Beckham Law in Spain: 24% Tax Rate, Who Qualifies and How to Apply

The Beckham law is Spain’s special tax regime for people who move here to work. Under article 93 of the income tax law, employment income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 a year and 47% above that, for the year you arrive and the next five. You must opt in with modelo 149 within six months of starting work.

How does the regime work?

If you opt in, you remain a Spanish tax resident but pay tax as if you were a non-resident, with some adjustments. In practice:

• Employment and qualifying business income under the regime counts as Spanish income, wherever it is paid.
• Other income is taxed only if it comes from Spain. Foreign investment income, for example, is generally outside Spanish tax.
• Each income item is taxed separately across the calendar year, with no offsetting of gains against losses.
• Two scales apply: one for dividends, interest and capital gains, and one for everything else.

For employment income, the Agencia Tributaria (Spain’s tax agency) sets withholding at 24%. When pay from the same employer exceeds €600,000 in a calendar year, the excess is taxed at 47%, the rate since 2021. Under the ordinary progressive scale, higher salaries pay marginal rates above 24%, which is why the regime matters most for higher earners.

Who qualifies?

Since the Startups Law (Law 28/2022) took effect on 1 January 2023, you can use the regime if you meet all of these conditions:

1. You have not been a Spanish tax resident in the five tax years before you move. Before 2023 the requirement was ten years.
2. You become a Spanish tax resident because you move here for one of these reasons:
   • a job with a Spanish employer, or a transfer ordered by your employer, including remote work done from Spain for a foreign employer by people with the international teleworking visa (the digital nomad permit);
   • becoming a director of a company, with limits for asset-holding companies;
   • an entrepreneurial activity recognized under Spain’s entrepreneurs law, usually backed by a favorable report from ENISA, the state agency for innovative companies;
   • work as a highly qualified professional for startups, or in training, research, development and innovation.
3. You are not a professional athlete. The regime got its nickname from David Beckham’s move to Madrid, but footballers and other professional sportspeople have been excluded since 2015.
4. You do not earn income through a permanent establishment in Spain, except in the entrepreneur and highly qualified professional cases.

Can your family use it too?

Since 2023, yes. Your spouse, your children under 25 (or of any age if they have a disability), or the other parent of your children if you are not married, can join the regime if they:

• move with you, or later but before the end of your first tax year under the regime;
• become Spanish tax residents because of the move;
• were not Spanish residents in the previous five years and have no permanent establishment income;
• together have a lower taxable base each year than yours.

How do you apply?

1. Register with Spanish social security, or get the document that keeps you in your home country’s system. The start date on that registration starts the clock.
2. Upload the supporting documents through the Agencia Tributaria’s electronic office, using the procedure for providing documentation for the special regime. You get a registration number.
3. File modelo 149, the option form, quoting that number, no later than six months after the start date of your activity in the social security registration. It is filed online with a digital certificate, electronic DNI or Cl@ve.
4. Each year, file the special return modelo 151 instead of the ordinary income tax return.

The documents depend on your case. For a Spanish employment contract, you need a letter from the employer stating the start date, workplace and length of the contract; for a transfer, the assignment letter; for remote work, a document from the employer confirming the job and its expected duration in Spain; plus your residence permit where one is needed. The modelo 149 instructions list each case.

What else changes under the regime?

People taxed under article 93 do not have to file modelo 720, the foreign asset declaration, according to the tax agency. The regime only changes income tax: social security follows the normal rules, starting with your social security number. The regime can be renounced, and you are excluded if you stop meeting the conditions. Whether it pays off depends on your whole income and your home country’s rules, which is a question for an asesor fiscal (tax adviser).

Bottom line

Count the six months from the date on your social security registration, not from your arrival or your residence card, and upload the supporting documents first, since modelo 149 needs their registration number. If you will have large foreign investment income, ask an adviser to compare the regime with ordinary residence before you opt in.

FAQ

Can digital nomads use the Beckham law?

Remote workers who move with the international teleworking visa can qualify, provided they meet the other conditions, including no Spanish tax residence in the previous five years.

How long does the regime last?

The tax year in which you become resident plus the five following years, so six tax years in total.

Does my spouse join automatically?

No. Family members are treated as associated taxpayers and must meet their own conditions and opt in, with documents proving the family link. Their deadline is tied to their own arrival and your start date.