The Beckham regime always ends, and it ends abruptly. While it runs, the person stays a Spanish tax resident but is taxed under IRNR rules: 24% on employment income up to €600,000, nothing on foreign passive income, and capital tax on Spanish assets only. From the first day of the following period, ordinary IRPF applies to worldwide income, wealth tax reaches worldwide assets, and the information returns switch on.
The gap between those two states is wide enough that the end date becomes a planning object in its own right. The year of exit determines what the same income costs, and it opens a narrow window in which the Spanish exit tax still does not apply.
Three ways the regime ends
Art. 93.1 Ley 35/2006 (LIRPF) grants the regime the period in which residence changes plus the five following ones. Art. 115 RD 439/2007 adds that the period of acquiring residence is the first calendar year in which, after the move, presence in Spain exceeded 183 days. Six periods is the ceiling, and no extension mechanism exists in the statute.
| Ground | Provision | Notification and deadline | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expiry of the term | art. 93.1 LIRPF, art. 115 RD 439/2007 | None required | 1 January of the period after the sixth |
| Voluntary waiver (renuncia) | art. 117 RD 439/2007 | Modelo 149 in November or December of the preceding year | 1 January of the following calendar year |
| Exclusion (exclusión) | art. 118 RD 439/2007 | Modelo 149 within one month of the breach | The tax period in which the breach occurred |
Renuncia and exclusión close the door for good: art. 117.4 and art. 118.5 bar any later election into the regime, with no qualification as to time or circumstance. An employee waiving the regime first files the art. 88 data communication with the withholding agent and attaches the stamped copy to Modelo 149. On exclusion, withholding moves to IRPF rules from the moment of the breach and, for employment income, from the moment the employee notifies the withholding agent (art. 118.3).
Family members admitted under art. 93.3 LIRPF are excluded together with the principal taxpayer where that taxpayer waives or is excluded (art. 118.4). Divorce or annulment of the marriage does not by itself breach the conditions.
The forms: 149 and 151
The current forms were approved by Orden HFP/1338/2023 of 13 December 2023 and apply from 16 December 2023; articles 6 to 10 of the earlier Orden HAP/2783/2015 were repealed, and its templates survive only for pre-2023 periods. Modelo 149 serves four events: election, waiver, exclusion, and the end of the posting. Modelo 151 is the annual return of a regime holder and follows the general IRPF campaign dates (for 2025, 8 April to 30 June 2026). Both forms are filed electronically only.
The tax cliff
The comparison works best on a typical profile: an employee in Madrid with Spanish salary of €300,000 and foreign dividends of €100,000.
| Item | Inside the regime | First ordinary IRPF year |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish salary of €300,000 | Flat 24% — €72,000 (art. 93.2.e LIRPF) | State scale €62,950.75 plus the Madrid scale of about €57,400 — roughly €120,000 |
| Foreign dividends of €100,000 | Outside the Spanish base — €0 | Savings scale of 19–30%: about €21,900 before any foreign tax credit |
| Capital tax | Spanish assets only, obligación real | Worldwide assets, obligación personal |
| Information returns | None filed | Modelo 720 and 721 once the thresholds are crossed |
| Treaty position | Not treated as a treaty resident | Full treaty residence |
The computation follows the scales of art. 63 LIRPF and art. 1 Decreto Legislativo 1/2010 of Madrid, ignoring the personal and family minimum. The result is roughly €142,000 against €72,000 — close to double on unchanged income, and that is in the mildest region on rates. The top combined marginal rate for 2026 is 45% in Madrid, 47% in Andalusia, 50% in Catalonia and 54% in Valencia. On top of that sit the wealth tax and the ITSGF on worldwide assets, and with them the Modelo 720 duty for the first ordinary year.
Exit tax: why the window is open
Art. 95 bis LIRPF taxes unrealised gains on shares and participations when residence is lost, provided the person was an IRPF taxpayer for at least ten of the fifteen preceding periods and the market value of the holdings exceeds €4,000,000, or €1,000,000 where the stake exceeds 25%.
The timing turns on art. 95 bis.8: for anyone who applied the art. 93 regime, the ten-period count starts from the first tax period in which the regime no longer applies. The six sheltered years do not enter the count at all. Someone who leaves immediately after the regime ends falls outside the exit tax entirely; every further year on ordinary IRPF moves them towards the ten-of-fifteen mark.
On a move to another EU or EEA state, art. 95 bis.6 allows the tax to be deferred until an actual sale, a loss of EU or EEA residence, or a failure to report. A move for employment reasons attracts the deferral of art. 95 bis.4. The wider picture sits in the exit taxes overview.
Planning before the exit
- Fix the last sheltered period: the year residence was acquired plus five, checked against the 183-day rule of art. 115 RD 439/2007.
- Decide what happens to Spanish tax residence the following year: move onto the ordinary regime, or leave and break residence before 183 days accumulate.
- Realise accumulated portfolio gains within the last sheltered period: foreign positions sit outside the Spanish base, so selling before the regime ends raises no Spanish tax.
- Distribute dividends from foreign companies before the regime ends, for the same reason.
- Revisit how Spanish property is held, in light of art. 5 Uno b Ley 19/1991: unlisted shares in structures holding Spanish real estate attract capital tax whatever the holder's residence.
- Assemble the data for the first Modelo 720: 31 December balances and Q4 average balances on every foreign account.
Leaving during the regime
Losing Spanish tax residence stops the regime by itself. A separate case appears in art. 119.5 RD 439/2007: the posting has ended, yet residence for that year survives. The end of the posting is then reported on Modelo 149 within one month, and income from activity carried on after that date is no longer treated as obtained during the regime (art. 114.2.a). Missing the notification leaves the whole year's income inside the regime base.
Q/A
Can the regime be extended beyond six periods?
No. Art. 93.1 LIRPF and art. 115 RD 439/2007 set a hard term: the period in which residence is acquired plus the five that follow. The statute provides no extension in any circumstances.
Can the regime be re-entered after a waiver?
No. Art. 117.4 bars anyone who has waived the regime from electing it again, and art. 118.5 does the same for anyone excluded. The bar is unconditional and is not lifted by years of non-residence.
What happens on leaving mid-regime?
Losing Spanish tax residence stops the regime applying. Where residence survives for the year of departure, the end of the posting is reported on Modelo 149 within one month, and income after that date falls out of the regime base under art. 114.2.a RD 439/2007.
Does the exit tax catch someone who leaves right after the regime?
No. Under art. 95 bis.8 LIRPF the ten-period count starts from the first period in which the regime no longer applies, so the six sheltered years do not count. The tax's own thresholds are holdings above €4,000,000, or above €1,000,000 where the stake exceeds 25%.
When does a renuncia make sense?
Rarely. The ordinary regime brings the personal and family minimum, deductions, and full treaty protection, so a waiver is discussed where Spanish income is modest or treaty relief from double taxation is needed. Because it is irreversible, the decision is priced over the whole remaining term.
When does the Modelo 720 duty begin?
With the first year on ordinary IRPF. That year's return is filed between 1 January and 31 March of the following year, and the €50,000 threshold is tested separately against each of the three asset blocks.