Self-employed persons are obliged to draw up an annual Daily Book, in which all the economic activities they carry out must appear. Unlike companies/corporations, a self-employed person is exempt from the obligation to register his or her journal in the Commercial Register. Nor is it obliged to make its annual accounts public, something that is compulsory for companies/companies.
However, this does not exempt you from your responsibility when registering your economic activity, as the Tax Administration may require you to do so at any time. In fact, you may be asked to submit not only the current year’s journal but also those of the previous four years.
It is therefore essential that this book contains all the relevant and necessary information clearly, accurately and in date order.
On the other hand, the simplified direct estimation taxation model requires the self-employed to prepare books of invoices issued, invoices received, investment goods and certain intra-Community transactions.
All the books that the tax authorities require of the self-employed must contain, without exception, very detailed information. This means that the invoice number, series, date of issue/receipt, name, surname, company name and VAT number of each and every one of the suppliers and customers must be included. In addition, they must also break down the taxable base (all of them if there is more than one) and the output or input VAT (all the different VAT rates if there is more than one on the same invoice).
Despite the need to keep proper records, the self-employed person does not need to register these books anywhere, but they may be required by the tax office at any time. Therefore, you should keep them for at least 5 years.
It should be noted that it is not necessary for the books of account to include the control of all bank accounts. Despite this, it goes without saying that it is very convenient for the self-employed to have an account intended exclusively for their professional economic activity, and not shared with personal management.