Sociedad Anónima S.A.Spain
What it takes to form, own and run a public limited company in Spain, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
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En la sociedad anónima, el capital, que estará dividido en acciones, se integrará por las aportaciones de todos los socios, quienes no responderán personalmente de las deudas sociales.
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La sociedad limitada llevará un Libro registro de socios, en el que se harán constar la titularidad originaria y las sucesivas transmisiones
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La administración de la sociedad se podrá confiar a un administrador único, a varios administradores que actúen de forma solidaria o de forma conjunta o a un consejo de administración.
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no podrá ser inferior a sesenta mil euros y se expresará precisamente en esa moneda
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
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Serán contribuyentes del Impuesto, cuando tengan su residencia en territorio español: a) Las personas jurídicas, excluidas las sociedades civiles que no tengan objeto mercantil.
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Yes
- Formed online
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Required
- A resident director
- Not required
- Paying up the capital
- Shares must be fully subscribed, with at least one quarter of each share's nominal value paid when the deed of constitution is granted (art. 79 LSC).
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deberán estar íntegramente suscritas por los socios, y desembolsado, al menos, en una cuarta parte el valor nominal de cada una de ellas en el momento de otorgar la escritura de constitución
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- At least 1 · none need live there · a company may be one
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La administración de la sociedad se podrá confiar a un administrador único, a varios administradores que actúen de forma solidaria o de forma conjunta o a un consejo de administración.
- Shareholders
- At least 1
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La sociedad limitada llevará un Libro registro de socios, en el que se harán constar la titularidad originaria y las sucesivas transmisiones
- Members
- At least 1 · one person may form it alone
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Se entiende por sociedad unipersonal de responsabilidad limitada o anónima: a) La constituida por un único socio, sea persona natural o jurídica.
- A local company secretary
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- A local registered agent
- Not required
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Las sociedades de capital fijarán su domicilio dentro del territorio español en el lugar en que se halle el centro de su efectiva administración y dirección, o en el que radique su principal establecimiento o explotación.
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Accounts on the public record
- Yes
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Cualquier persona podrá obtener información del Registro Mercantil de todos los documentos depositados.
- Audit for a small company
- Not required
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Las cuentas anuales y, en su caso, el informe de gestión deberán ser revisados por auditor de cuentas.
- Audit
- Accounts must be audited (art. 263(1) LSC) unless, for two consecutive years, at least two of: assets not over EUR 2,850,000; net turnover not over EUR 5,700,000; average staff not over 50 (art. 263(2)).
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Las cuentas anuales y, en su caso, el informe de gestión deberán ser revisados por auditor de cuentas.
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- Deposit the approved annual accounts, with the minutes approving them and the application
- 7 months after the end of the accounting period
With Registro Mercantil del domicilio social
Art. 279 LSC: within the month after the accounts are approved; art. 164 LSC puts the ordinary meeting within the first six months of the financial year, so 6 + 1 months is the latest end of the chain when the meeting is held on time. The one-month limit itself runs from approval, not from year end.
- Ordinary general meeting to approve management, the prior year's accounts and the applicat
- 6 months after the end of the accounting period
With Not filed; held by the members
Art. 164(1) LSC: within the first six months of each financial year; the meeting is valid even if held late (art. 164(2)).
What is public
- Directors
- Public
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La sociedad limitada llevará un Libro registro de socios, en el que se harán constar la titularidad originaria y las sucesivas transmisiones
- Shareholders
- Not recorded
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La sociedad limitada llevará un Libro registro de socios, en el que se harán constar la titularidad originaria y las sucesivas transmisiones
- Beneficial owners
- To those with a legitimate interest
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La sociedad limitada llevará un Libro registro de socios, en el que se harán constar la titularidad originaria y las sucesivas transmisiones
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Varies · 15–21%+3 regimes
Impuesto sobre Sociedades: general rate 25% (art. 29(1) LIS). Entities with prior-period net turnover under EUR 1 million: for tax periods beginning in 2026, 19% on the first EUR 50,000 and 21% on the rest (DT 44a, Ley 7/2024 phase-in); 17% / 20% apply only from periods beginning in 2027 (art. 29(1) as amended). Newly created entities carrying on an economic activity: 15% in the first period with positive base and the next, unless a lower rate applies. Rates do not apply to an entidad patrimonial.
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Serán contribuyentes del Impuesto, cuando tengan su residencia en territorio español: a) Las personas jurídicas, excluidas las sociedades civiles que no tengan objeto mercantil.
Special regimes that may apply
- Exención sobre dividendos y rentas derivadas de la transmisión de valores representativos de los fondos propios de entidades residentes y no residentes en territorio español holding · 100% exempt
Entities holding, directly or indirectly, at least 5 per cent of the capital or own funds of the distributing entity, held without interruption for the year before the profit becomes payable or completed afterwards Ley 27/2014, del Impuesto sobre Sociedades, artículo 21 - Reducción de las rentas procedentes de determinados activos intangibles ip box · 60% exempt
Positive income from licensing patents, utility models, supplementary protection certificates for medicines and plant protection products, legally protected designs and models, and registered advanced software, derived from R&D and technological innovation activity Ley 27/2014, del Impuesto sobre Sociedades, artículo 23 - Régimen de las entidades navieras en función del tonelaje tonnage
Entities entered in the shipping company registers under the consolidated Ports and Merchant Marine Act whose activity includes operating owned or chartered vessels, and entities carrying out the entire technical and crew management of such vessels Ley 27/2014, del Impuesto sobre Sociedades, artículo 113
Whether a company qualifies depends on its activity and conditions set in each statute.
- CFC rules in Spain
- Yes
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
- Route
- Dissolution by general meeting resolution (art. 368 LSC) or the other causes in art. 363, then liquidation and a deed of extinction (art. 395 LSC).
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La sociedad de capital podrá disolverse por mero acuerdo de la junta general adoptado con los requisitos establecidos para la modificación de los estatutos.
- Statutory fee
- Not in our records
Every business in Spain
VAT
- Standard rate
- 21%Official European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database situation on 2026-07-01
- Other rates
- 10% Food and drink for human or animal consumption, water, medicines for veterinary use, pharmaceutical products, housing, flowers and live plants, passenger transport, hotel and restaurant services, waste collection and treatment, and admission to cultural events
- 4% Basic foodstuffs (bread, flour, milk, cheese, eggs, fruit, vegetables, pulses, tubers and cereals), books, newspapers and magazines, human-use medicines, and vehicles for persons with reduced mobility
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Los tipos reducidos vigentes son el 10 por ciento y el 4 por ciento.
- Registration threshold
- No threshold: from the first taxable supply
no turnover threshold: the census declaration is filed before the activity or the operations begin
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Esta declaración debe presentarse, según los casos, con anterioridad al inicio de las correspondientes actividades o a la realización de las operaciones.
- Voluntary registration
- No
There is no below-threshold voluntary registration: a business that makes taxable supplies registers before it starts, and there is no turnover exemption to waive.
- A foreign company
- Registers from its first taxable supply; needs a local tax representative
A taxable person not established in the EU must appoint a representative in Spain for its VAT obligations, unless it is established in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla or in a state with a mutual assistance instrument equivalent to the EU's; businesses using the distance-sales and certain domestic-supply schemes are also exempt from appointing one. A business established in another EU state registers without a representative.
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Esta declaración debe presentarse, según los casos, con anterioridad al inicio de las correspondientes actividades o a la realización de las operaciones.
- Returns filed
- Quarterly
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La presentación de la autoliquidación y, en su caso, el ingreso del modelo 303 se efectuará en los veinte primeros días naturales del mes siguiente a la finalización del correspondiente período de liquidación trimestral
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Portals and registers
- Business registerRegistro Mercantil Central
- Tax authorityAgencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT)
- Tax treatiesMinisterio de Hacienda — Convenios de doble imposición
Payment and banking services
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Reference
Its name and code
- Kind
- Public limited companyDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Sociedad Anónima (S.A.)
- ISO 20275 code
- 5RDOSecondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list