In short: VAT on ebooks in Spain: when you sell an ebook or a PDF guide as an autónomo (self-employed), it is 4% only if the tax authority treats it as a «book»; if not, it is 21%. A recorded online course or an academy with on-demand videos pays 21%, with no exemption available. A live video call consultation also pays 21%, apart from specific exemptions (for example, healthcare). The 4% rate for ebooks has applied since 23.04.2020 (art. 91.Dos.1.2.º of the VAT law, as worded by Royal Decree-law 15/2020). If the client lives in another country, where the VAT is paid can change too.
Who it is for. For autónomos resident in Spain, foreigners included, who sell ebooks, PDF guides, templates, online courses or video call consultations to private clients. The general taxes of an autónomo are in the card on taxes for a foreign autónomo.
What you sell and what VAT it carries
| What you sell | VAT | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|
| Ebook or PDF guide with a complete work | 4% | That it is a «book» (see below), that it is not mainly video or music and that advertising does not bring more than 90% of its income |
| Short PDF, checklist, template or spreadsheet | 4% or 21% | If it is a book, 4%; if not, 21%. For instructions of 10 to 20 pages the DGT made the 4% conditional on them being a book (ruling V0332-26); the same for templates (V2160-22) |
| Recorded course, online academy, on-demand videos | 21% | It is automated distance teaching, an electronic service: no reduced rate and no exemption (V0598-26, V0778-26) |
| Bundle of ebook with videos | 4% or 21% for everything | The main part decides: if it is the ebook, 4% for everything; if it is the course, 21% for everything, the ebook included (V0598-26) |
| Live consultation, advice or mentoring by video call | 21% | Not an electronic service: the internet is only the channel (V0068-25). With clients outside the EU the rule changes (see below) |
| Live class by video call | 21% or exempt | Exempt only if it meets art. 20.Uno.10.º (private lessons by an individual on subjects in official curricula) or 20.Uno.9.º (authorised centres) (V0598-26, V0778-26) |
What the tax authority counts as a «book»
- The definition. Law 10/2007 on books calls a book a «single publication in one or several volumes» and expressly includes ebooks (Law 10/2007, art. 2). The Directorate-General for Taxation (DGT) adds the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy: a work «long enough to form a volume». The format does not matter: 4% applies to a PDF download and to reading by streaming (V0332-26).
- The ISBN. Requesting one is voluntary. Since October 2020 the DGT treats the ISBN as a «sign or presumption» that there is a book. Without an ISBN 4% is still possible: the DGT accepted it for ebooks with no ISBN and no advertising, as long as they fit the definition of a book (ruling V1471-21).
- An ISBN does not always make a book. Videos, software, publications where multimedia content predominates and those that, because of the number of hyperlinks to outside information, work like a database are left out (ruling V0332-26).
- Length. The test is length enough to form a volume, and it is assessed product by product. The closest case: a self-employed person sold sewing instructions of 10 to 20 pages, on paper and as a PDF. The DGT answered on 18.02.2026: 4% if they are a book, 21% if not (V0332-26). A checklist or an Excel template goes through the same test: 4% only if it is a book; if not, 21% (ruling V2160-22).
Courses, platforms and bundles
A recorded course, downloadable training files or access to a platform are an electronic service, even with occasional tutoring from a teacher. They pay 21% and do not get the education exemption (V0598-26, 13.03.2026; V0778-26, 08.04.2026). If you sell an ebook and give access to videos as an extra, the ebook leads and everything goes at 4%. If the course is the main thing and the ebook is one more material, everything goes at 21%. This main-and-ancillary rule comes from the EU Court of Justice and the DGT applies it in V0598-26.
Live consultations and classes
A live consultation by video call is not an electronic service, because a person delivers it in real time (V0068-25, 03.02.2025). Consultations that are not teaching pay 21% (V0778-26). A live class with real interaction with the student is not an electronic service either. It can be exempt only if it meets art. 20.Uno.10.º (private lessons by an individual on subjects in official curricula) or 20.Uno.9.º (authorised centres) of the VAT law (V0598-26, V0778-26). Otherwise, 21%.
Where VAT is paid depending on where your private client lives
| Private client | Ebook, PDF or recorded course (electronic service) | Live consultation |
|---|---|---|
| In Spain | Spanish VAT: 4% if it is a book, 21% if not | Spanish VAT, 21% |
| In another EU country | Spanish VAT as long as your electronic services to private buyers in other EU countries stay at or below €10,000 a year (previous year and current year). Above that, or if you choose taxation at destination (for at least 2 years), the VAT of the client's country at its rate (art. 73 of the VAT law; ruling V0905-22) | Spanish VAT, 21% (ruling V1018-25) |
| Outside the EU | Not subject to Spanish VAT (ruling V1642-24, on recorded courses sold to private buyers outside the EU) | Advice and consultancy: in principle not subject (art. 69.Dos.d). If the client uses the service in Spain, for example for a Spanish procedure, it can become subject (art. 70.Dos). It is a question of fact analysed case by case: the proof is on you and the AEAT assesses it (V1094-24, V1018-25). A live service that is not advice, such as psychotherapy, stays in Spain: 21%, unless exempt (V0068-25) |
- Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla. They do not count as «outside the EU» for advice: a consultation for clients there is subject to Spanish VAT (art. 69.Dos).
- The €10,000. It is one total for all your sales to private buyers in other EU countries: electronic services and distance sales of goods. Sales to clients in Spain do not count (V0905-22).
- One-stop shop. Above the limit you register in the Union scheme with form 035 and declare the VAT of the other countries with modelo 369 (AEAT, VAT and e-commerce). If you do not use the one-stop shop, you register in each country.
- Proof of where the client lives. For electronic services to private clients, the client lives where two non-contradictory pieces of evidence point. The list of evidence is in art. 24 septies of Regulation (EU) 282/2011 (art. 24 ter). If your services of this kind stay at or below €100,000 during the current year and the previous one, one piece of evidence supplied by a third party involved in the sale is enough (V1642-24).
- AEAT tool. The service place-of-supply locator tells you where a service is located and whether your invoice carries VAT.
When this is not clear-cut
- Short PDF, template or checklist. The DGT looks at whether it is a work long enough to form a volume, not at the number of pages. Until you have your own DGT answer, applying 4% to such a product is a risk.
- Guide with many links to outside information. If it works like a database, the DGT takes it out of the 4% (V0332-26).
- Consultation for a private client outside the EU about a procedure in Spain. It can be taxed in Spain under art. 70.Dos. The DGT says this is a question of fact it cannot settle in a ruling: you supply the evidence and the AEAT assesses it.
- Sales before 23.04.2020. Until that date ebooks paid the general rate, 21%.
What you can do
- Describe each product: pages, whether it has video or audio, how many outside links, whether it has an ISBN, how it is delivered and in which countries your buyers live.
- If your ebook is a real book, think about requesting an ISBN: it is voluntary, but the DGT treats it as a sign.
- Keep a record of sales by country and two pieces of evidence of where each client lives.
- Before invoicing, check the place of supply with the AEAT locator.
- If you are unsure whether your product is a book (4%) or not (21%), ask for your own binding ruling from the DGT before the deadline of the return concerned ends (art. 88.2 of the General Tax Law).
- Check your tax registration with the IAE heading for content creators and info products and the dates in the calendar for autónomos without a gestoría. Each quarter's VAT goes in modelo 303.
Official source: BOE, Law 37/1992 on VAT (arts. 69, 70, 73 and 91), AEAT, VAT rates and the DGT binding rulings cited.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.