Spain's Beckham Law: who qualifies and how to apply

Spain's Beckham Law: who qualifies and how to apply

Blog Article

Moving to Spain for work brings up an immediate concern: how much tax will you actually pay. For a lot of expats, the answer comes down to one special rule — the impatriate regime, commonly called the Beckham Law.

The idea is straightforward: rather than paying progressive resident rates on everything you earn globally, you are taxed like a ver más non-resident on your Spanish-source employment income, at a flat rate of 24 percent on the first 600,000 euros and 47% above that. For higher earners, the saving can be considerable.

Not everyone qualifies. As a general rule, you must not have been a Spanish tax resident in the five years before the move, your relocation must be linked to an employment contract or a director role, and the activity must be performed principally on Spanish territory. The latest changes opened the door to digital nomads and some self-employed profiles.

Timing is the part people get wrong. The election must be filed within six months of registering with Spanish social security. Miss it and you cannot recover it later. The benefit then runs for the year of arrival and the following five.

It does not suit every case. Where a large part of your wealth sits abroad, the effect on wealth tax and on the 720 declaration needs to be modelled first. Running the numbers in advance avoids an expensive mistake.

Report this page