Special Tax Regime for Inbound Workers
Special Tax Regime for Inbound Workers
If so, you have 6 months from your Social Security registration date to apply for Spain's Special Tax Regime for Inbound Workers (the "Beckham Law") and pay a flat 24% tax instead of Spain's general progressive IRPF rate of up to 47%. Once that deadline passes, there is no extension and no second chance.
The special regime lets you be taxed as a non-resident on your Spanish employment income, instead of under Spain's general progressive IRPF scale. The difference is especially significant on mid-to-high incomes.
Progressive scale on your worldwide income, no flat rate. The marginal rate rises with each income bracket and varies by autonomous region.
Flat rate up to €600,000 of employment income (47% above that), only on your Spanish-source income, for the year you arrive plus five additional tax years.
Not everyone who moves to Spain automatically qualifies. These are the points we check before recommending you move forward.
No prior tax residency: you must not have been a Spanish tax resident during the 5 tax years before your relocation.
Employment relationship with a Spanish company: an employment contract — freelance or self-employed invoicing does not count, even if the work is done remotely.
Company director: qualifies with less than 25% ownership if the entity is a holding company (no ownership limit if it's an operating company).
Entrepreneurs and qualified professionals: entrepreneurial activity with a favorable ENISA report, or services to startups / R&D&I representing more than 40% of your income.
Social Security registration: handled by your employer — its date marks the start of the 6-month deadline to file Form 149.
Family: spouse and children under 25, or with a disability, can join the regime if they relocate within the same 6 months.
What does NOT qualify — self-employed workers and freelancers, including those on a digital nomad visa (they invoice on their own account, with no employment relationship); professional athletes, explicitly excluded under art. 93 of the Spanish Income Tax Act; and anyone generating income through their own permanent establishment in Spain.
A process with a specific order — because with this regime, the order and the deadlines are what cost you the most if you get them wrong.
We review your contract, home country, and assets to confirm you meet the requirements and that the regime genuinely benefits you.
Before Form 149We gather and, if needed, translate the documentation — employment contract, Social Security registration certificate provided by your employer, proof of non-residency — and file the application with the Spanish Tax Agency within the deadline.
Deadline: 6 monthsThe Spanish Tax Agency resolves within 10 business days. If they request additional documents and these aren't provided within 3 months, the file may lapse — but if Form 149 was filed on time, your right to the regime remains valid. We keep an eye on that distinction for you.
10 business daysDuring your 6 tax years under the regime, we prepare and file your annual tax return — and plan ahead for your transition back to the general tax regime.
Every JuneHave this ready and we save time from the first email — the sooner we have it, the more margin you keep inside the 6-month window.
The entire process is 100% online — no need to travel. You only need a digital certificate, and if you don't have one, we handle that for you too.
One of the few advisory firms in Spain with this certification, and adherent to the Spanish Tax Agency's Code of Good Tax Practices.
Specialized in self-employed professionals, SMEs, and in particular, in expats and inbound workers relocating to Spain.
All filing, communication, and documentation available in English and Spanish.
We flag deadlines to you — we don't wait for you to ask once it's already too late.
The entire process is handled remotely, with the same security and legal validity as an in-person office.
We know the clock is running — so we don't leave your inquiry waiting.
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Not if they invoice as self-employed — the regime requires an employment relationship, not self-employed economic activity. Remote work for a foreign employer only counts if that employer registers you with the Spanish Social Security system as an employee; if you simply invoice as a freelancer from Spain, you don't qualify, even with a digital nomad visa.
The year you acquire Spanish tax residency plus the following five tax years: 6 years in total, with no possibility of renewal or reapplying once the period ends.
From the start date of your activity as it appears on your Social Security registration — a step handled by your employer, not by us. Our work begins as soon as we know that date: we prepare the file and submit the application within the deadline.
Yes, if your ownership stake is under 25% in the case of holding companies; if the company is an operating company, there's no ownership limit.
Form 151, the specific annual return for inbound workers — never the general Form 100, which is incompatible with this regime while it's in force.
Yes, if they relocate to Spain within the same 6 months. It applies to a spouse and children under 25, or with a disability, with no age limit in that case.
Write to us with your Social Security registration date and we'll tell you, with no obligation, whether you're still on time and what documentation you'll need. We respond within 48 business hours.