The Beckham Law is Spain's special tax regime for people who move to Spain for work: it lets them pay a flat 24% on employment income up to €600,000 a year, instead of the progressive general scale, for the year they become resident and the five following years. The tax benefit belongs to the employee, not to the company. It matters to the employer because the same gross salary leaves the engineer more net pay, and because the employer has to issue a document, register the hire with Social Security on time and withhold at the special rate.
What is the Beckham Law in Spain?
The Beckham Law is the informal name of the special regime for workers, professionals, entrepreneurs and investors who relocate to Spain, set out in Article 93 of Spain's Personal Income Tax Law (Law 35/2006) and in Articles 113 to 120 of its regulations (Royal Decree 439/2007). A person who opts in remains a Spanish income tax payer but is taxed under the rules for non-residents.
In practice, the regime taxes employment income at 24% up to €600,000 of taxable base and at 47% above that, according to Article 93.2 of the law in its consolidated version on the BOE. The current conditions apply since 1 January 2023, when Spain's Startup Law (Law 28/2022) amended Article 93.
Who qualifies for the Beckham Law
A person qualifies for the Beckham Law when they become tax resident in Spain because they moved there and meet three conditions under Article 93.1 of the Income Tax Law:
- No Spanish tax residence in the previous five years. The person cannot have been resident in Spain in any of the five tax years before the move.
- A qualifying reason for the move, in the first year of the regime or the year before. For a software engineer, the usual one is starting an employment relationship with an employer in Spain. Remote work for an employer, done exclusively with digital means, also counts, as does a transfer ordered by the employer with an assignment letter.
- No income through a permanent establishment in Spain, except for the entrepreneurial and highly qualified professional cases described in the law.
The engineer's spouse and children under 25 can also opt into the regime if they move to Spain with the engineer or later, become tax resident and meet the same five-year and permanent-establishment conditions, under Article 93.3.
Beckham Law vs Spain's general income tax regime
The Beckham Law and Spain's general income tax regime differ in rate, tax base and paperwork. The general regime taxes worldwide income on a progressive scale that combines a state scale and a regional one; the special regime taxes employment income at a flat rate and leaves most foreign income outside Spanish tax.
| Attribute | General income tax regime | Beckham Law (special regime) |
|---|---|---|
| Rate on employment income | Progressive: state scale plus the scale of each autonomous community | 24% up to €600,000; 47% above |
| Income taxed | Worldwide income, wherever it arises (Article 2) | Income obtained in Spain; all employment income during the regime counts as Spanish (Article 93.2) |
| Duration | Indefinite while resident | Year of becoming resident plus the five following years |
| Who applies | Nobody: it is the default | The employee, individually, with Modelo 149 |
| Annual tax return | Standard income tax return | Modelo 151 |
| What the employer does | Withholds under the general procedure | Issues a supporting document and withholds at 24% |
For scale, the state half of the general regime alone taxes the part of the taxable base between €60,000 and €300,000 at 22.5%, under Article 63 of the Income Tax Law, and each autonomous community adds its own scale on top.
Other countries run similar regimes, and Kulturo's comparison of hiring developers in Spain, Portugal, Poland and Latin America sets the Beckham Law against Portugal's.
How long the Beckham Law lasts
The Beckham Law applies for the tax year in which the person becomes tax resident in Spain and the five tax years that follow, six tax years in all. Article 93.1 of the Income Tax Law states the duration, and Article 115 of the regulations repeats it.
The first year is the first calendar year in which, after the move, the person spends more than 183 days in Spain, according to Article 115. For an engineer who arrives late in the year, the regime's first year can be the following calendar year.
The regime ends earlier if the person renounces it, which is only possible in November and December for the next year, or is excluded for no longer meeting the conditions, under Articles 117 and 118. In both cases the person cannot opt in again.
What the employer has to do under the Beckham Law
The employee opts into the Beckham Law, but the employer provides the evidence and runs the withholding. Under Articles 114, 116 and 119 of the income tax regulations, an employer hiring a relocated engineer in Spain takes these steps:
- Register the engineer with Social Security from the first day. The date of the Social Security registration starts the six-month clock for the employee's application, so a late registration shortens or confuses it.
- Issue the supporting document. The employer signs a document that recognises the employment relationship, states the start date shown in the Social Security registration, the workplace and its address, and the length of the contract, as listed in Article 119.2.a.
- Let the employee file Modelo 149. The engineer files the application with the Spanish Tax Agency and attaches the employer's document, proof of Social Security registration and, where needed, the residence permit.
- Collect the Tax Agency's certificate. The Tax Agency issues a document confirming the option within ten working days of the application, under Article 119.4, and the employee hands a copy to the employer.
- Withhold at 24%. From then on the employer withholds 24% of the salary, and 47% on the part that one payer pays above €600,000 in a calendar year, under Article 114.3. The withholdings are reported on the non-resident income tax forms, not on the usual ones.
- Switch back if the employee leaves the regime. If the engineer stops meeting the conditions, the employer returns to general withholding from the moment the employee informs it, under Article 118.3.
The engineer's take-home pay under general withholding can be checked with Kulturo's gross to net salary calculator for Spain.
Beckham Law when the engineer is hired through an employer of record
When a company without a Spanish entity hires through an employer of record (EOR), the EOR is the formal employer, so the EOR registers the engineer with Social Security, issues the supporting document and runs the 24% withholding. The company that directs the work does not sign the document, because Article 119.2.a asks for it from the employer in Spain.
How an EOR fits against opening an entity is covered in Kulturo's guide to hiring in Spain without a legal entity.