Spain's Beckham Law: requirements, deadlines and what it actually saves you

Spain's Beckham Law: requirements, deadlines and what it actually saves you

Blog Article

Moving to Spain for work brings up an immediate concern: how much tax will you actually pay. For many incoming professionals, the answer comes down to one special rule — the special expat tax regime, commonly called the Beckham Law.

The mechanism is simple: instead of being taxed as a Spanish resident on your worldwide income, you are taxed like a non-resident on the income you earn in Spain, at a fixed rate of 24 percent on the first 600,000 Beckham law requirements in Spain euros with 47 percent applying beyond that threshold. If your salary is significant, the difference is substantial.

The conditions are strict. In broad terms, 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. Let that window close and the regime is lost for the whole assignment. Once granted, it applies for the year of arrival and the following five.

It is not automatically the better option. Where a large part of your wealth sits abroad, the effect on wealth tax and on the 720 declaration needs to be modelled first. A short analysis before applying is usually time well spent.

Report this page