Spain: Withdrawing to PayPal

[nadiappp]

Hi. I’d like to withdraw my fiverr earnings to my PayPal account in Spain. I have never done it before and the sum is substantial (over 2500 USD). My PayPal account is not verified yet - I haven’t sent them my personal info and proof of address, though it is linked to my debit card which is linked to my Spanish bank account.

Does anyone have experience with this? Do I need to be registered in Spain as a freelancer or even register a business (autónomo? self-employed?). How complicated is this just for the purposes of withdrawing my money?

Thank you.

[iamsachmusic]

It is not that difficult to withdraw the money. But every country has it’s own rules and regulations that a user has to follow. I suggest you to contact PayPal Customer Support and ask for their help about setting up and account and verifying it. They will guide you and answer every of your question.

[onepaperfold]

I use Paypal as well. I would recommend verifying your Paypal before you transfer any money to your account. I’ve never had any issues using Paypal to transfer my money from Fiverr, as well as transfering my money from Papyal to my bank account. I do have to say that Paypal takes a decent percentage when it comes to transfering money, especially changing dollars to euros. I hope this’ll help you!

[miiila]

Hi Nadia. I’m pretty sure that you need to verify your PP account for a sum like that in order to use the money for purchases or to transfer it from PayPal to your bank account.
They might freeze your account until it’s verified. Then of course, once you’re verified, they should defrost it. 😉 But I’d also rather do the verification first and then withdraw, just to avoid unnecessary forth and back.
I don’t remember how long exactly the verification took for me but I think just a few days, a week max.

PayPal also has to report to your financial authorities for … I’m not sure about the threshold but think it might be as low as $2000 a year, so you need to make sure to declare it as income/whether you need to declare it as income.

You’ll have to inform yourself about the detailed tax regulations for Spain and your specific case (is it your only job? do you get money elsewhere? are you a student? is your Fiverr work classified as a profession you might have to take and pay VAT for? how are the thresholds for VAT, yearly revenue/income?, … , or ideally ask an accountant. You can also ask your local tax authority, they’ll probably give you a few pointers, the right forms to fill out, etc.
I doubt that even Spanish forum users would want to give you definitive answers in that regard, nobody wants to have the feeling of being responsible for perhaps saying something that’s maybe not 100% correct in your case, or forget to mention something. 🙂

You may also need to inform your health insurance, depending.

It’s not really that complicated but (digital) paperwork, of course. Either you’ll have to work yourself through it all or find a reliable and able person to do it for you, aka an accountant.

[nadiappp]

Thanks to all, especially to miiila.

Yes, it’s a good piece of advice to have the PayPal account verified before withdrawing the funds.

Well, I’ve read a little regarding fiscal laws for freelancers in Spain and it’s depressing. Apparently we have to register with the tax authorities as a freelancer before we even start generating any income and then pay quarterly quotas regardless of whether we make any income or not. I think I’ll try to make sure I receive my earned fiverr money and then I’ll think hard on whether to continue with Fiverr. If yes, then maybe the only viable option for me, a small fish, is to stay under 2500 Euro a year.