One of the biggest problems you can have when creating your electronic commerce or ecommerce are the administrative requirements you have to go through yes or yes. Unless you want to expose yourself to a financial penalty that can throw off your budget at those times. So that this unwanted scenario does not happen to you from now on, we are going to show you the steps you have to follow so that everything is in order and you have no problem with the authorities of our country.
Well, we are going to expose you below the legal requirements that you must meet when setting up your online store before you go to open the business. Where should you keep in mind, both the articles of the Retail Trade Regulation Law like the new changes that have been developed in recent years in the Consumer Law. And that without a doubt that they will affect you at the time of formalizing these administrative procedures that are mandatory on your part.
Where the first aspect that you will have to solve is the one related to the regulation of your income. To the point that you must register, first in the Treasury and then as a self-employed or self-employed worker that you really are. If you do not do it, you expose yourself to a sanction by the regulatory bodies that go with fines from 300 to 3.000 euros as it is an offense considered serious.
Administrative procedures: register with the IAE
To carry out this part of the process, you will have no other solution than to fill in two parts of it. Although they are independent, their relationship is very marked. In all cases they will be the following that we expose you below:
- First you must complete the census registration in the Treasury with form 036.
- To then register as a self-employed person in Social Security.
Any breach of these requirements can cost a lot through the penalties that can be imposed on you for this administrative negligence. That is to say, they will force you or rather they will register you ex officio in the special regime for self-employed workers from the moment you started your professional activity in any digital business. This can cost you approximately a year 3.000 or 4.000 euros.
To which will be added a 20% surcharge on that amount and that applying the previous example can suppose an additional cost around 800 euros. While on the other hand, an interest rate would be imposed on the amounts owed and that can reach a figure of around 100 euros if the average annual interest of 3% is applied. That is, it will mean an amount that can be perfectly between 6.000 and 9.000 euros if you take twelve months as a reference point.
Retail Trade Regulation Law
Another aspect that must be considered from now on is that which is included in the regulations to which we refer in this part of the article. Not surprisingly, the legal requirements to sell online are the same as those of a physical store, with hardly any exclusions of any kind. Where the only difference you will notice is that you will not need an opening license to start your ecommerce or electronic commerce.
Where the term of execution and payment will be collected. Although if the delivery period for the order is not indicated in the offer, delivery must be made within a maximum of 30 days from the conclusion of the contract. While on the other hand, and always referring to companies and professionals who carry out an economic activity of electronic commerce over the Internet, the need is established for the e-commerce platform to house in a visible and accessible place the basic business data, such as the following that we provide below:
- The name or company name and contact details of the digital company.
- The registration number of the registry in which the business that you are going to open shortly is registered.
- And of course the Tax Identification Number or NIF.
Data protection
It will be another of the aspects that you should consider to start a business of these characteristics and that is essential for its proper development.
This is because any business based on e-commerce deals with personal data from customers or users on a daily basis. And therefore, it will tend to its correct protection and this is formalized through compliance with the Organic Law on Data Protection. Therefore, our online business will have no choice but to guarantee this information in an efficient way and in accordance with the current regulations expressed in the LOPD.
In this case, the steps you must follow below for the proper development of this data protection regulation is as follows:
- Identification of the files that contain personal data (employees, clients, users, suppliers, etc ...).
- Identification of the level of security that is applied to them in each case.
- Identification of the File Administrator.
- Preparation of the Security Document.
- Training for the File Manager.
- Information to the owners of the data, about the existence of the files that were the object of this treatment.
- Registration of the files in the Registry of the Spanish Agency for Data Protection.
- Prepare a privacy policy for our company and we can comply with all the required requirements.
- And finally, have a data collection form that allows prior and express consent.
Duties of digital entrepreneurs
These are duly collected in the Consumer law and electronic commerce and where some of the guidelines are established in their commercial relationships. With the primary objective of adjusting to the latest European requirements. Where stores or companies of a digital nature must meet the following requirements that we point out below:
Digital stores must show in a very clear and diaphanous way the final price of the product or item they sell. Without errors in the approach so that in the end it can be accepted or not by the client himself.
The deadline for the return of the product must be set and that passes from 7 business days until 14 in which it is contemplated in the current regulations for consumers. But with a small detail and that is that if the client is not informed about this aspect, the term will be extended to twelve months.
In all cases, it will be mandatory for a withdrawal form to be made available to the client or user. This is something common in the countries of the European Union (EU) and that in any case must be provided together with the information prior to the purchase contract.
The information that the buyer should receive about the entire acquisition process of a product or article must be present from the first moment. With all the details about the transaction and which also includes the means of payment used (cash, credit or debit cards, electronic payment or any other).
The employer or seller will be in charge of bear the expenses in case there was any incident on the product during shipping. Whatever the means of transport used to carry out the commercial operation.
You will not have any right on the part of the businessman or seller to impose any surcharge or commission on payments made through credit or debit cards. If not, on the contrary, they will have the same rate as through the other means of payment admitted in the sale.
In all cases, these are mandatory action guidelines whose main objective is to protect the interests of buyers or consumers in the digital process. And that can generate more confidence and security at the time of formalizing these operations in their relationships with stores or virtual businesses. Equating them, in a certain way, with the conditions imposed from the physical or face-to-face stores, which is ultimately what it is all about.
While finally, one of the last challenges to start a company of these characteristics is to put a commercial name on it. Where it will be very important that:
- Your real social name shocking and can reach a greater number of recipients.
- That it can reflect as much as possible what is offered to the public through a name closely linked to the products marketed.
- A short and concise name is preferable to another that can be cumbersome and can mislead future buyers.
In all cases, its name must be duly registered with the administration under a private property contract that protects the interests of the entrepreneurs against actions by the competition. Where they will affect you at the time of formalizing these administrative procedures on your part.