Co-ownership - Comunidad de Bienes

How to set up business as a <em>co-ownership</em><em> in Spain...</em>

Similar to a partnership, this form of company is made up of two or more people who share ownership of a common property or the right to something. There is unlimited liability for each of the partners. A Comunidad de Bienes (CB) is relatively simple and quick to set up and there is no minimum financial investment. To create a CB, a partnership agreement (contrato de constitución) will need to be drawn up by the members (comuneros) stipulating the amount contributed by each partner. Once this is done the partners will need to:

  • Register to pay IAE tax (Impuesto de Actividades Económicas)
  • Register a declaration for starting a business (Declaración Censal de Inicio de Actividad) - this can be done at the tax office (Delegación de Hacienda)
  • Register for social security
  • If there are business premises, the person must apply for an opening licence (Licencia Municipal de Apertura) at the Town Hall

IAE (Impuesto de Actividades Económicas)

New companies are exempt from this tax for the first two tax periods and companies with a turnover of less than a certain amount will not have to pay it. Companies must register for this in order to have the correct code number (epígrafe) for their specific activity.