: from €653.59/month in the lowest tranche (income up to €670/month) to €1,928.10/month in the highest (more than €6,000/month). The only effective variation is the MEI (intergenerational equity mechanism), which rises by one tenth to 0.9%.

Two things that are worth clarifying. First: the tranche is chosen with a forecast, and you can adjust it during the year if your income changes; later, Social Security regularizes with your actual income, so an honest forecast saves you surprises. Second: the flat rate of 80 €/month for 12 months is still in effect for new self-employed individuals, extendable for another 12 months if your income remains below the SMI. The complete table of tranches, with all the intermediate steps, is available in the self-employed quota guide 2026.

Form 415: the annual information return people forget

Once a year, during the month of February, it’s time for the model 415: the annual declaration of operations with third parties before the Canary Island Tax Agency — the Canary Island equivalent of the state model 347. In it, you list all the clients and suppliers with whom your operations for the year exceeded, together, 3,005.06 €.

It’s informative — you don’t pay anything — but it’s not optional, and the Tax Agency crosses it: if your client declares that they paid you 12,000 € and you didn’t submit the 415 (or declared a different amount), the discrepancy becomes apparent. It’s presented exclusively by telematic means in the headquarters of the Canary Island Tax Agency. If you didn’t exceed that threshold with any person or entity, you’re not required to submit it.

VeriFactu: what changes in 2027 (and what is not)

The Regulation of invoicing computer systems (RD 1007/2023) will require that the software with which you invoice generates records with chained footprint, unalterable and — in the VeriFactu modality — sent to the AEAT. After the extension approved by the RDL 15/2025, the current calendar is:

That you invoice with IGIC does not exempt you: the obligation falls on the invoicing system, not on the tax you charge.

This is where the choice of tool stops being cosmetic. Frihet generates invoices compliant with IGIC and IRPF and accumulates the data that later feed the 420 or 415, with a free plan of up to 999 invoices per month, which for most self-employed individuals is, in practice, the entire journey. On VeriFactu, ask any provider, Frihet included, what it covers for a Canary Islands tax home: today Frihet does not submit the record to the AEAT from workspaces whose tax home is in the Canary Islands. The alternative of continuing on spreadsheets until June 2027 is legal, but it’s work that accumulates against a deadline that already has a date.

And a warning about financing: the Kit Digital program closed its application deadline on 31 October 2025 and does not accept new requests. If someone offers to “process the bonus” for you in 2026, the information is outdated — budget digitalization without counting on that aid.

Your fiscal calendar for the year, in a table

All of the above, ordered by date (in force 2026):

If you have employees or pay rent with withholding, add the models of quarterly withholdings and their annual summaries; and if you are in special IGIC regimes, your models may vary. The detailed month-by-month information is in the complete fiscal calendar for 2026.

Errors that cost money: the final checklist

We close with the most repeated failures — all avoidable with this same article in front of you.

None of this list requires being a tax expert. It requires order: three administrations, a handful of models and a calendar that doesn’t forgive. With the dates clear and invoicing recorded from day one, the self-employed individual’s quarter is reduced to reviewing and submitting — which is exactly how it should be.