ROI (Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios)
The ROI is the Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios, Spain's register for businesses and self employed workers that carry out transactions with companies in other EU member states. If you provide services to EU businesses with a valid VAT number, or if you buy or sell goods across EU borders, you need to be registered in the ROI.
Why you need the ROI
Without ROI registration, you cannot apply the reverse charge mechanism on your invoices to EU business clients. That means you would have to charge Spanish IVA at 21% on invoices to a German or French company, which they would then need to reclaim from the Spanish tax authority. This creates unnecessary friction and cost for your clients. With ROI registration, you invoice without IVA and your client self assesses VAT in their own country.
How to register
ROI registration is done through Modelo 036, specifically in tab 7 of the Censos WEB wizard on the AEAT sede electrónica. You can register at the same time as your initial alta censal (when you first become autónomo) or later via a modification filing. The AEAT may verify your registration by requesting additional documentation or even conducting a brief inspection of your business activity.
Once registered, your Spanish NIF becomes an intra Community VAT number. You can verify your own and your clients' VAT numbers through the VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) database maintained by the European Commission.
Modelo 349 quarterly reporting
Once you are in the ROI, you must file Modelo 349 every quarter to report the total value of your intra Community transactions. This includes services provided to EU businesses, goods sold to EU businesses, and goods purchased from EU suppliers. The deadlines follow the same quarterly schedule as Modelo 303 (IVA). If your intra Community transactions for the quarter are zero, you do not need to file for that quarter.
B2B versus B2C
The ROI and tab 7 of Modelo 036 apply exclusively to B2B transactions, meaning services or goods supplied to businesses with a valid EU VAT number. If you sell digital services to EU consumers (B2C), you use a different regime registered in tab 9 of Modelo 036, and you may need to register for the OSS (One Stop Shop) system. Confusing these two is a common mistake.
