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

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

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Taking a job in Spain raises one question very quickly: what your tax bill will look like. 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: instead of being taxed as a Spanish resident on your worldwide income, you are treated as a non-resident for tax purposes on your Spanish-source employment income, at a fixed rate of 24% up to 600,000 euros and 47% above that. For higher earners, the difference is substantial.

Not everyone qualifies. ver más 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 work must be carried out mainly in Spain. Recent reforms have widened the scope to digital nomads and some self-employed profiles.

Timing is the part people get wrong. The election must be filed within six months of starting the activity that triggers residence. Let that window close 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. If you have significant income outside Spain, the effect on wealth tax and on the 720 declaration needs to be modelled first. A short analysis before applying avoids an expensive mistake.

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