Those who still don't know about the benefits of this savings tool only need recall the very popular Housing Savings Accounts because the tax breaks are the same (15%) with the same yearly limit (9,000 euros). The difference is that the money saved in this account goes toward starting up a business, while the money in the other account must be invested in buying one's first home.

Holders of these accounts have up to four years to spend the money they have accmulated in the account toward the goal established by the government: signing the new company up in the Mercantile Registry and seeing the founder of the company issue stock in the new firm.

Once the company is created, the business savings account stops offering tax breaks because the successive deposits in it cannot be used to boost the company's capital. The government only helps get the business get started. Each taxpayer can have only one account open and can open it only to open their first company, not subsequent ones.

Holders of these accounts can deduct a maximum of 9,000 euros per year from their income tax. The rate is 15%. The money eligible for the cut is that deposited into the account during the calendar year, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.

But the Tax Department does not only allow for these tax breaks. It also watches to see that the money saved through them is actually used to start up a company.

It is not enough for the new empresario to simply register the company within four years
of the account's opening. Also, within one year from the time the company is founded, the owner has to report a series of expenses and investments directly related to the company's activity, such as investments in equipment (both material and immaterial); spending on getting the firm started and its establishment in the market; and spending on employees who proper work contracts.

To abide by these terms, the new company has to have a physical site reserved exclusively for the company's activity and have at least one fulltime employee. And the company has to still be up and running at least two years after it was founded. Otherwise, if any of those terms is violated, the money saved in the tax break goes back to the tax man.

As with the savings account geared toward buying a house, consumers can sign up for a business-oriented account in their current bank or savings and loan because all of Spain's financial institutions are responding to strong demand for this new investment tool. Account holders can also specify in their tax return a series of data about their account, such as the name of the bank where the account was opened, the branch and the account number.