Beckham Law (Spain)

The Beckham Law is a special Spanish tax regime for people who move to Spain to work. If you qualify and opt in, you’re treated as a non-resident for tax purposes for the year you arrive plus the next five, even though you actually live in Spain. In practice that usually means your employment income is taxed at a flat rate up to a high threshold, and most of your other foreign income stays outside the Spanish net. One catch: under article 93 all employment income you earn while on the regime is treated as Spanish-source, wherever in the world you actually earn it, so a foreign salary is not exempt the way foreign investment income can be.

It matters when you relocate because the default path is ordinary tax residency, where Spain taxes your worldwide income on a progressive scale. For someone arriving with a good salary or income from abroad, the regime can be the difference between a flat rate and a much higher marginal one. That’s one reason people weigh Spain’s offer against schemes elsewhere, like Portugal’s IFICI, the narrower successor to its NHR (Non-Habitual Resident) regime, which was revoked from 1 January 2024.

The catch most people miss is eligibility and timing. You generally have to apply within a short window after starting your activity in Spain, you usually can’t have been a Spanish tax resident in the five tax years before moving, and the regime is tied to specific qualifying reasons: an employment contract, certain director roles, or in some cases remote work and the startup route linked to the Digital Nomad Visa. Miss the deadline or fail a condition and you fall back to standard rules.

Note that being on the regime changes how Spain sees you for treaty and reporting purposes, which can interact with your Tax Residency status in your old country. This is general information, not advice. Tax law changes and the details vary by situation, so confirm the current rules with the official Spanish tax agency (Agencia Tributaria) or a qualified professional before you act. A quick first step is to map where you actually count as resident using the tax-residency checker.

Where you’ll meet this

• Negotiating a Spanish job offer, where HR or a relocation advisor mentions the regime as part of the package.
• Filing your first Spanish tax return and deciding whether to opt into the special regime within the application window.
• Comparing relocation destinations, where the Beckham Law shows up alongside Portugal’s IFICI (the successor to NHR) and various nomad visas.