A special tax regime for people moving to Spain to work, and one that is often overlooked.
The regime for inbound workers, set out in article 93 of the income tax act and known to everybody as the Beckham Law, allows someone who becomes tax resident in Spain to be taxed broadly as a non resident for a period of six years.
In practice that means a flat rate on Spanish employment income up to a generous ceiling, rather than the progressive scale, and income arising outside Spain generally falling outside the Spanish net during that time.
It was originally designed for employees relocating to Spain, and the Startups Law of 2022 widened it considerably. It now reaches international teleworkers, entrepreneurs with a project recognised as innovative, highly qualified professionals, and company directors within certain limits.
The same reform reduced the period of prior non residence from ten years to five, which brought a good many people back within reach of it, including Spaniards returning after a spell abroad. Your spouse and children may also be able to join you in the regime.
This is the part clients most often miss. The same legislation that created the digital nomad authorisation also brought its holders within the inbound workers regime, so the two were designed to sit together where the conditions are met.
The residency application and the tax election are separate steps, and the order matters. There is a short window after registering with social security in which the election must be made, and once it has passed it is gone for the years affected.
Whether this regime helps depends on where your income comes from, how much of it is Spanish, what you hold outside Spain and how long you intend to stay. For some people it is a significant advantage and for others it makes little difference.
It is a calculation worth doing before the move rather than after, and we look at it alongside the residency application rather than as an afterthought.
Yes, where the conditions are met. The two were introduced by the same legislation and were intended to work together, which is one of the reasons that route is attractive to remote workers.
The year in which you become resident and the five following years. After that you move onto the ordinary rules, which is worth planning for in advance.
Yes, and it is short. The election must be made within a limited period of registering with Spanish social security. Missing it cannot be corrected afterwards, which is why we raise it at the very start.
Possibly. The requirement is not to have been tax resident here in the five years before the move, reduced from ten by the 2022 reform. A good many people who left some years ago now qualify again.
Your spouse and children may be able to apply alongside you, subject to their own conditions. We look at the household together rather than one person at a time.
This page gives general information about Spanish law and is not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts and should be assessed individually.
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