Beckham Law Spain 2026: 24% Flat Tax, Eligibility and How to Apply

The Beckham law is the nickname for the special regime in article 93 of the Spanish personal income tax law. If you qualify, you are taxed like a non-resident on your Spanish-source income: a flat 24% up to €600,000 and 47% on the part above. It lasts for the year you become resident plus the five years after. You must opt in within six months of starting work.

Who qualifies

Article 93.1 sets three conditions that must all be met. You were not a Spanish tax resident in any of the five tax years before the year you move. You move to Spain for one of the reasons below. And you do not earn income through a permanent establishment in Spain, except in the entrepreneur and highly qualified cases.

The move must be caused by one of these (art. 93.1.b):

Route	What the law requires
Employment contract	A job with a Spanish employer, or a transfer ordered by your employer with a transfer letter, or work done remotely using only computer and telecom systems. Employees holding the international teleworking visa under Ley 14/2013 are named explicitly. Professional athletes under RD 1006/1985 are excluded
Company director	You become a director (administrador) of a company. If it is an asset-holding entity, you cannot hold a stake that makes you a related party under art. 18 of the Corporate Tax law
Entrepreneur	You carry out an activity certified as entrepreneurial under art. 70 of Ley 14/2013
Highly qualified professional	You work for start-ups as defined in art. 3 of Ley 28/2022, or do training, research, development and innovation, and that pay is more than 40% of your total business, professional and employment income

The move must happen in the first year the regime applies or in the year before. The BOE text shows article 93 was last amended by Ley 28/2022 with effect from 1 January 2023, and its savings scale by Ley 7/2024 from 1 January 2025.

The digital nomad visa is the usual way a remote employee fits the first row. The statute names employees (“trabajadores por cuenta ajena”) with the teleworking visa. That sentence does not mention freelancers, so a self-employed applicant should check which route they fit.

What you pay under the regime

The tax is calculated under the non-resident income tax rules, with these adjustments (art. 93.2):

Income	Rate
Employment and business income, up to €600,000	24%
Same income, from €600,000.01	47%
Savings income, up to €6,000	19%
Savings income, €6,000 to €50,000	21%
Savings income, €50,000 to €200,000	23%
Savings income, €200,000 to €300,000	27%
Savings income, above €300,000	30%

The savings scale is the one in force since 1 January 2025. “Savings income” here is the category in art. 25.1.f of the non-resident income tax law. Employers withhold 24% of salary, and 47% on the part one payer pays above €600,000 in the year (art. 93.2.f).

Three features shape the result:

• Only Spanish-source income is taxed. All employment income earned while the regime applies counts as Spanish-source (art. 93.2.b), including remote work for a foreign employer. Income that is not Spanish-source under the non-resident rules, such as income from a foreign bank account, stays outside the Spanish return.
• No offsetting. Income is added up for the year and a loss on one item cannot be set against another (art. 93.2.c).
• Wealth tax covers Spanish assets only. You are taxed by “obligación real”, not on worldwide wealth (art. 93.1, last paragraph). See wealth tax.

Flat rate against the normal scale

A standard resident pays the state scale plus a regional scale (arts. 63 and 74). The state scale in the law runs from 9.5% to 24.5%: 22.5% on the slice from €60,000 to €300,000 and 24.5% above €300,000. Each region adds its own scale on top.

That means a standard resident’s marginal rate above €60,000 is 22.5% plus a regional rate, so it exceeds the flat 24% once the regional rate is above 1.5%. At lower incomes the progressive scale applies lower rates, so the regime does not always save tax on a modest salary. We have not sourced a 2026 regional scale from a primary source, so we give no worked euro comparison; run your numbers with your region’s published scale.

The larger difference is often foreign income. A standard resident declares worldwide dividends, interest and rent in Spain, which is the case in Spanish tax residency. Under the regime, income that is not Spanish-source is not taxed here.

Duration

The regime applies in the tax year you acquire residence and the five tax years after it, six years in total (art. 93.1). The Tax Agency treats the first year as the first calendar year after the move in which you spend more than 183 days in Spain.

You can lose it: if you stop meeting the conditions, you must report that within one month. You can also waive it, but the waiver must be filed in November or December before the calendar year it takes effect.

Family members

A spouse and children under 25 (any age if disabled) can opt in. If there is no marriage, the parent of the children can (art. 93.3). They must:

• move with you, or later while your first regime year is still open,
• become Spanish tax residents,
• meet the five-year non-residence condition and have no permanent establishment, and
• have a combined taxable base lower than yours in each year.

Their regime lasts until the last year it applies to you.

How and when to apply

You apply with modelo 149, filed online with a recognized electronic certificate or Cl@ve PIN. The steps, from the Tax Agency:

1. You need a Spanish tax number (NIF) and must be in the tax census. Most foreigners start with their NIE.
2. Upload the supporting documents first through the “Provide the necessary documentation” procedure. The submission number goes on the modelo 149.
3. File within six months of the start date shown on your Social Security registration (or on the documents that keep your home country’s Social Security in place). A family member can file within six months of their own entry into Spain or six months from the main taxpayer’s start date, whichever is later.
4. The Tax Agency issues a certificate within 10 working days.

Every year you then file a return on modelo 151 instead of the usual one. The six-month deadline is strict, so apply as soon as you are registered with Social Security.