SOBE Knowledge
What Is the Beckham Law?
Spain’s expatriate regime: live here, be taxed as a non-resident — a flat 24% on employment income for up to six years, if the election is made in time.
What the Beckham Law is
Spain’s special expatriate regime lets qualifying newcomers live in Spain while being taxed as non-residents: employment income at a flat 24% up to €600,000, and most foreign income and gains outside Spanish taxation altogether.
Formally the régimen de impatriados, informally named after its most famous early beneficiary, the regime runs for the year of arrival plus the five following — up to six tax years in which the difference between flat and progressive taxation routinely reaches six figures. Above €600,000, the rate on employment income is 47%; wealth-tax exposure is limited to Spanish assets only.
Who qualifies
Two core conditions: no Spanish tax residency in the previous five years, and relocation for a qualifying reason. The classic routes are an employment contract with a Spanish company or appointment as a director; since the 2023 Startup Law the door widened to remote employees working for a foreign employer and to certain entrepreneur and highly qualified professional categories — the change that turned the regime into a genuine relocation instrument for international families on this coast.
Spouses and children can, under conditions, join the principal’s regime. Ordinary self-employment (autónomo) generally does not qualify outside those startup-law categories — the structure of your work before the move is part of the planning.
The six-month window — and why tax precedes property
The election is made on Modelo 149 within six months of registering with Spanish social security. Miss the window and the opportunity is gone for good.
This single deadline dictates the sequence of a relocation: regime first, then residence, then the house. It is the conversation we open with every relocating client before contracts of any kind are signed — because the savings at stake usually exceed the cost of furnishing the home, and no property decision should foreclose them.
Relocating to the coast?
The Costa del Sol Expats Guide
Residency routes, schools, healthcare and the tax sequencing that should precede the property search — in one place.
What is taxed — and what is not
Inside the regime: employment income worldwide at the flat rates, and Spanish-source savings income and gains at the savings scale. Outside it: most foreign-source investment income, gains and rents stay beyond Spanish taxation — though they may still be taxed where they arise.
What the regime does not switch off: tax on income from Spanish assets. Rent out your Marbella property and that income is taxed in Spain regardless — see non-resident income tax for the mechanics. And the Modelo 720 foreign-asset declaration does not apply while the regime holds — one of its quieter comforts.
The arithmetic, illustratively
Under the ordinary progressive scale, the same income would commonly attract an effective rate in the high thirties to low forties. The exact figures are personal — which is precisely why this analysis belongs with a tax advisor before the move, not after it.
Four ways relocations fumble it
1. The missed window. Six months from social-security registration, not from arrival, not from the escritura. It does not reopen.
2. Assuming everything is tax-free. Spanish-source income — including rent from your own Spanish property — remains taxed. The regime narrows the net; it does not abolish it.
3. The wrong work structure. Arriving as a plain autónomo usually disqualifies. Restructuring after arrival is late; restructuring before it is planning.
4. Buying first, planning second. The home can wait three months; the regime cannot. Sequence accordingly.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the Beckham regime last?
The tax year of arrival plus the five following - up to six years in total. It is not renewable; when it ends, ordinary progressive taxation applies.
Can self-employed people use the Beckham Law?
Ordinary autonomo activity generally does not qualify. Since the 2023 Startup Law, certain entrepreneur and highly qualified professional categories - and remote employees of foreign companies - can. The structure of your work before the move is part of the planning.
Does buying a property in Spain affect eligibility?
Owning property does not disqualify you, but the sequencing matters: the election window runs from social-security registration, and residence decisions interact with the five-year prior-residency test. Plan the regime before signing anything binding.
Is rental income from my Spanish home covered by the flat rate?
No. Spanish-source income, including rent from Spanish property, is taxed under the normal non-resident rules regardless of the regime.
Do I pay Spanish wealth tax under the regime?
Only on Spanish-situated assets - foreign wealth stays outside. The Modelo 720 foreign-asset declaration also does not apply while the regime holds.