Every few weeks we get the same question: someone on a digital nomad visa, already settled in Spain, convinced they can apply for the Beckham Law. And every time, we have to tell them the same thing: as things stand, they don’t qualify.
This isn’t a minor technicality. Spain’s Special Tax Regime for Inbound Workers requires an employment relationship, not self-employed economic activity.
Most people on an international remote work visa are, in practice, invoicing as freelancers to clients or an employer abroad.
That’s self-employment, not employment.
And no matter how much the visa’s name suggests otherwise, the Spanish Tax Agency doesn’t make exceptions here.
The confusion comes from the fact that «digital nomad» gets used for two situations that are completely different for tax purposes:
Someone who works remotely on payroll, registered by their employer with Spanish Social Security, can apply for the regime.
Someone who works remotely while invoicing as a freelancer to a client or employer abroad cannot, whether or not a digital nomad visa is involved.
The difference isn’t where you live or who you work for.
It’s whether you’re registered as self-employed or as an employee.
We’ve seen people who had already been in Spain for months, convinced their international remote work visa automatically entitled them to the flat 24% rate, only to find out too late that it didn’t, by which point there was no room left to consider any alternative.
That’s why, if this is your situation, the first thing we look at isn’t which visa you hold, but the actual economic relationship behind it.
It’s the only way to tell you, before promising anything, whether it’s genuinely worth moving forward.
If you moved to Spain for work and aren’t sure whether your situation fits the special regime, we’ll review it with you before your six-month deadline runs out. Here you can see the full requirements and how we work or write to us directly if you’d rather go through it together right away.