Coworking and freelance taxes in Spain: what you can deduct (and what you can't)

You pay 250 euros a month for a desk with good light, unlimited coffee and Wi-Fi that doesn’t drop in the middle of a video call. What almost nobody works out when signing up is how much of that money comes back through the tax system. Managed well, a coworking membership can be one of the cleanest expenses a self-employed professional can deduct. Poorly documented, it becomes an expense that is hard to defend and VAT that may not be deductible.

The timing is no coincidence. With the new requirements for invoicing software and mandatory e-invoicing between businesses and professionals already on the calendar, the room for improvising with receipts and undocumented bank transfers is shrinking. In the following sections you will see which coworking expenses may be deductible, what each invoice must include, how VAT works both on what you pay and on what you charge, and what to check regarding withholding tax.

*This article is for information purposes only and reflects the regulations in force as of 13 October 2026. Every situation has its own particularities, so it is advisable to review your specific case with a tax adviser.

01. Why coworking can be simpler for tax purposes than working from home

If you work from home, you can deduct part of your utilities —water, gas, electricity, phone and internet— but subject to a specific general rule: 30% applied to the proportion of the home’s floor area used for the business. The rules allow a higher or lower percentage to be proven, but this rule leaves limited room for savings and can raise questions about how much of the home is genuinely used for work.

Coworking removes much of that ambiguity. It is a space you contract in order to work and, if you are taxed under the direct assessment method (estimación directa), you can deduct the full membership fee for personal income tax (IRPF) purposes when it relates exclusively to your business and is properly supported and recorded. The input VAT will be deductible to the extent that your activity and your use of the service give you the right to deduct it.

A round-number example: a fee of 250 euros plus 52.50 euros of VAT means an outlay of 302.50 euros. If you can deduct all of the VAT and the expense produces an income tax saving equal to 30% of its amount, the after-tax economic cost would be around 175 euros. This does not mean you receive the full saving when you pay the fee, or that the Spanish Tax Agency refunds the VAT every quarter: the deduction is applied in the corresponding tax returns.

02. Which coworking expenses you can deduct

The membership fee and the services you contract

This covers a fixed or hot desk, packs of hours or days, occasional meeting-room hire, lockers, parcel reception and a registered business address service. Everything the coworking space invoices you as part of the service and that you use for work is, in principle, a deductible expense, provided it is linked to your business and properly supported.

If coffee or printing is included in the fee, it forms part of the same expense; if it is charged separately, ask for it to appear on the invoice. A real expense is not enough: you must be able to show that it is used for the business and keep the corresponding supporting document.

Related expenses

Many coworking spaces also serve as a meeting point with clients. But not all meal expenses are treated the same way.
The self-employed professional’s own meal expenses may be deductible when they are incurred in the course of the business, in restaurants or hospitality establishments, paid by electronic means and within the legal limits. As a reference, the daily limit is 26.67 euros in Spain and 48.08 euros abroad when there is no overnight stay. The fact that it is a working day does not in itself prove that the expense is linked to the business: what matters is its connection with your professional activity.
Meals paid for clients must be analysed separately as possible client or supplier entertainment expenses. In that case, in addition to proving their business nature, you must bear in mind the general limit of 1% of net turnover for the tax period.
Deducting VAT on travel, hospitality and restaurant expenses requires reviewing both the nature of the expense and the specific VAT requirements. You should not assume that all VAT on a meal with clients is recoverable.

Lo que no se sostiene

Personal consumption, social activities unrelated to your work or a fee paid by someone else are not deductible for you. Nor is a coworking membership actually used by your partner for their own project, even if you pay it from your account.

The expense must be linked to your business, properly supported and recorded in your books. The invoice proves the transaction, but it does not replace proof that the expense was actually incurred and meets the needs of your business.

03. Invoices: the detail that decides whether the expense is deductible

Ask for and keep a valid invoice. For personal income tax, the invoice is the preferred means of supporting expenses arising from transactions with businesses or professionals, but you must also be able to prove that the expense is real and related to your business. To deduct VAT you need a document that meets the legal requirements.

What you need is a full invoice in your name, with your tax ID (NIF) and address, and with the VAT amount shown separately. A simplified invoice —the classic receipt— can be used to deduct VAT if it includes the additional required details, including the recipient’s tax ID and address and the VAT charged shown separately. Many coworking spaces do not include them by default when you pay for a single day through an app.

There are three situations that often cause problems:

Card payments on booking platforms that only issue a receipt: always ask for the invoice, and do it at the time.
Fees shared with a business partner or another freelancer: each person needs their own invoice for the part they pay, because an invoice in someone else’s name is no use to you.
Coworking spaces abroad: the expense may be deductible for personal income tax, but the local VAT does not go into your Spanish Form 303. The situation must be analysed according to the service and the country.

Keep your invoices, in digital format if you wish, for the general four-year tax limitation period, without prejudice to cases that require keeping them for longer.

04. VAT: what you pay and what you charge

Input VAT

Coworking services are, as a general rule, taxed at 21%. That VAT can be deducted in Form 303 for the quarter in which you receive the invoice or in subsequent ones, within the legal four-year period from when the right arises, provided you meet the deduction requirements.

The right to deduct depends on the transactions you carry out. If you carry out only exempt transactions that do not give the right to deduct, such as certain healthcare or educational activities, you cannot deduct input VAT. For you, that VAT is just another cost, which may count as an expense for personal income tax if it meets the general requirements.

If you carry out mixed transactions, the deduction may be partial. And if you invoice services to foreign businesses to which the general place-of-supply rule applies, you will not charge Spanish VAT, but that does not automatically mean losing the right to deduct input VAT.

Output VAT

On your own invoices you generally apply 21% when the transaction is subject to Spanish VAT. If your income comes from a professional activity subject to withholding and the client is required to withhold, the general withholding rate is 15%. Where you are starting a professional activity and meet the requirements, a 7% rate may apply during the year you start and the following two years.

Coworking spaces bring together many professionals who work for clients abroad, and that is where the rules change. For services to foreign businesses to which the general place-of-supply rule applies, no Spanish VAT is charged. If the client is in another EU Member State, the corresponding registration and reporting obligations must be reviewed, including Form 349 for intra-Community supplies of services.

Getting this wrong can mean charging VAT that does not apply or failing to charge VAT that should have been charged. For international transactions, it is advisable to review the nature of the service, the client’s country and your tax registration status.

05. Conclusion

A coworking space can cost you considerably less than the fee suggests if you understand how it works for tax purposes: a personal income tax deduction, a possible VAT deduction and a clear separation between personal life and business. The condition is getting the paperwork right: a valid invoice in your name, a reviewed contract to know whether withholding applies, and a tax registration that reflects where you actually work.

The question to ask yourself today is not whether coworking is deductible, but whether your documentation would withstand a review. If the answer leaves you in doubt, now is the time to put it in order, before the new invoicing systems and mandatory e-invoicing make it harder.

*This article is for information purposes only and reflects the regulations in force as of October 2026. Every situation has its own particularities, so it is advisable to review your specific case with a tax adviser.