Beckham Law Spain 2026: Requirements, Rates and Modelo 149

Beckham Law Spain: Requirements, Rates and How to Opt In (2026 Guide)

By Arturo García de la Cruz · Immigration Lawyer at MoveWise · Last updated: 2 November 2026

⚠️ Important: This guide explains how the rules work in general. It is not tax advice. MoveWise is an immigration consultancy, not a tax adviser: before you make any tax decision, speak to a qualified tax adviser (in Spain an asesor fiscal).

💡 The short answer: The Beckham Law is the popular name of a special Spanish tax regime for people who move to Spain for work (art. 93 of the Personal Income Tax Act, LIRPF). If you qualify and opt in, you are taxed under non-resident rules: 24% on up to €600,000 of income other than savings income, and 47% above that. It covers the year you become tax resident and the next five. You must not have been tax resident in Spain in the previous five years, and you opt in with Modelo 149 within six months of the start date of your activity shown in your Social Security registration or coverage document.

Key facts for 2026

Legal basis: art. 93 of the Personal Income Tax Act (Ley 35/2006) and arts. 113 to 120 of the IRPF Regulation.
Prior non-residence: not resident in Spain in the five previous tax periods (art. 93.1.a LIRPF).
Rates: 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above; savings income has its own scale from 19% to 30% (art. 93.2.e LIRPF).
Duration: the year you become tax resident plus the next five (art. 93.1 LIRPF).
Who qualifies: employees (expressly including remote workers with the international telework visa), company directors, entrepreneurs whose activity is certified under art. 70 of Ley 14/2013, and highly qualified professionals working for start-ups or in training and R&D+i (AEAT summary).
How to opt in: Modelo 149, filed online within six months of the start date shown in your Spanish Social Security registration or in the document that keeps you in your home country's system (art. 116 of the IRPF Regulation).
Annual return: Modelo 151, every year the regime applies (art. 114.4 of the IRPF Regulation).
Family: since 2023 your spouse (or the other parent of your children) and your children under 25, or of any age with a disability, can also opt in under conditions (art. 93.3 LIRPF).

This guide is for anyone checking the Beckham Law requirements, especially remote workers coming on the Spain Digital Nomad Visa. You will learn who the law covers, which documents each route needs and how the opt-in works. Whether the regime suits you is a question for a tax adviser.

It is written by MoveWise Legal Managers and checked against the law and the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT) pages linked in each section. The main pitfall is procedural: missing the six-month deadline, a maximum period (plazo máximo) in the IRPF Regulation.

In this guide:

Beckham Law requirements in 2026
Who can opt in: the four qualifying routes and their documents
How the regime works
Illustrative estimate: ordinary regime vs Beckham Law
Family members
How to opt in with Modelo 149, step by step
Timeline from your move to your last year in the regime
Why opt-ins go wrong
Leaving the regime
What changed recently
When you need a tax adviser
Frequently asked questions
How MoveWise can help

Beckham Law requirements in 2026

The law sets three conditions, and you must meet all of them (art. 93.1 LIRPF):

✅ You become tax resident in Spain because you moved here. Tax residence follows the tests of art. 9 LIRPF, such as spending more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year. Our guide to tax residency in Spain explains them.
✅ You were not resident in Spain in the five tax periods before the year of your move.
✅ The move happens, in the first year of the regime or the year before, for one of four reasons: an employment contract, becoming a company director, an entrepreneurial activity, or work as a highly qualified professional. Each route is explained below.
✅ You do not earn income through a permanent establishment in Spain, except under the entrepreneur and highly qualified professional routes.

According to art. 115 of the IRPF Regulation and the AEAT's Modelo 149 instructions, the first year of the regime is the first calendar year in which, after your move, you spend more than 183 days in Spain.

Nationality does not matter: a returning Spanish national is tested like anyone else, on residence in the five previous periods and on the reason for the move.

⚠️ Common mistake: assuming the regime applies automatically. It never does. It applies only if you file the opt-in on time.

Who can opt in: the four qualifying routes and their documents

These are the routes as written in art. 93.1.b LIRPF since Ley 28/2022 (in force from 1 January 2023). For each one, art. 119 of the IRPF Regulation lists the document you attach to the opt-in, on top of proof of your Social Security position and your residence authorisation where you need one.

1. Employees, including remote workers

The condition is met when you start a job with an employer in Spain, when your employer sends you with an assignment letter, or when you work remotely using only computer and telecommunication tools. The law names one case expressly: employees holding the international telework visa of Ley 14/2013, the visa behind the Digital Nomad Visa requirements. Professional athletes are excluded.

New job in Spain: the employer's document confirming the employment, the Social Security start date, the workplace and the length of the contract.
Assignment: the assignment letter, plus the employer's document with the start date, workplace and length of the assignment.
Remote work: the employer's document confirming the employment, the start date in your Social Security registration or coverage document, and the expected length of your work in Spain.

If you are a remote employee, ask your adviser whether your employer must withhold Spanish tax and, if not, how tax is paid during the year. Our guide to the three ways employees qualify for the Digital Nomad Visa covers the visa side of the same set-up.

2. Company directors

You qualify if you move to Spain because you become a director (administrador) of a company in Spain, whatever your shareholding. The only limit applies to asset-holding companies (entidades patrimoniales): there, your stake must not make the company a related party under art. 18 of the Corporate Tax Act.

Document: the company's document stating the date you became a director and, for an asset-holding company, its document confirming that your stake does not make it a related party (art. 119.2.d).

3. Entrepreneurs

You qualify if you carry out in Spain an economic activity classed as entrepreneurial under art. 70 of Ley 14/2013. According to art. 113 of the IRPF Regulation, this needs a favourable report from ENISA (Empresa Nacional de Innovación) and, for non-EU nationals, the residence authorisation for entrepreneurs of art. 69 of Ley 14/2013 before you move.

Document: the favourable ENISA report, which you request from ENISA yourself, unless the residence authorisation you provide is the one for entrepreneurs (art. 119.2.e).

4. Highly qualified professionals

You qualify if you provide services to start-ups (empresas emergentes) as defined in Ley 28/2022, or carry out training, research, development and innovation, and that work brings in more than 40% of your total business, professional and employment income.

Documents: for start-up work, proof of your qualification (unless your residence authorisation already covers it), of the start-up's registration and of your services to it; for training and R&D+i, proof of those activities (art. 119.2.f and g).

What about self-employed Digital Nomad Visa holders?

The telework visa is named only in the employment route. Ordinary freelancers (autónomos) are not one of the four routes unless their activity fits route 3 or 4, and while in the regime the only economic activities allowed are those of routes 3 and 4 (art. 113.2 of the IRPF Regulation). If you are self-employed, or also invoice clients, have a tax adviser review your situation. Our guide to registering as autónomo covers the registrations that apply instead.

👉 Check with a MoveWise Client Manager whether the Digital Nomad Visa fits your work set-up — the visa route you choose (employee or self-employed) shapes which tax rules can apply later.

How the regime works

You remain a Spanish taxpayer (IRPF), but your tax is worked out with the Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR) rules, with the special features of art. 93.2 LIRPF:

All employment income you earn while in the regime counts as earned in Spain, wherever the work is done or the employer is based. The same applies to income from a certified entrepreneurial activity.
Income from work done before the move is not regime income (art. 114.2.a of the IRPF Regulation); ask your adviser how a bonus linked to earlier work is treated.
Other income is taxed under the non-resident rules, which in general look at income obtained in Spain. How this applies to your investments or pensions is a question for your adviser.
Two scales. The general part of the taxable base is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above. Dividends, interest and capital gains follow their own scale, from 19% to 30%.
Withholding. A Spanish payer withholds 24% on employment income (47% above €600,000 from the same payer).
Wealth tax. If you opt in, you are subject to Spanish wealth tax by "real obligation" (obligación real), the basis used for non-residents (art. 93.1 LIRPF). Whether any wealth tax is due depends on your assets and your region.
Modelo 720. According to the AEAT's Modelo 720 FAQ, a person taxed under the regime is not obliged to file this return on assets abroad. The FAQ predates the 2023 family extension, so confirm a family member's position with your adviser.
Certificate of tax residence. Taxpayers in the regime can request a specific certificate; certificates for tax treaty purposes are issued only in the cases the Ministry sets, on a reciprocity basis (art. 120 of the IRPF Regulation). Ask your adviser before relying on a treaty.
Social Security follows its own rules, not the regime's.

Illustrative estimate: ordinary regime vs Beckham Law

⚠️ Illustrative estimate, not a tax calculation. These figures are rough estimates to give you an idea of the order of magnitude. They are not a tax calculation and must not be relied on: the real result depends on your whole situation (region, family, deductions, other income, treaties). Always ask a fiscal lawyer or an experienced accountant to run your exact numbers.

Assumptions:

Profile: single employee under 65, no children, no other income, tax resident in the Comunidad de Madrid all year, on a permanent contract with Spanish Social Security (an employer registered in Spain), salary paid in 12 equal monthly amounts.
Gross salary: €60,000 and €120,000 a year.
Ordinary regime (IRPF), tax year 2025 scales (latest in the AEAT manual): gross salary minus the employee's Social Security contributions, which are a deductible expense (art. 19.2.a LIRPF), minus the €2,000 general deduction (art. 19.2.f). Contributions use the 2026 employee rates, 6.50% in total, up to the maximum base of €5,101.20 a month, plus the employee share of the solidarity contribution on pay above it (Orden PJC/297/2026). The low-income reduction (art. 20) does not apply here. The result is taxed with the state scale (9.5% to 24.5%) and the Comunidad de Madrid scale (8.5% to 20.5%), minus each scale applied to the personal allowance: €5,550 for the state part (art. 57 LIRPF) and €5,956.65 for the Madrid part (AEAT).
Beckham Law: 24% on the gross salary. The regime follows the non-resident rules for income without a permanent establishment, which tax the full amount of employment income without deducting expenses (art. 93.2 LIRPF; art. 24.1 of the Non-Resident Income Tax Act; AEAT, Manual Renta 2025). Social Security is paid in both cases and is not part of the comparison.
Left out: regional deductions, foreign tax, wealth tax, investment income, the year of arrival and treaties. With home-country Social Security, or in another region, the figures change.

Salary of €60,000:

Ordinary regime: Social Security about €3,900; taxable base about €54,100. State part about €7,330; Madrid part about €6,580. Total about €13,920, roughly 23% of the gross salary.
Beckham Law: €60,000 × 24% = €14,400, which is 24%.

Salary of €120,000:

Ordinary regime: Social Security about €4,110 (capped by the maximum base, plus the solidarity contribution); taxable base about €113,890. State part about €20,550; Madrid part about €18,740. Total about €39,290, roughly 33% of the gross salary.
Beckham Law: €120,000 × 24% = €28,800, which is 24%.

In this example the two figures are close at €60,000, where the ordinary one is slightly lower, and far apart at €120,000. The ordinary scales are progressive and allow the deductions above; the regime's rate is flat up to €600,000 and allows none. Whether a regime suits you depends on conditions this example ignores; a fiscal lawyer or an experienced accountant can tell you.

Basque Country and Navarre

The Personal Income Tax Act applies "without prejudice" to the foral tax systems of the Basque Country and Navarre (art. 4 LIRPF). If you will be tax resident there, different rules apply and art. 93 does not apply as written. Speak to an adviser who works with the relevant foral treasury, for example the Hacienda Foral de Bizkaia if you are moving to Bilbao.

Family members

Since 1 January 2023 family members can join the regime (art. 93.3 LIRPF). This covers:

your spouse, or the other parent of your children if you are not married;
your children under 25, or of any age if they have a disability.

According to the law and the AEAT, each of them must:

✅ move to Spain with you, or later, before your first tax year in the regime ends (an earlier move is possible if they do not become tax resident before that year);
✅ become tax resident in Spain;
✅ meet the same five-year non-residence and no-permanent-establishment conditions;
✅ have, all together, a lower taxable base than yours in every year of the regime.

Each family member files their own Modelo 149, after yours, quoting your opt-in and attaching proof of the family link (art. 119.3 of the IRPF Regulation). Age and family link are assessed on the day they opt in (art. 116.1.b). For a disability, applying for the official certificate is enough to opt in, but the regime then depends on it being recognised.

If you are bringing your family on the Digital Nomad Visa, our family guide covers the immigration side.

👉 Want a MoveWise Client Manager to check the visa side of your family's move? We prepare the Digital Nomad Visa file; for the tax side we can introduce you to an independent tax adviser.

How to opt in with Modelo 149, step by step

The opt-in is a communication to the AEAT. These steps follow the AEAT's Modelo 149 page, its instructions and art. 119 of the IRPF Regulation.

Get your tax identification number and census registration. You need a NIF (for foreigners, the NIE works as NIF) and to be in the AEAT's census of taxpayers.
Register with Social Security, or obtain your coverage document. The six-month deadline runs from the start date of your activity shown in your Spanish Social Security registration or in the document that keeps you in your home system, such as a certificate of coverage. Our guide to Spanish Social Security explains both cases.
Gather the supporting documents: your route document, proof of your Social Security registration or coverage, and your residence authorisation where needed. The form also records your nationality, employer, date of entry and start date.
Upload the documents first. Use the AEAT procedure "Aportar documentación necesaria para optar por el régimen especial". You will receive a registration number.
File Modelo 149 online, quoting that registration number, with a digital certificate or Cl@ve PIN, within six months of the start date.
Keep the AEAT's accreditation. Where appropriate, the AEAT issues a document confirming the opt-in within ten working days (art. 119.4 of the IRPF Regulation). You give a copy to whoever must withhold tax from your income, such as your employer.
File Modelo 151 every year while the regime applies, in the period the AEAT sets each year.

💡 Pro tip: save a PDF of your Social Security registration or certificate of coverage on the day you get it, and note the start date it shows. That date, not your arrival date, starts the six-month clock.

Timeline from your move to your last year in the regime

Before the move: check your last five tax periods and your route.
Start of activity (Social Security document): the six-month clock starts.
Within six months: documents uploaded and Modelo 149 filed; accreditation within ten working days, where appropriate.
Every year of the regime: Modelo 151, from the first calendar year with more than 183 days in Spain up to the fifth year after it.
After the sixth year: the regime ends; if you are still tax resident, the ordinary rules generally apply. Plan that change with your adviser.

Why opt-ins go wrong

Late filing or wrong start date. Fix: diarise six months from the start date on your Social Security document, not your arrival.
Prior Spanish residence in the last five tax periods. Fix: list your past years before you move.
Special withholding procedure already used. The opt-in is closed if your payroll used the procedure of art. 89.B of the IRPF Regulation, communicated on Modelo 147 (art. 116.3). Fix: ask payroll what they filed.
No qualifying route, for example ordinary freelance work. Fix: have your adviser map every source of income.
Missing employer document. Fix: agree its wording with your employer early.
Family member filing first. Fix: file yours first; theirs quotes it.

Leaving the regime

Renunciation: only in November and December, with effect from the following year (art. 117 of the IRPF Regulation). Employees first give their payer the withholding data form (Modelo 145) and attach the stamped copy.
Exclusion: if you stop meeting a condition, you are excluded from that tax year and must tell the AEAT within one month, on Modelo 149 (art. 118).
End of your posting: if your work in Spain ends but you remain tax resident that year, you tell the AEAT within one month, also on Modelo 149 (art. 119.5).
No way back: after renouncing or being excluded, you cannot opt in again.

What changed recently

2023 (Ley 28/2022): five-year look-back; remote workers, directors, entrepreneurs, highly qualified professionals and family members brought in; procedure updated by Real Decreto 1008/2023 and Orden HFP/1338/2023.
2025 (Ley 7/2024): the savings-income scale was amended with effect from 1 January 2025.
2026: at the time of writing, no change to art. 93 for 2026 has been published in the BOE.

When you need a tax adviser

Get advice from a qualified tax adviser before you act if:

you have income from several countries, or a pension;
you own a company, or receive shares, options or bonuses linked to earlier work;
you are self-employed, or combine a job with freelance work;
you are a US citizen or keep tax ties to another country;
you own property, investments or crypto-assets;
you arrive late in a calendar year or may leave mid-regime;
family members will join you, or you will live in the Basque Country or Navarre.

Also read our pillar guide to digital nomad taxes in Spain, which explains the ordinary regime that applies if you do not opt in.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Beckham Law requirements?

You must become tax resident in Spain because of your move, not have been resident in the five previous tax years, and move for employment (including remote work), a directorship, a certified entrepreneurial activity or highly qualified work for start-ups or R&D+i. You must also opt in on time with Modelo 149.

Can Digital Nomad Visa holders apply for the Beckham Law?

Yes, if they are employees. Art. 93 LIRPF expressly covers employees with the international telework visa. Self-employed holders are not covered as such; they can only use the entrepreneur or highly qualified professional routes if they meet those conditions, which a tax adviser should confirm.

What is the Beckham Law tax rate?

24% on the general taxable base up to €600,000 and 47% above it, with a separate 19% to 30% scale for savings income. How these rates apply to your income is a question for a tax adviser.

How long does the Beckham Law last?

The tax year in which you become tax resident plus the five following years. According to the IRPF Regulation and the AEAT, the first year is the first calendar year in which, after your move, you spend more than 183 days in Spain.

What is the deadline for Modelo 149?

Six months from the start date of your activity shown in your Spanish Social Security registration, or in the document that keeps you in your home country's system. Family members have six months from their own entry into Spain, or your deadline if later.

What documents do I need for Modelo 149?

It depends on your route. The IRPF Regulation asks for proof of your Social Security position, your residence authorisation where applicable and a route document, such as the employer's document for employees or the ENISA report for entrepreneurs. You upload them to the AEAT before filing the form.

Can I use the Beckham Law if I lived in Spain before?

Only if you were not tax resident in Spain in any of the five tax periods before the year of your move. Nationality does not matter: the test looks at your residence history. Check your past years with a tax adviser before you rely on the regime.

Do Beckham Law taxpayers file Modelo 720?

According to the AEAT's Modelo 720 FAQ, a person taxed under the special regime is not obliged to file it. The same FAQ says family members who are tax resident may be obliged; it predates the 2023 family extension, so confirm a family member's position with a tax adviser.

How MoveWise can help

MoveWise handles the immigration side of your move. For the Spain Digital Nomad Visa, we start with an eligibility assessment (Module 1), then a Legal Manager prepares and submits your file and answers any requerimiento (Module 2). That includes whether you apply as an employee or as self-employed. After approval we help with residency registrations such as the TIE card and padrón.

We do not give tax advice, file tax returns or opt into tax regimes on your behalf. For those questions we can put you in touch with independent qualified tax advisers we work with.

Our visa service includes a full refund of our fee if your application is refused, under the conditions of our service agreement, and our clients have left more than 500 client reviews on Trustpilot.

👉 Book a free consultation with a MoveWise Client Manager — tell us about your work and your move, and we will explain the visa route that fits. The consultation covers the visa, not your taxes.

Sources and legal references

This article is general information about Spanish tax rules, verified on 2 November 2026. It is not tax, legal or financial advice and does not take your personal situation into account. Tax law and its interpretation change often. Always confirm your position with a qualified tax adviser before acting.

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