🇪🇸Beckham Law: Spain's special tax regime

Concept

Beckham Law (Special Tax Regime, Beckham Law) — a Spanish tax regime giving foreign tax residents a fixed rate of 24% on employment income up to €600,000 per year and 0% on passive income from sources outside Spain for 6 tax periods. Governed by Art. 93 of the Personal Income Tax Law (LIRPF) as last amended by Startups Law 28/2022, effective January 1, 2023. Application is filed using form Modelo 149 with the Agencia Tributaria within 6 months from the activity start date shown in the Spanish Social Security registration (alta) — or, for seconded employees keeping home-country coverage, in the equivalent home social-security documentation; the NIE date itself does not start the clock (RD 1008/2023).

Key distinction from standard Spanish tax residency: dividends, interest, capital gains and rental income from assets outside Spain are NOT subject to Spanish income tax. Modelo 720 (foreign asset declaration) is not filed under the regime: the obligation attaches to taxpayers taxed on their worldwide income (obligación personal), and an Art. 93 taxpayer reports as a non-resident. For ordinary Spanish residents the declaration is mandatory, and its sanctions regime is limited by CJEU decision C-788/19 of January 27, 2022 to standard penalties under Spanish tax code.

The regime was introduced by Ley 62/2003 of December 30, 2003 (in force from January 1, 2004) — now Art. 93 LIRPF; Real Decreto 687/2005 approved the IRPF Regulations developing its application. Created to attract professional athletes and executives of international companies, the regime found its first high-profile user in David Beckham — hence the name. The Startups Law 28/2022 reform extended the regime to researchers, executives of entrepreneurial companies and holders of the Spanish Digital Nomad Visa (D8); an ordinary autónomo does not qualify for the regime — among the self-employed, only entrepreneurial activity under Ley 28/2022 (a startup project with a favourable ENISA report) and highly qualified professionals serving startups or R&D (>40% of income) pass.

Advantages

Tax rate on foreign passive income:

• 0% on dividends, loan interest, royalties and income from sale of shares (regardless of amount).

Tax rate on employment income:

• 24% up to €600,000 per year;
• 47% above €600,000.

Social contributions (for autónomos):

• for 2026 — approximately €205 to €607 per month at the minimum base of each bracket; the 15-bracket system is tied to real income (Orden PJC/297/2026).

Social contributions are calculated based on the taxpayer's age, type of activity and income level; the exact amount is taken from the year's table. Social contributions may be paid in the country of the employer (e.g. in Russia).

Disadvantages

• no entitlement to tax deductions
• double tax treaties do not apply (withholding tax at source may arise)

Treaty residency: what the regime does not give

A Beckham taxpayer is taxed under IRNR-style rules, and in the Agencia Tributaria's view persons under the Art. 93 regime are not treated as Spanish residents for double tax treaty purposes — a tax residency certificate "within the meaning of the convention" is generally not issued to them. The consequence: source countries withhold at domestic rates with no treaty relief — US dividends at 30% instead of the treaty 15%, royalties and interest from third countries at local rates. Spain adds nothing on top (0% on foreign passive income), but the withholding cannot be credited or reclaimed through a treaty either. Price this against a specific portfolio before electing. For how the regime compares across jurisdictions, see the special tax regimes map.

Conditions

To apply the Beckham Law one must have one of the following statuses:

• director of an active company in Spain (or passive company with ownership below 25%)
• Digital Nomad working for a foreign company under contract

N.B.: an ordinary autónomo does not qualify for the regime (including digital nomads registered as self-employed); the exceptions are entrepreneurial activity under Ley 28/2022 (a startup project with a favourable ENISA report) and highly qualified professionals serving startups or R&D (>40% of income).

• startup entrepreneur ("Start-Up empresas emergentes"), in accordance with Article 70 of Law Ley 14/2013, de 27 de Septiembre, de Apoyo a Los Emprendedores y su Internacionalización.

N.B.: mandatory requirement — informe from ENISA (art. 93.b.3 IRPF);

• family members of a person to whom the Beckham Law applies (Art. 93.3 LIRPF as amended by Ley 28/2022).

The Beckham Law may be used by the taxpayer's spouse and children under 25 years of age (in case of disability without age limitation). If not married, then if there is a common child.

The income of the spouse and/or children must not exceed the income of the primary applicant.

However: the Beckham Law cannot be used by persons who held Spanish tax residency during the preceding 5 years. Also cannot claim the special regime those who receive income from a permanent establishment located in Spain.

Reasons for rejection

1. Non-compliance with the non-residency condition for the previous 5 years;
2. Not belonging to a group to which the regime may apply;
3. Failure to meet the application deadline (6 months).

For persons who obtained Spanish tax residency in 2023, a transitional period is established under which the deadline runs from the date the new tax form for filing the application appeared, i.e. from 15/12/2023.

For spouses and/or children the deadline is 6 months from their entry into Spain, or the main applicant's window if that ends later (art. 116 IRPF Regulations, as amended by RD 1008/2023).

Switching to Beckham Law

To begin using the Beckham Law, one must first complete Form 030 to register as a tax resident and obtain a tax identification number (NIE). Then notify the Spanish tax agency of the intention to apply the special tax regime by completing an application on Form 149.

The following documents must also be included with the form:

• Passport and tax ID
• Social security number
• Employment contract (this document does not require indication of work address in Spain (centro de trabajo), unlike the document for seconded workers).

Each year, from April to June, persons subject to the Beckham Law must file an income tax return using Form 151.

RD 1008/2023: the regulations behind the Startup Law

Real Decreto 1008/2023 of December 5, 2023 carried the Ley 28/2022 reform into the IRPF Regulations and settled the main procedural question — when the Modelo 149 clock starts. The 6 months run from the activity start date shown in the Spanish Social Security registration (alta) or, for seconded employees keeping home-country coverage, in that home social-security documentation (art. 116 of the Regulations). The NIE or arrival date does not start the clock by itself. Family members file within 6 months of their own entry into Spain, or within the main applicant's window if that ends later. The decree also fixed the documents per category: remote workers — an employer statement confirming the remote format and the expected duration of work from Spain; startup entrepreneurs — a favourable ENISA report (unless holding an entrepreneur residence permit); highly qualified professionals — proof of qualification, of the client's empresa emergente status and of the services provided. Text: RD 1008/2023 (BOE).

Professional sportspersons: named after them, closed to them

The regime carries a footballer's name, yet the current wording of Art. 93 LIRPF expressly excludes professional sportspersons. Art. 93.1.b).1º admits a move to Spain "as a consequence of an employment contract, with the exception of the special employment relationship of professional sportspersons regulated by Real Decreto 1006/1985 of 26 June" (con excepción de la relación laboral especial de los deportistas profesionales regulada por el Real Decreto 1006/1985) — wording quoted by the Agencia Tributaria itself and by the DGT (see binding ruling V1203-21 of 30 April 2021). One correction to the widely repeated version of events: the carve-out was not introduced by Ley 26/2009 but by Ley 26/2014 of 27 November 2014, which redrafted Art. 93; the new wording applies to tax periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015. Ley 26/2009 of 23 December 2009 (the 2010 Budget Law) worked differently: it imposed a €600,000 annual remuneration ceiling as an eligibility condition, which from 2010 priced elite players out of the regime in practice. Ley 26/2014 removed that eligibility ceiling and replaced it with a split rate — 24% up to €600,000 and 45% above; the 47% rate on the excess was set by art. 61 of Ley 11/2020 with effect from 1 January 2021.

Which club staff still qualify. RD 1006/1985 (art. 1.2) captures a person who voluntarily devotes himself to the practice of sport for remuneration within the organisation and direction of a club or sporting entity. Sporting directors, general managers and a club's commercial and marketing staff work under an ordinary employment contract governed by the Estatuto de los Trabajadores and fall outside the RD 1006/1985 perimeter — so the Art. 93 route stays open to them (the TSJ of Madrid in 2020 refused to characterise a director deportivo's contract as the special employment relationship of a sportsperson: the man ran scouting and squad building but was not himself an athlete). Treat coaches and fitness trainers more cautiously: Spanish labour case law has extended RD 1006/1985 to them, so the characterisation of the specific contract has to be settled before the Modelo 149 filing rather than after it. Status: contested — there is no separate DGT position on technical staff.

The fork for an arriving athlete. First, the ordinary IRPF scale: in Madrid the top marginal rate is 45% (24.5% state scale above €300,000 plus 20.5% regional scale above €57,320.40) against 47% under Art. 93 on the excess over €600,000 — but the ordinary regime carries deductions, treaty access and a residency certificate "within the meaning of the convention". Second, the Madrid deduction for new residents: Ley 4/2024 of 20 November 2024 (BOCM 28.11.2024) inserted art. 17 bis into Decreto Legislativo 1/2010 — 20% of the acquisition value of a qualifying investment (debt or equity instruments, including inherent costs and taxes, excluding interest), credited against the regional portion of the gross quota, conditional on no Spanish residency in the five preceding years, investment in the year residency is acquired or the following one, a six-year holding period with continuing Madrid residency, a stake of no more than 40% and no executive role in unlisted companies, and an issuer not established in a tax haven; any unused balance carries forward five years; applicable from the 2024 tax period. The deduction is regional, and under Art. 93 neither the regional scale nor regional deductions apply — so it is addressed precisely at the athlete on ordinary IRPF. Third, the timing of the signing bonus: Spain has no split-year treatment, residency attaches to the whole calendar year (art. 9 LIRPF, the 183-day rule), so a move in the second half of the year usually leaves the athlete non-resident for that year and a prima de fichaje that becomes exigible before residency starts never enters Spanish IRPF. Inside the ordinary regime the bonus has its own mechanics: art. 14.1.a LIRPF allocates employment income to the period in which it becomes payable, and art. 18.2 LIRPF grants a 30% reduction on income with a generation period exceeding two years and not obtained periodically, on a base capped at €300,000 — neither is available under Art. 93. Full treatment: Athletes in Spain.

Frequently asked questions

CFC implications for Beckham beneficiary

Beckham Law (Art. 93 LIRPF) excludes foreign-source passive income from the Spanish tax base for 6 tax periods. The consequence for CFC rules is precise and limited, and it is confined to Spain.

Spanish CFC rules — Art. 100 LIS (for corporations) and Art. 91 LIRPF (for individuals). Under Beckham an individual is taxed only on Spanish-source income at 24% / 47%, foreign-source attribution does not arise. Russian residency — separate issue: 183 days in any rolling 12-month window in Russia switches residency (Art. 207 Tax Code); cessation switches off Chapter 3.4 Tax Code from date of termination.

The regime does not reach other countries' CFC rules: those follow the taxpayer's residency in the state that imposes them, not the Spanish election. CRS reporting runs on its own logic in either case.

Full review of all CFC regimes and residency strategies — in the CFC master guide.