B ecome a Spanish tax resident while continue paying taxes as a non-resident.

For those natural persons relocating to Spain for employment purposes, there is a very interesting and potentially beneficial tax scheme known as “The Beckham Law” which offers the possibility of becoming a Spanish tax resident while continue paying taxes as a non-resident.

This special tax scheme is regulated in the article 93 of the Spanish Personal Income Tax Law (Ley 35/2006 IRPF) and is commonly referred to as “The Beckham Law“, as David Beckham was one of the first persons to benefit from this scheme upon his signing for the football team of Real Madrid in 2005.

The scheme, although being used by footballers back in the day, was passed to attract talent to Spain and applies to ex-pats who want to benefit from a huge incentive in their personal income tax. Since 2023, following the Startups Law reform, it also applies to digital nomads and remote workers, as explained further down this page.

The Beckham Law tax scheme

As seen above the advantages of the Beckham Law scheme are important and the requirements to qualify for this special tax scheme are fairly standard, find out the requirements in our FAQs section.

To put this into perspective and see what the real advantages to this tax scheme are let’s see a couple of real case examples:

From a taxpayer perspective

Paul works as a business developer for a major IT company in Germany since 2015. After been doing some research in the market and job interviews he has accepted a job position in the Barcelona office of one of the leading start-ups in Spain, the job offer includes a salary of 85k€ a year and housing allowances provided by the company.

Paul owns one property in Germany that he will be renting while he is relocated to Spain.

What is the tax amount Paul will be paying under the Beckham Law scheme?

From a foreign company point of view

The company British Engineering Ltd., based in the UK, is one of the top firms in its sector with more than 50 years of existence. As part of a massive engineering work taking place on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, it is been offered taking take care of the construction of one of the legs of the project for which they would need to either hire engineers to Spain or relocate personnel from the parent company.

The program has an estimated duration of three years and requires 30 engineers working on-site (Spain) full time. The company finds it interesting to set up a subsidiary company in Spain and relocate some contractors under the Beckham Law scheme.

What would be the advantages available to the company and the contractors relocated to Spain?

The Beckham Law for digital nomads and remote workers

Since the Startups Law (Ley 28/2022) came into force on 1 January 2023, the Beckham Law is no longer limited to employees posted to Spain by their employer. It has been substantially widened to also cover digital nomads, remote workers, entrepreneurs and highly qualified professionals, along with their spouse and children under 25.

What changed with the reform?

• The prior non-residence period required to qualify was reduced from ten to five years.
• Remote workers employed by a foreign company can now qualify, provided they can demonstrate the work is genuinely carried out remotely through telematic means, typically supported by a certificate from the employer authorising remote work from Spain.
• Self-employed digital nomads can also qualify through Spain’s international teleworking visa, subject to specific income requirements set out in the regulations.
• Company directors, entrepreneurs undertaking an innovative economic activity, and highly qualified professionals working for start-ups or in R&D were also brought into scope.
• The regime can also be applied retroactively by those who relocated to Spain, subject to specific deadlines.

If you are working remotely for a company based outside Spain, or hold an international teleworking visa, and are considering relocating to Spain, this expanded version of the Beckham Law could represent a significant tax saving. Since eligibility depends on your specific work arrangement and income sources, we recommend a case-by-case review before relocating.