You buy a 1.500 € laptop to work with, and the real question is always the same: can I deduct all of it this year? Short answer: it depends on the amount and on the type of asset. In Spain, an item costing 300 € or less can be written off in full in the first year; above that, the cost is spread across several tax years using a coefficient. And in both cases something else rules: how much of the asset you actually use for your business.
This guide is about concrete cases: laptop, phone, software, air conditioning. The full tables and the explanation of each method (straight-line, simplified table, immediate write-off) live in the companion guide on the AEAT depreciation tables. Every percentage below is a reference figure: check the one in force for your tax year before applying it.
Two questions first
- How much does the item cost? Up to 300 € per item it qualifies as a low-value asset and is deducted in full in year one. Above that, you need a depreciation schedule.
- How much of it is business use? Depreciation is computed on the business share, not on the whole invoice — the same allocation criterion as in the deductible expenses guide.
Case 1: the 1.500 € laptop
A computer is IT equipment. As a reference, the maximum straight-line coefficient is 25 % per year, and 26 % under the simplified table used in simplified direct assessment. At 25 %, 1.500 € is spread over four years of 375 €:
| Year | Depreciation | Accumulated | Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 375 € | 375 € | 1.125 € |
| 2027 | 375 € | 750 € | 750 € |
| 2028 | 375 € | 1.125 € | 375 € |
| 2029 | 375 € | 1.500 € | 0 € |
Under the 26 % simplified coefficient the annual charge rises to 390 € and the asset is still written off over four years: 390 € for the first three and 330 € in the last one, which only picks up the remainder. A coefficient is an annual maximum, not an exact useful life — the final year always adjusts.
Bought mid-year
The first year is prorated by the months the asset has been in use. Buy the laptop in July and you count 6 of the 12 months, so year one is 187,50 € instead of 375 €. The schedule does not shrink, it stretches: the missing 187,50 € shows up in a fifth year. Our depreciation calculator builds the schedule with the purchase month already applied.
Case 2: the phone
A phone sits in the same group as the computer — IT equipment, 25 % straight-line / 26 % simplified — so the coefficient is not the interesting part here. The interesting part is business allocation.
And here comes the surprise: percentage splits do not work with a phone. The handset counts as an indivisible asset, and the income tax regulation states that indivisible assets do not admit partial business allocation. Either it is allocated to the activity or it is not. There is no "I deduct 60 % of it".
The only leeway the rule gives is for private use to be incidental and notoriously irrelevant — the regulation describes it as using the asset on non-working days or hours, when the activity is stopped. In that case it does count as fully allocated. For the phone line the tax directorate has been just as blunt for years: it is deductible only if used exclusively for the activity; if you share it with your personal life, nothing is deductible, not even a share. And you have to be able to prove that exclusivity.
That is why so many freelancers end up with a dedicated handset and line, invoiced in their own name: it is not fussiness, it is what the rule requires to depreciate the device and deduct the bill.
One practical nuance: if the phone costs 300 € or less, you do not need a schedule at all — it is a low-value asset and is deducted in full in year one (the business share still applies to that amount).
Case 3: software and applications
Here is a distinction almost nobody explains, and it changes the treatment entirely:
- Licence or recurring subscription (your monthly or annual plan for design, accounting, storage…): not an investment but an ordinary expense of the period. Deducted in the year it accrues, with no schedule and no coefficients.
- Software acquired as a fixed asset (a perpetual licence, a bespoke development you will use for years): that one is depreciated. As a reference, 33 % straight-line and 26 % under the simplified table.
For an application acquired for 1.200 € at 33 %, you write off 396 € a year: 396 € in 2026, 2027 and 2028, and the remaining 12 € in 2029. At the 26 % simplified rate it would be 312 € for three years and 264 € in the fourth. A higher straight-line percentage is not automatically better — it just front-loads the expense.
Case 4: air conditioning and other installations
A fixed air conditioning unit is an installation: as a reference, 10 % per year under both the straight-line and the simplified table, so roughly ten years. A 1.200 € unit would be written off at 120 € a year.
The nuance appears when it sits in your home. If only part of the home is allocated to the activity, what happens depends on exactly what you bought. A home is a divisible asset, so it does admit partial allocation; the unit itself, depending on the case, does not:
- Work built into the home (ducting, outdoor unit, an installation serving the whole house): it normally adds to the property's value as an improvement and is depreciated at the same allocated percentage as the home. With 30 % allocated, the 1.200 € above leaves a base of 360 €.
- Equipment serving only the allocated space and working independently: it is then 100 % allocated, not the percentage of the house.
- A standalone unit cooling the whole house that cannot be used separately: the rule is harsher here. It is an indivisible asset, and indivisible assets do not admit partial allocation.
Watch the coefficient too, because it changes with the answer: depreciating as part of the property is not the same as depreciating as a standalone installation. This is one to check with an adviser before deciding.
Low-value assets: the most used exception
New items of tangible fixed assets costing up to 300 € per unit can be deducted at 100 % in the first year (immediate write-off), subject to a cap of 25.000 € per year for what you put through this particular provision — not for every immediate write-off, each of which has its own rules — and prorated if your tax period is shorter than a year. This rule settles most day-to-day purchases: an 80 € keyboard, a 250 € monitor, a 180 € chair, an external drive.
The two words almost everyone skips: new (a second-hand 250 € laptop does not qualify) and tangible (a software licence is intangible, so it does not either). It applies the same under normal and simplified direct assessment.
The limit is measured per item, not per invoice: five 250 € monitors on the same invoice are still low-value assets. And the other way round, a 1.500 € laptop does not stop being a depreciable asset just because you paid it in four instalments of 375 €.
Coefficient summary (reference figures)
| Asset | Straight-line | Simplified | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| IT equipment (laptop, phone, monitor) | 25 % | 26 % | About 4 years. Watch the allocation on phones. |
| Software and applications | 33 % | 26 % | Only as a fixed asset; subscriptions are expenses of the period. |
| Installations (air conditioning, fixed climate control) | 10 % | 10 % | About 10 years; at home, on the allocated share only. |
| Furniture (desk, chair, shelving) | 10 % | 10 % | If each piece costs 300 € or less, it is a low-value asset. |
These are the maximum coefficients used by Aurio's calculation engine. The official tables live in the Spanish official gazette and can vary by item and tax year: verify the current one before filing anything.
Common mistakes
- Deducting the whole laptop in year one. Above 300 € per item it is not a low-value asset: you need a depreciation schedule, however small the amount feels.
- Depreciating a monthly subscription. A software plan is not a fixed asset: it is an ordinary expense of the period, deducted in the year, no coefficient involved.
- Ignoring partial allocation on the phone. Deducting 100 % of a mixed-use handset is one of the most common adjustments in a tax review.
- Not keeping the invoice in the freelancer's name with their tax ID. A till receipt from the electronics shop does not evidence the investment; without a full invoice, even a perfect schedule is worthless.
- Starting to depreciate before using the asset. The clock starts when it is put into service, and the first year is prorated by months.
Aurio builds the schedule, adds it to your expenses and tells you how much falls in this year; what it never does is file anything with the tax authority or replace your adviser.
