Beckham Law in Spain: who qualifies, deadlines and Form 149

What is the Beckham Law in Spain? The short answer

The Beckham Law in Spain is the special regime in article 93 of the Spanish income tax law for people who move to Spain to work, run a company or start a business after five years of not living here. For six years you pay 24% on employment income up to €600,000 and nothing in Spain on foreign income other than work.

Its official name is the "special regime for workers, professionals, entrepreneurs and investors posted to Spain", also called the impatriate regime, and the nickname comes from the footballer David Beckham. This guide follows the consolidated text of article 93 of the Spanish income tax law (Ley del IRPF), last amended by Law 7/2024, and articles 113 to 120 of its Regulation, as published in the BOE, Spain's Official Gazette. It applies in Spain's common tax territory: the Basque Country and Navarre have their own rules. If you are still planning the move, read the guide to tax when moving to Spain first.

Who qualifies for the Beckham Law? Eligibility in 2026

Article 93.1 sets three conditions that must all be met. The table sums up each one and how you prove it under article 119 of the Regulation:

Professional athletes under their special employment relationship (Royal Decree 1006/1985) are excluded. And despite the word "investors" in its name, there is no route for someone who only comes to invest. Being a director of your own company can fit the second route, but the company needs real activity and valid business reasons: a structure set up only to get into the regime can be recharacterised as abuse of the law or sham (conflicto en la aplicación de la norma or simulación, articles 15 and 16 of the General Tax Law).

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What if you are self-employed or a digital nomad?

A self-employed person (autónomo) working in Spain usually has a permanent establishment here, and that rules them out. Only the ENISA-backed entrepreneurial activity and the skilled professional in the table get in. While the regime lasts, those are the only business activities you may carry on (article 113.2 of the Regulation). Employees with the telework visa can opt in; the visa itself is covered in the guide to the digital nomad visa.

Can your family opt in?

Since 2023, yes (article 93.3). Your spouse and your children under 25, or of any age if they have a disability, can opt in, as can the other parent if you are not married. They must arrive with you or later, before your first regime year ends, meet the five-year and permanent-establishment rules, and together have a lower taxable base than yours every year. Each one files their own Form 149, within six months of their arrival in Spain or within your deadline if that is later (article 116). If you renounce or are excluded, so are they; a divorce does not take them out.

When does it start and how long does it last?

The regime covers the year you become resident and the next five. Under article 115 of the Regulation, that first year is the first calendar year in which, after the move, you spend more than 183 days in Spain. Arrive on 2 March 2026 and the regime runs from 2026 to 2031. Arrive on 1 October 2026 and you only spend 92 days here that year, so the regime would run from 2027 to 2032, because the law allows the move to happen in the year before the first year of the regime.

Watch out: tax residence is not only about days. Article 9 of the income tax law also makes you resident if the centre of your economic interests is in Spain, and presumes you are if your spouse and minor children live here. The guide to Spanish tax residency explains it.

How much tax do you pay under the Beckham Law in 2026?

Your Spanish income tax (IRPF) is worked out with the rules of the non-resident income tax, plus the special rules in article 93.2:

• Employment and other general income: 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above. All salary for the period counts as Spanish income, including days worked abroad. Your employer withholds 24%, and 47% on whatever it pays you above €600,000.
• Dividends, interest and gains on disposals that arise in Spain: 19% up to €6,000, 21% up to €50,000, 23% up to €200,000, 27% up to €300,000 and 30% above (the scale in force since 2025).
• Foreign income other than work: dividends, interest, rent or gains from assets located outside Spain are not taxed in Spain.
• No offsetting, no allowances: each item is taxed separately, losses cannot be offset, and there is no personal allowance or regional credit. You only deduct donations, tax withheld and the credit for foreign tax on work done abroad, capped at 30% of the Spanish tax on that income (article 114 of the Regulation).

The table compares salary only, in 2026, with the ordinary regime in Madrid (regional scale and €5,956.65 allowance) plus the national scale in articles 57 and 63 of the income tax law. It assumes a single person under 65 with no children and no other income; under the ordinary regime it only deducts the €2,000 of expenses in article 19, and ignores social security contributions and credits.

At lower salaries the regime can cost more: at €50,000 the ordinary regime already wins, even before deducting contributions or family allowances. And above €600,000 each extra euro pays 47%, against a 45% top ordinary rate in Madrid.

Owning a home in Spain

If you buy a home, three recent developments matter. On 17 July 2025 the TEAC, Spain's central tax tribunal, ruled that people under the regime must declare deemed income on urban property they neither let nor use in a business, including their main home, as the AEAT's 2025 income tax manual records. On 29 April 2026 the European Commission sent Spain a reasoned opinion because that home is not exempt for people taxed as non-residents who live and work here; until the rule changes, the TEAC position stands. And in binding ruling V2467-25 of 11 December 2025, the Directorate General for Taxes (DGT) accepted that if you sell your main home and reinvest in another, the reinvestment exemption applies.

What about wealth tax, the solidarity tax and Form 720?

• Wealth tax (Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio): you are taxed on a territorial basis (obligación real), so only on assets and rights located in Spain (articles 5 and 28 of Law 19/1991). You deduct the €700,000 allowance and apply the national scale. You file if tax is due or if your Spanish assets exceed €2,000,000. The 60% combined cap with income tax in article 31 only covers people taxed on their worldwide wealth.
• Solidarity tax on large fortunes (Grandes Fortunas): it has the same taxpayers "on the same terms" as wealth tax (article 3 of Law 38/2022), so again only what you hold in Spain counts. It taxes the taxable base above €3,000,000, after its own €700,000 allowance.
• Form 720 (modelo 720), the return for assets abroad: according to the AEAT's FAQ, people under the regime do not file it. Family members who do not opt in and are resident may have to. For Form 721 (crypto held abroad) we found no equivalent AEAT answer. What changes when the regime ends is in the guide to Form 720.

How do you apply for the Beckham Law? Form 149 step by step

You opt in with Form 149 (modelo 149), approved by Order HFP/1338/2023 and filed online only on the portal of the AEAT, Spain's tax agency. The deadline is six months from the start date of activity shown in your Spanish Social Security registration, or in the document that keeps you in your home country's system. It does not run from the day you arrive or the day you become resident.

1. Get your NIE (foreigner identity number) and register. The registration date starts the clock.
2. Gather the documents from the eligibility table.
3. Upload them on the portal through the procedure "Aportar documentación necesaria para optar por el régimen especial" and note the registration number (article 10 of the order).
4. File Form 149 with that number within the six months.
5. Give the AEAT certificate to your employer. The AEAT issues it within 10 working days, and with it your employer withholds 24%.
6. File Form 151 every year; it replaces Form 100 and is due in the same window as the ordinary income tax return (the Renta).

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Illustrative example: an executive moving from London to Madrid

Daniel is 49, British and has never lived in Spain. He left his London job in December 2025, and a Madrid company hires him as chief financial officer from 2 March 2026, with a salary of €400,000 in 2026. He rents his home. He holds a €4,500,000 portfolio of shares and funds with a UK broker, which pays him €120,000 of dividends in 2026, a €250,000 London bank account paying €10,000 of interest, and a €150,000 Spanish account with no interest. We assume he pays no UK tax on that investment income.

Deadline. His Social Security registration is dated 2 March, so he has until 2 September 2026 (six months, date to date) to file Form 149. He files it on 20 March. In 2026 he spends more than 183 days in Spain, so his regime covers 2026 to 2031.

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Income tax under the Beckham Law. His salary is taxed at 24%: €400,000 × 24% = €96,000, the same as his employer withholds. His UK dividends and interest are not taxed in Spain.

Income tax under the ordinary regime. Net employment income: €400,000 − €2,000 = €398,000 (before social security contributions). National tax: €86,960.75 minus €527.25 for the personal allowance, €86,433.50. Madrid's share: €77,490.42 minus €506.32 for its allowance, €76,984.10. The €130,000 of dividends and interest go into the savings base: €28,780. Total: €192,197.60.

Wealth tax and solidarity tax. Under the Beckham Law only the €150,000 in Spain counts: below the allowance and below the €2,000,000 that triggers a return. Under the ordinary regime everything counts: €4,900,000 and a taxable base of €4,200,000. Wealth tax would be €51,846.37 and the solidarity tax €20,400 (1.7% of the amount above €3,000,000). While the solidarity tax exists, Madrid only relieves the difference, €31,446.37: he pays €20,400 of wealth tax and no solidarity tax, because the wealth tax paid is credited. The 60% cap does not bite. He would also have to file Form 720 for his UK portfolio and account.

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Total under the ordinary regime: €212,597.60, against €96,000. The gap in 2026 is €116,597.60, but this is not a one-year decision. If Daniel buys a home in Madrid, he will have deemed income on it and it will count for wealth tax, at the national scale and without the 60% cap. If he sells part of the UK portfolio at a gain during the regime, that gain is not taxed in Spain; if he sold it in 2032, it would be.

Is the Beckham Law a non-dom regime?

Not quite. Spain has no non-dom remittance regime, where foreign income is only taxed if you bring it into the country. The Beckham Law taxes by source: bringing the dividends of a foreign portfolio into Spain does not make them taxable, but all your salary is taxed here, even if it is paid abroad. It also requires a qualifying move and ends after six years.

A point on tax treaties: article 120 of the Regulation lets you ask for a tax residence certificate, but certifying residence for treaty purposes is only provided for in cases the Ministry sets on a reciprocal basis. Some countries may not apply the treaty when they withhold tax on your income there.

What happens when the six years end?

From the seventh year you are taxed like any other resident: worldwide income at the ordinary rates (in Madrid, up to 45% on general income and 30% on savings), worldwide wealth and Form 720. Also, during the regime you remain a Spanish income taxpayer, so on the wording of article 95 bis those years count towards the ten of the last fifteen that trigger the exit tax if you leave with shares worth more than €4,000,000, or more than €1,000,000 in a company where you hold over 25%. The guide to the exit tax explains it.

Any change before the seventh year (selling, reorganising the portfolio, moving residence) needs valid business reasons and documentation: what only makes sense for tax, the General Tax Law allows the AEAT to recharacterise.

Common Beckham Law mistakes

• Counting the six months from arrival or residence. They run from the start of activity shown in your Social Security registration.
• Filing Form 149 before uploading the documents. The form asks for the registration number of that upload.
• Assuming salary paid from abroad is not taxed. All work in the period is taxed in Spain; foreign tax is only credited up to the 30% cap.
• Starting self-employed work. Outside the ENISA and skilled-professional routes, it excludes you in that same year.
• Assuming your family is covered. Each member needs their own Form 149 and must meet the taxable-base limit.
• Forgetting year seven. On 31 December of the seventh year all your assets count for wealth tax and Form 720, which you file the following year.

How Melso helps

Melso Private offers lawful tax planning for people with wealth from €1 million. AI reads your deeds, returns and statements, cross-checks each country's law and its treaties and models scenarios like Daniel's; your tax advisers review them, choose the measures and stand behind them. Nothing is applied or filed until you approve the exact version, and we work alongside your advisers in other countries, in English, Spanish or Catalan. The first conversation takes 45 minutes, is free of charge, and we reply within 2 business days: Request a conversation.

This article is for information only and does not replace professional advice for your case. Last reviewed: 18 October 2026.