The application of VAT to translation works is a topic that many self-employed professionals are confused about , since the legislation on this subject is different depending on the nature of the text to be translated. Self-employment activity falls under a professional heading, which requires the payer to withhold tax, unless the payer is an individual or a person residing outside of Spain.
With regard to VAT, translation will be exempt in certain circumstances, as set out in article 20 of Law 37/1992 on Value Added Tax (VAT):
The following operations will be exempt from this tax:
Professional services, including those whose compensation consists of copyright, provided by visual artists, writers, literary, graphic and photographic phone number in ukraine collaborators of newspapers and magazines, musical composers, authors of theatrical works and of plots, adaptations, scripts and dialogues of audiovisual works, translators and adapters.
Therefore, the translation of novels, for example, will be considered an exempt service provision since it is a literary work. The legislation recognizes the exemption from tax for scientific, literary or artistic works on the grounds that there is a personal and original contribution by the translator to the pre-existing work.
Those who, in addition to exempt operations, simultaneously carry out other operations subject to tax, such as translators of technical texts, business letters, legal contracts, and other similar documents, will have to submit VAT returns, and will then be subject to pro rata .