The 036 «previa» — one free form, ≈€1,500 protected
You bought — and are buying — rental gear before you're an autónomo. This page shows how to keep every euro of the IVA — without starting your cuota, your filings, or your Cuota Cero clock.
€1,438+
Recoverable pre-alta IVA: €512 in the new orders + €926–1,062 hiding in gear you already own (rescue plan below)
€0
RETA / monthly cuota triggered by the previa
Oct 1
Real alta unchanged — tarifa plana & Cuota Cero clocks untouched
What the previa actually is
Plain English first. Tap “technical” anywhere for the law.
It's Modelo 036 used as an announcement, not a start. You tell Hacienda: “I'm preparing a business — buying equipment, training — but I haven't opened for customers.” Think of it as the engagement, not the wedding: Hacienda knows your intentions, nothing recurring begins.
From that moment, the IVA on things you buy for the business is treated like any autónomo's input IVA — you get it back through the normal quarterly return. And because the form can also request your intra-EU VAT number (ROI), future Thomann/Reichelt orders can ship at 0% IVA — no cash fronted at all.
Free to fileNo RETANo cuotaGestoría files it — a perfect first test for your shortlisttechnical
Form: Modelo 036, casilla 504/505 — comunicación de inicio de actividad previa (preparatory phase, no operations); casilla 582 — solicitud de alta in the ROI (Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios).
Deduction right: art. 111 Ley 37/1992 (LIVA) — cuotas soportadas before the start of operations are deductible when there are elementos objetivos of business intent; window up to 4 years.
ECJ backing:Gabalfrisa (C-110/98) — the deduction can't be denied merely because the declaration came later; the previa just makes intent contemporaneous and undeniable.
RETA: preparatory acts ≠ habitual economic activity → no Seguridad Social alta yet. The moment you rent to a customer, that changes.
Same gear, same money, same shops. What's printed on the invoice decides whether €512 comes back or is gone. Try it:
€512 back
Fully recoverable. Name + NIE + address + IVA shown separately = a deductible invoice. It returns via the Q4-2026 Modelo 303 (filed Jan 2027).
Ask Thomann & Reichelt for a full invoice before they ship — both do it on request.
Ideally dated after your previa is filed — zero-friction deduction.
technical
Why the ticket fails: RD 1619/2012 arts. 6–7 — deduction requires a factura completa; a simplified/B2C receipt without the recipient's NIF (your NIE) doesn't support deduction (art. 7.4 allows upgrading a simplified invoice by adding NIF + address).
OSS is irrelevant to you: the 21% Spanish IVA charged by a German shop under One-Stop-Shop is ordinary cuota soportada for the buyer. Recovery depends on the invoice, not the seller's remittance route.
Repair path: already got a bare receipt? Request a factura rectificativa with your NIE after the fact — moves the € back to recoverable.
No VAT number needed for this — your NIE works as NIF. The VAT number (ROI) is only for future 0% B2B orders.
Three ways to buy — one clear winner
Costed against your real orders (€2,950 gross incl. NDI keys).
Route A
Just buy as a consumer
Cash fronted
€512
IVA back
Only if invoices are perfect
RETA cost
€0
Risk
Medium
Everything rides on the invoice switch above — and intent is easier to argue with a previa on file.
Route B — the move
036 previa + ROI now · RETA in Oct
Cash fronted
€512, recovered
Future orders
0% at checkout
RETA cost
€0
Risk
Low
Strongest legal footing for the €512, kills the 21% problem on every future order, touches none of your October clocks.
Route C
Full alta now (036 inicio + RETA)
Cash fronted
€512 + cuota
Extra cuota
~€180–270 wasted
Filings
Start Q3-2026
Risk
Low, but pointless
Burns tarifa-plana months and does not improve Cuota Cero — every 2026 alta needs the same unannounced successor convocatoria.
Your sequence
Order matters. Six steps, three of them are other people's work.
This week
Gestoría files the 036 previa + ROI request
One form, free. Also your best shortlist test: a modern gestoría does this without blinking.
technical
Casillas 504/505 (previa) + 582 (ROI). Filed at the AEAT Sede — censos (036) with certificado digital / Cl@ve.
Days → ~3 months
ROI activates — check yourself in VIES
AEAT may ask questions or verify the address; normal. Until it's live, sellers must still charge IVA.
technical
Since the 2020 “quick fixes”, VIES registration is a substantive requirement for the 0% intra-EU exemption — a seller can't legally zero-rate before your number validates: VIES checker.
Then
Place Order A + B — as facturas completas
Name + NIE + Granada address on both. If VIES isn't live yet you still pay the 21% — fine, it's recoverable; future orders go 0%.
technical
Thomann: business/invoice details at checkout or via customer service. Reichelt: request full invoice with NIF. Keep PDFs — they feed the Phase-2 pipeline's libro de facturas recibidas.
Jul–Sep
Train on the gear. Don't rent it.
Training = preparatory ✓. A paid rental = habitual activity → RETA obligations early. Hold the line until October.
1 Oct 2026
Real alta — 036 inicio + RETA tarifa plana
Exactly as planned. The previa changed nothing here: tarifa plana and the Cuota Cero window key off this date.
Jan 2027
Q4 Modelo 303 — the €512 comes home
Gestoría deducts the pre-alta cuotas; the pipeline cross-checks every casilla.
technical
Art. 111 LIVA deduction exercised in the regular 303; up to 4 years available if anything slips. Intra-EU 0% purchases post-ROI add Modelo 349 + reverse-charge boxes — gestoría territory.
What it touches — and what it adds
RETA cuota€0 until October
Tarifa planaClock starts 1 Oct, as planned
Cuota Cero windowUnchanged (Oct–Nov 2027)
AddsA light 303/349 rhythm — gestoría's job
Watch-outs
No renting before October. One paid booking converts “preparation” into “activity” — RETA, cuota and filings would start immediately.
File the previa before the shops issue invoices. Later-dated paperwork is defensible (Gabalfrisa) but why volunteer for that argument.
Bare B2C receipts are the only real way to lose the €512. The switch above is the whole game.
NDI keys: activate by 31 Dec 2026. You're buying them with the cameras — activate on arrival, don't shelve them.
Your calls, logged (9 Jul 2026)
NDI keys: IN if OBSBOTs bought — +€230 (≈€40 IVA, recoverable like the rest)Boom arms + desk stands: BOTH — deliberate rental flexibilityStill add: USB SSD (Video Core records nothing without it) · 2× microSD · transport case
Past purchases — the rescue plan
All 48 rows of your inventory sheet, verified to the penny (€8,766.87), each routed one of three ways.
≈€926 rescuableNew-bought from business sellers — fix the invoices
+€136 stretch2 uncertain items — worth the ask
€2,613 afectaciónNo IVA back — enters at market value, depreciates vs IRPF
€45 skippedOne trivial item, not worth paperwork
Three emails ≈ €756 of it
Amazon.es — ≈€450 across ~15 orders: add your NIE to the account, then request per-order invoice corrections. biggest bucket
Thomann — €195 (order 23659709: Pro II, 4× HD-280, VideoMic NTG, WS11) in one email: you're fixing the recipient identity, not the VAT charge — smaller ask than their policy page covers.
The one that got away: the Sony a6700 + Sigma 18-50 (€1,468, Cotswold Cameras UK) has zero IVA angle — the seller isn't VAT-registered. It's the flagship of the afectación pile instead: enters the business at market value, deducted through amortization.
needs your input · gestor flags
From you: Beyerdynamic Space order number (Amazon, Oct 2025) · SmallRig cage + baseplate and Peak Design Leash receipts/prices · iPad mini purchase date/order · any customs/import-VAT receipt for the PMI hazer.
Gestor: both iPads are dual-use-risk (Spanish IRPF wants exclusive business use for tablets) · afectación valuations · intent evidence for the older items.