Beckham Law in Spain: Who Qualifies for the 24% Rate and How to Apply
Spain's special regime for inbound workers, after the 2023 Startups Law reform: who can use it, the six-month deadline and the cases where ordinary residence taxation is cheaper.
The Beckham law (article 93 of Spain’s income tax law) lets people who move to Spain pay a flat 24% on employment income up to €600,000 a year, instead of progressive rates of up to 47%. It lasts the year of arrival plus five more, and you opt in with form 149 within six months of starting work in Spain, as of November 2026.
What is the Beckham law?
The official name is the special tax regime for workers, professionals, entrepreneurs and investors moving to Spain. You become a Spanish tax resident, but your income tax is calculated with non-resident rules and two fixed scales. It took its nickname from the footballer who moved to Madrid in 2003, around the time the regime was introduced.
The income tax law (Ley 35/2006), article 93, sets out the rules. The Startups Law (Ley 28/2022) widened it from January 2023: the time you must have lived outside Spain went down from ten years to five, and remote workers, company directors and some entrepreneurs were added.
Who qualifies after the 2023 reform?
You must not have been a Spanish tax resident in any of the five tax years before the move, and you must not earn income through a permanent establishment in Spain (except entrepreneurs and highly qualified professionals in the cases below). The move must happen, in the first year of the regime or the year before, for one of these reasons:
| Reason for moving | What the law requires |
|---|---|
| Employment | A job with an employer in Spain, a posting ordered by your foreign employer with a posting letter, or remote work done only by telematic means. Holders of the international teleworker (digital nomad) visa who are employees meet this condition. Professional athletes are excluded. |
| Company director | Appointment as director (administrador) of a company. If the company is a passive holding company, you cannot own a stake large enough to make it a related entity. |
| Entrepreneur | An economic activity classed as innovative entrepreneurship under Ley 14/2013, usually backed by a favourable report from ENISA. |
| Highly qualified professional | Work for startups under the Startups Law, or training, research, development and innovation work, making up more than 40% of your total business and work income. |
Your spouse and children under 25 (any age with a disability), or the other parent of your children if you are not married, can also opt in. They must move with you or before the end of your first year under the regime, become tax residents, and together earn less than you.
How is income taxed under the regime?
Employment income (and entrepreneurial income for qualifying entrepreneurs) earned anywhere in the world counts as Spanish income and goes in the general base. Other foreign income, such as rent from a flat abroad or interest from a foreign bank, is not taxed in Spain at all. Spanish dividends, interest and capital gains are taxed in a separate savings base.
| Income | Rate as of November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Employment and qualifying business income up to €600,000 | 24% |
| Same income above €600,000 | 47% |
| Spanish savings income: first €6,000 | 19% |
| €6,000 to €50,000 | 21% |
| €50,000 to €200,000 | 23% |
| €200,000 to €300,000 | 27% |
| Above €300,000 | 30% (since 2025) |
| Foreign rent, dividends and interest | Not taxed in Spain |
Employers withhold at 24% from the first payslip once the tax office confirms your option. Under the regime you also pay wealth tax only on assets located in Spain.
How do you apply with form 149?
- Start work in Spain and register with Spanish Social Security (or get the posting certificate if you stay in your home system). The start date of your activity starts the clock.
- Get your NIE and a way to file online: a digital certificate or Cl@ve.
- File form 149 with the Agencia Tributaria no later than six months after the start of your activity in Spain. Attach the employment contract, posting letter, director appointment or ENISA report, as relevant.
- Keep the confirmation the tax office issues and give a copy to your employer so it withholds at 24%.
- Each spring, file form 151 instead of the normal income tax return.
The six-month deadline is strict. Missing it means ordinary taxation for the whole period, with no second chance.
When is the Beckham law worse than normal taxation?
A flat 24% is not always a saving. The regime has no personal or family allowances, no regional deductions and no joint filing, and it gives no credit for tax paid abroad on foreign income (that income simply stays outside Spanish tax). In ordinary taxation, the combined Madrid and state rate is below 24% for the first slices of income. Our guide to income tax for Madrid residents has worked examples.
- Lower salaries: under ordinary rules a Madrid employee on a modest salary often pays an average rate below 24%, especially with children.
- Families claiming deductions: the birth, education and rent deductions of the Comunidad de Madrid are lost.
- Treaty benefits: under the regime you may not get a certificate of tax residence to use a tax treaty, which matters for foreign dividends or pensions taxed abroad.
As a rough guide, the regime pays off more clearly as employment income rises and other foreign income grows. Run both calculations before opting in, and for anything beyond a simple salary ask a licensed asesor fiscal: once you opt in, you can leave the regime but cannot come back.
How does it link to the digital nomad visa?
Remote employees who come on the international teleworker visa explicitly meet the employment condition of article 93. Self-employed nomads do not qualify through that route, only through the entrepreneur or highly qualified professional routes. The visa itself is covered in our guide to Spain’s digital nomad residence. For the effect on wealth tax and inheritance, see wealth and inheritance tax in Madrid.
Bottom line
Put the six-month date for form 149 in your calendar on your first day of work, because it is the one step that cannot be fixed later. If you earn a mid-range salary and have children, do the ordinary-tax calculation first: the allowances and deductions you give up may outweigh the flat rate.
FAQ
Can a self-employed freelancer use the Beckham law?
Only through the entrepreneur route (an innovative activity approved under Ley 14/2013) or the highly qualified professional route for startups and R&D work. Ordinary freelancing does not qualify.
How long does the Beckham law last?
The year you become tax resident plus the five following tax years, so six tax years in total. Arriving early in the year gets you the most out of it.
I lived in Spain six years ago. Can I still apply?
Yes, if you were not a Spanish tax resident in any of the five tax years before your move. Before 2023 the gap had to be ten years.
Is foreign rental income taxed under the regime?
No. Only employment income (counted as Spanish wherever earned) and Spanish-source income are taxed in Spain under the regime. Foreign rent stays outside Spanish income tax.
