Tax & Private Clients

The Beckham Law in 2026: scope of the special tax regime for individuals relocating to Spain

Marta Batalla Eguidazu ·

Information updated as at 15 October 2026

Since 3 April 2025 it has no longer been possible to apply for the investor residence visa, commonly known as the Golden Visa, which was abolished by Organic Law 1/2025, of 2 January, on measures to improve the efficiency of the Public Justice Service. Since then, the special regime for workers, professionals, entrepreneurs and investors relocating to Spain, set out in Article 93 of Law 35/2006, of 28 November, on Personal Income Tax (the “LIRPF”) and popularly known as the “Beckham Law”, has become central to the planning of those moving their residence to Spain.

Under this regime, an individual who is tax resident in Spain pays Spanish Personal Income Tax (“IRPF”) in accordance with the rules of Non-Resident Income Tax (“IRNR”), subject to certain specific provisions. The regime does not extend to other taxes and, in particular, does not change the position under Inheritance and Gift Tax. This note summarises its requirements, content and limits following the amendments introduced by Law 28/2022, of 21 December, on the promotion of the start-up ecosystem.

Key points

  • No prior residence. The individual must not have been tax resident in Spain in any of the five tax years preceding the relocation.
  • Duration. The tax year in which Spanish residence is acquired and the following five tax years.
  • Taxation. Employment income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 and at 47% on the excess; other income is taxed only if it arises in Spain.
  • Deadline to opt in. Six months from the start date of the activity shown in the Spanish Social Security registration, by filing Form 149.
  • Inheritance and gifts. Individuals under the regime are subject to Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax on all assets and rights they acquire, wherever located.

I. Who is eligible

The regime is available to individuals who acquire tax residence in Spain and who have not been resident in the five preceding tax years. The relocation must result from one of the following1:

  • An employment contract, except for the special employment relationship of professional athletes. This includes remote work performed by electronic means under the international teleworking visa, also known as the digital nomad visa.
  • Appointment as a director of a company. Where the company is an asset-holding entity, the director may not hold an interest of 25% or more in its share capital.
  • Carrying out an innovative entrepreneurial activity in Spain.
  • Providing services as a highly qualified professional to start-ups, or in training, research, development and innovation activities, provided that such services account for more than 40% of the individual’s income.

As a general rule, the individual may not obtain income through a permanent establishment in Spain, except in the case of entrepreneurial activities and highly qualified professionals. Subject to their own requirements, the regime may be extended to the spouse, or to the other parent of the children, and to children under 25, or of any age if they have a disability, who relocate with the individual.

The regime applies from the tax year in which the individual becomes tax resident in Spain. In general, an individual is resident if they spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year or if Spain is the main centre of their business activities or economic interests2. If the move takes place in the second half of the year, residence, and with it the regime, may not be acquired until the following year; the six-month deadline to opt in nevertheless runs from the Social Security registration.

The regime described in this note is the State regime. The Basque Country and Navarre have their own personal income tax legislation, including specific regimes for relocated individuals, which apply to those who take up residence there.

II. How the regime works

Individuals under the regime are taxed on the income they obtain in Spain, with one important particularity: all their employment income is deemed to arise in Spain, wherever the work is performed. This income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 and at 47% on the excess. Dividends, interest and capital gains on the transfer of assets are taxed under a specific scale, and other foreign-source income generally falls outside the scope of Spanish taxation.

The paying employer withholds 24% of employment income, rising to 47% on the portion of annual remuneration from the same payer that exceeds €600,000. Each item of income is taxed separately and items cannot be offset against each other; for instance, a loss on the sale of shares does not reduce the tax due on another gain. Where the individual works partly outside Spain and that income is also taxed in the other country, a foreign tax credit may be applied, capped at 30% of the tax attributable to employment income3.

For Wealth Tax purposes, the individual is taxed only on assets and rights located, or exercisable, in Spain. Nor is the individual required to file the informative return on assets and rights held abroad (Form 720), according to the position published by the Spanish Tax Agency, since they are not taxed on their worldwide income.

III. Opting in, annual returns and waiver

The option is exercised by notifying the tax authorities on Form 149 within six months of the start date of the activity shown in the Spanish Social Security registration, or in the documentation allowing the individual to remain under the social security legislation of the country of origin4. The legislation does not provide for the option to be exercised after that deadline.

While the regime applies, the individual files an annual return on Form 151. The regime may be waived during November and December of the year preceding the year in which the waiver is to take effect, and the individual is excluded from it if the requirements cease to be met; in both cases, the individual may not opt into the regime again.

IV. What the regime does not cover

Article 93 LIRPF governs Personal Income Tax only. For Inheritance and Gift Tax purposes, an individual under the regime remains resident in Spain and is taxed on a worldwide basis, that is, on all assets and rights acquired by inheritance or gift, wherever they are located5. The applicable regional legislation will depend on the individual’s region of residence and on the connecting rules of the regional financing system.

Nor is it possible to apply the regime partially, taxing some income under its rules and other income under the general IRPF rules. For the same reason, the individual cannot benefit from certain reliefs available under the general IRPF rules:

  • Main home in Spain. If the individual owns the home in which they live, they must report deemed income on it, calculated on its cadastral value, as if it were an unlet property. This was established by the Central Economic-Administrative Court in a decision unifying administrative criteria6. Nor does the exemption for reinvestment in a new main home apply if the property is sold.
  • Pension plans. Contributions to pension plans do not reduce the tax base.
  • Personal and family circumstances. The personal and family allowances and the regional tax credits available under the general IRPF rules do not apply.
  • Sale of Spanish property. When the individual sells a property located in Spain, the buyer must withhold 3% of the price on account of the tax due7.

V. Common causes of exclusion

Obtaining income through a permanent establishment in Spain, other than in the permitted cases, results in exclusion. The Directorate-General for Taxation has stated, for example, that an employee who starts a self-employed activity in Spain is excluded from the regime in the very tax year in which the change occurs. Exclusion takes effect in the tax year in which the requirements cease to be met.

VI. Relationship with the residence permit

The tax regime and the residence permit are two separate matters. The former requires a relocation linked to one of the grounds set out in Article 93 LIRPF; the latter requires a residence permit suited to the activity to be carried out. Following the abolition of the Golden Visa, the residence route chosen (employment, senior management, international teleworking, entrepreneurship or highly qualified professional) has a direct bearing on eligibility for the regime. The non-lucrative residence permit, for its part, does not allow its holder to work in Spain.

  1. Article 93.1 LIRPF, as worded by Law 28/2022, of 21 December. ↩︎
  2. Article 9.1 LIRPF. ↩︎
  3. Article 93.2 LIRPF and Article 114 of the Personal Income Tax Regulations. ↩︎
  4. Articles 116 to 120 of the Personal Income Tax Regulations, approved by Royal Decree 439/2007, of 30 March. ↩︎
  5. Article 6 of Law 29/1987, of 18 December, on Inheritance and Gift Tax. This position has been consistently upheld by the Directorate-General for Taxation in its binding rulings. ↩︎
  6. Decision of the Central Economic-Administrative Court (TEAC) of 17 July 2025 (R.G. 3697/2025). ↩︎
  7. Article 114.5 of the Personal Income Tax Regulations, in conjunction with Article 25.2 of the consolidated text of the Non-Resident Income Tax Law. ↩︎

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