Beckham Law in Spain: who qualifies, how to apply and what it really costs

What the Beckham Law is

The legal name is régimen especial aplicable a los trabajadores, profesionales, emprendedores e inversores desplazados a territorio español. In English, this means the special regime for workers and other people moving to Spain. Everyone calls it the Beckham Law. It lets qualifying newcomers use special non-resident tax rules while remaining Spanish IRPF taxpayers. The headline rate is 24% on the general tax base up to €600.000. The rate is 47% above that amount.

The regime covers the tax year when you become Spanish tax resident, plus the next five tax years. That gives you six tax years in total. Your first resident year is the first calendar year in which you spend more than 183 days in Spain after the move. Changing jobs doesn't restart the six-year clock.

Who can qualify since 2023

You must not have been tax resident in Spain during the five tax years before your move. Your move must happen in the first year of the regime, or the year before. It must also follow one of these six routes.

1. Contract with a Spanish employer

You start an employment relationship with an employer in Spain. This can be an ordinary employment contract or another employment relationship. Professional sportspeople are excluded.

2. Posting by a foreign employer

Your foreign employer sends you to Spain. You need a posting letter that shows the move. Keep the letter and its dates.

3. Remote work for a foreign employer

You work online, using computer, telecoms and digital systems. The work must be for a foreign employer. This route covers many international remote workers. It can include holders of Spain's international teleworking visa, often called the digital nomad visa. The official teleworker information explains the visa separately.

The visa doesn't guarantee the tax regime. You still need the five-year residence test, the right work relationship, the correct Social Security evidence and a timely application.

4. Becoming a company director

You become a director of a company. If the company is a patrimonial entity, your shareholding must not make you a related person under the corporate tax rules. That shareholding limit applies only in that case.

5. ENISA-certified entrepreneurship

You move to carry out an entrepreneurial activity. The activity must receive a favourable report from ENISA. This route allows the relevant entrepreneurial income within the regime.

6. Highly qualified startup work

You work as a highly qualified professional, or in research and development, for startups covered by Ley 28/2022. More than 40% of your income must come from that work. You need proof of your qualification and the startup's registration.

Except for the entrepreneur and highly qualified cases, you must not earn income through an establecimiento permanente (permanent establishment) in Spain.

Who doesn't qualify

Ordinary self-employed work doesn't qualify. This includes working as an autónomo (self-employed worker) or freelancing for clients. The tax office treats this activity as a permanent establishment in Spain. You can therefore lose the regime in the same year. Read our guide to becoming autónomo in Spain before changing your work structure.

Professional sportspeople don't qualify through the employment route. You also don't qualify if you were tax resident in Spain during any of the five tax years before your move. A digital nomad visa alone isn't enough. You need a qualifying work situation and must meet every tax condition.

The six-month deadline

This is the most common serious mistake. You must file the modelo 149 (the option form) within six months of the start date on your alta en la Seguridad Social (Social Security registration).

If Spain doesn't register you because you keep your home-country Social Security cover, the six months start on the date of the document that proves that cover. There is no extension. A late filing means you can't use the regime.

How to apply

1. Get your NIE and NIF. Get your NIE, the foreigner identity number, and your NIF, the Spanish tax number. Check our NIE guide. You must also be registered in the tax census before filing.
2. Collect your work evidence. Get your alta en la Seguridad Social and the employer document. The document should show the contract's start date and duration. Our guide to Spanish work contracts explains the dates to check.
3. Set up online access. Use a digital certificate or Cl@ve, Spain's online identification system. See our guide to the digital certificate and Cl@ve.
4. Upload the documents first. Use the specific online service for documents supporting the option. Keep its registration number. You must enter that number in the modelo 149.
5. File modelo 149 online. Choose the option for the special regime. Filing is electronic only. The main taxpayer must file before associated family members.
6. Wait for the certificate. The tax office issues the regime certificate within 10 working days. Save the certificate with your tax records.
7. Give it to payroll. Send the certificate to your employer. Payroll should apply a 24% retención (payroll withholding) to employment income. It should apply 47% to income above €600.000 from the same payer.
8. File every annual return. File the modelo 151 (the annual special-regime return) every year. It replaces the normal Spanish renta return.

Documents for modelo 149

Prepare clear electronic copies before starting. The exact papers depend on your route.

• NIF, to identify you for tax purposes
• Social Security registration, or the document proving continued cover in your home country
• Residence authorisation, where applicable
• Employer document showing the employment relationship, start date and contract duration
• Remote-work document proving the employment relationship and online work, for foreign remote workers
• Company document proving your appointment, for directors
• Favourable ENISA report, for entrepreneurs
• Proof of your qualification and the startup's registration, for highly qualified professionals
• Proof of the family link, for associated family members

What you pay and what you don't

The application itself is free. The real cost is the tax trade-off. You pay the special rates on the income covered by the regime, but you lose normal personal and family tax allowances.

General tax base

Your employer's withholding follows the same headline structure. It withholds 24% on employment income, then 47% on the excess above €600.000 from the same payer.

Savings tax base

Dividends, interest and capital gains use the savings scale. The Agencia Tributaria's 2025 scale is:

Which income is included

All employment income earned during the regime counts as Spanish income. This applies wherever the employer pays it. Entrepreneurial income also counts for the ENISA route. A deduction for international double taxation can apply to employment income.

Work done before the move doesn't count under the regime. Work after the notified end of the posting doesn't count either. Both dates need clear evidence.

Foreign passive income

Foreign dividends, interest, rental income and capital gains aren't taxed under this regime when they come from outside Spain. Other income is taxed only when it comes from Spain. A foreign bank account doesn't make foreign income Spanish income.

Allowances and deductions

You don't get personal or family allowances. You also lose other normal deductions. Qualifying donations and tax already withheld can reduce the final amount. Losses from different income types can't be offset.

Your Spanish home

Since the TEAC ruling of 17 July 2025, the tax office also applies imputación de rentas inmobiliarias (imputed property income) to your own Spanish home. A percentage of the cadastral value of an urban property is added to your taxable income. This applies even when it's your main home, if the property isn't linked to an economic activity.

Wealth tax and modelo 720

Under the regime, wealth tax applies only to assets located in Spain. This is called obligación real, meaning taxation based on Spanish assets. You don't file modelo 720 for foreign assets under this regime. This position follows from being taxed as a non-resident. See the Agencia Tributaria guidance on the regime for the wider rules.

When the Beckham Law may not be worth it

Compare the result with the normal Spanish tax system before choosing. A modest salary may not benefit much. You lose personal and family allowances, which can matter for families.

Spanish rental property can also reduce the benefit. The rent is Spanish-source income. Your own urban property may also create imputed income, even if you live there.

US citizens and people who need a Spanish treaty residence certificate should think carefully. Beckham taxpayers aren't treated as Spanish residents for double tax treaties. The Agencia Tributaria won't issue a treaty residence certificate. This can affect your position in another country.

Family members

Your spouse can join. So can children under 25, or children of any age with a disability. If you aren't married, the other parent of your children can join.

They must move with you, or move before the end of your first regime year. They must become Spanish tax resident and meet the five-year non-residence test. The combined taxable bases of the family members must stay below the main taxpayer's taxable base each year.

Each family member files their own modelo 149. The deadline is six months from their entry into Spain, or from the start of the main taxpayer's activity. Use whichever date is later. The main taxpayer must file first. The family regime ends when the main taxpayer's regime ends.

Changing jobs, losing work or leaving Spain

Changing to a new employer in Spain doesn't restart the six-year period. The regime can continue if you still meet its conditions. Give the new payroll team your certificate and keep documents for both jobs.

If your posting ends, notify the tax office through modelo 149 within one month. Income from work after the notified end isn't included under the regime.

If you stop meeting a condition, exclusión (exclusion) happens automatically in that tax year. Examples include becoming an ordinary autónomo or earning income through a Spanish permanent establishment. Notify the tax office within one month. Excluded taxpayers can't opt in again.

You can also make a renuncia (renunciation). File it through modelo 149 in November or December before the year when it takes effect. You can never choose the regime again after renouncing.

The rules don't clearly address a gap between jobs. The tax office looks at whether the reason for your move still exists. Don't assume that a job gap automatically preserves or ends the regime. Keep evidence and get advice if the gap crosses countries or tax years.

Common problems and how to fix them

Missed the six-month deadline

There is no extension. A late option means you can't use the regime. Check the alta date now. If six months have passed, ask the Agencia Tributaria for confirmation before changing payroll or filing under Beckham rules.

Applied as autónomo

Ordinary freelance work doesn't qualify. Stop and review your work structure before filing. The tax office treats it as a Spanish permanent establishment and can exclude you in that year. Use our autónomo guide for the normal route.

Employer uses normal withholding

Send payroll your regime certificate and ask it to update the retención. Keep every payslip. The annual modelo 151 records the tax already withheld.

No Spanish Social Security registration

Check whether you have a document allowing continued home-country cover. Your six-month period starts on that document's date when Spanish registration isn't needed. Don't use your visa date instead.

Visa is not approval

A digital nomad visa supports the remote-work route, but it doesn't grant the tax regime. You still need a foreign employer, exclusive online work, the five-year test and a timely modelo 149.

Foreign dividends declared wrongly

Check where the income comes from. Foreign dividends, interest, rents and gains aren't taxed under the regime when they aren't Spanish-source. Keep statements showing the payer and source. Don't treat payment into a Spanish account as proof of Spanish source.

Treaty certificate refused

This refusal is expected. Beckham taxpayers aren't treated as Spanish residents for double tax treaties. The Agencia Tributaria won't issue a treaty residence certificate. If another country needs proof, get specialist cross-border advice.

Main home not declared

Add the Spanish urban property to the relevant modelo 151 calculation. The TEAC rule applies imputed property income even to your main home. Use the cadastral details from your property records.

Family member filed late

Each family member has a separate deadline. It runs from their entry into Spain or the main taxpayer's activity start, whichever is later. The main taxpayer must file first. A late filing can prevent that person joining the regime.

Gap between Spanish jobs

The rules don't settle every effect of a job gap. The tax office checks whether the reason for the move still exists. Keep the old contract, new contract and Social Security records. Ask for advice if your work or residence changes countries.

Forgot modelo 151

The annual return is compulsory. File the modelo 151 electronically during the normal renta period, from April to 30 June of the following year. Direct debit has an earlier cut-off.

The free official route

Modelo 149 and modelo 151 are free. You can file them yourself with a digital certificate or Cl@ve. Start with the official modelo 149 procedure. Upload the supporting documents first, then file the form. Use the official modelo 151 procedure for each annual return.

A tax adviser is optional. It makes sense only for complex cross-border situations. Examples include several employers, mixed employment and business income, treaty problems, US citizenship or family members with different move dates. For one clear employment route, the official online process is free and workable.