As a leading law firm in Spain, with international, experienced and expert professionals, we understand how important it is for a foreign entrepreneur to obtain the best business legal services and choose the right legal structure in Spain. Our law firm is specialised on Business startup, we provide legal services for Business to accompany and advise foreign companies in the legal ins-and-outs towards starting up their business venture in Spain, accompanying our clients safely and surely towards their goals.
We explain to you the Business culture in Spain.
At LAWANTS, our specialised Team of lawyers and financial advisors work hand-in-hand with our clients from the first moment and in each phase, to offer a holistic, first-class legal service which is essential when assessing a start-up venture in a foreign country, as advisory services lack the necessary legal expertise in many fields.
Not only do we speak your native language, which is an obvious must, we furthermore have first-hand experience assisting worldwide entrepreneurs to start or continue their business activity within the Spanish legal framework, which differs from other countries, and even offer international support with our partners in other continents.
Our other added value is our personalised service, through which our expertise and experience allow our future and present clients to feel at home from day one when dealing with legal aspects in Spain, while we take care of identifying potential risks or even negative implications in the venture each person or company proposes. This mutual trust and transparency facilitates all the following procedures that may proceed.
Types of Companies and legal Structures in Spain
Types of corporations in Spain. A subsidiary is a company with its own legal personality that is directly controlled by another company, called the parent company. In other words, for practical purposes, a subsidiary is a company incorporated in Spain in the ordinary way and which is commonly created to develop in Spain the business of a foreign company, extending the scope of action of that foreign company.
Therefore, a subsidiary will be obliged to comply with all the obligations of a company in Spain, having to be incorporated in a public deed, registered in the Commercial Register, formalise and deposit the annual accounts, etc.
On the other hand, when we speak of a “permanent establishment” we are not referring to a new company in Spain, but rather to a foreign company resident in an EU member state, which has been identified in Spain with a NIF “N” (the N refers to the fact that the company is “non-resident”).
And finally, a branch is a hybrid between a subsidiary and a permanent establishment, although more similar to the latter, as the branch does not have its own legal personality, so it is not a different company from the foreign one. The characteristic feature of a branch is the autonomy it has to operate in the commercial trade, as it can operate and market in Spain totally or partially autonomously and independently of the foreign company to which it belongs.
How to set up a Company
To incorporate or register a company in Spain and thus enable the company to start to operate and carry on a business, the most important thing is that entrepreneurs trust their lawyers and financial advisors specialised in the wide world of business in Spain, both at a legal and financial level, as well as in other areas where we offer accounting consultancy, tax consultancy and advice on international commercial litigation.
Therefore we at LAWANTS are the ones who have the obligation to ensure that the entrepreneur trusts his lawyers and economists through excellent advice on business planning before starting the activity in Spain.
The incorporation of companies in Spain is part of the tailor-made suit that business lawyers have to be able to design according to the client’s needs. It is not just a question of completing a Checklist with the tasks to be carried out to obtain the company’s Tax Identification Number in Spain so that the start-up can operate, it is a question of completing this Checklist taking care of the smallest detail of each task to optimise the company’s activity at a legal, fiscal and accounting level.
The steps to be taken to incorporate and register a company in Spain may vary depending on the legal form chosen, but in any case the following steps must be taken beforehand:
- Obtaining a NIE for the foreign directors or shareholders of the company.
- Obtaining negative certification of the company name from the Company Register in Spain.
- Drafting of the Articles of Association (“Estatutos Sociales”), according to the needs and concerns of the shareholders (at this stage, important points such as the corporate purpose, the address of the registered office, the system of administration of the company, the system of majorities, etc. will be decided).
- Opening of a bank account in Spain in which the share capital will be deposited (although there are alternatives to depositing the entire share capital).
- Appointment of the company’s directors (who must have a NIE if they are foreigners).
- Signing of the deed of incorporation of the company before the notary in Spain.
- Registration in the Company Register and obtention of the definitive NIF (the Tax Identification Number of the company in Spain).
- Once the company has been registered with the definitive NIF, the company’s digital certificate and the corresponding registration with the tax authorities should be processed and obtain. certificado digital de la sociedad y el correspondiente alta en Hacienda.
How to get a Tax identification number in Spain
At Lawants we assist foreign companies during their existence in Spain. Like any process, everything has a beginning and in order to start the activity of the foreign company in Spain, it must be fiscally identified in Spain. To do so, we assist companies to obtain the Tax Identification Number (called “NIF” in Spain) of the company in Spain, a process that with good legal assistance, will allow your start-up to start operating in Spain in less than 3 weeks.
Lawyers specialised in Companies and Start-ups
At LAWANTS we have a team of lawyers and economists with an international background to assist your start-up during all stages of the company’s life, assisting it through its incorporation and helping it to grow the NEWCO in Spain.. We participate in corporate operations that require a high level of precision in their design and execution.
Our raison d’être is not only to advise our clients to achieve the objectives they have set themselves, but also to add value to their business. The professional service provided by LAWANTS through its lawyers and economists is a comprehensive service that will allow your company to collaborate with people who seek excellence for your business.
