Spain's Beckham Law: who qualifies and how to apply

Spain's Beckham Law: who qualifies and how to apply

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Taking a job in Spain raises one question very quickly: what your tax bill will look like. For a lot of expats, the answer comes down to one special rule — the impatriate regime, commonly called the Beckham Law.

The idea is straightforward: instead of being taxed as a Spanish resident on your worldwide income, you are taxed like a non-resident on the income you earn in Spain, at a fixed rate of 24% up to 600,000 euros with 47 percent applying beyond that threshold. If your salary is significant, the difference is substantial.

The conditions are strict. In broad terms, you must have been non-resident in Spain for the previous five tax years, the move has to be tied to a job offer, a posting or a company directorship, and the work must be carried out mainly in Spain. Recent reforms opened the door to digital nomads and some self-employed profiles.

Timing is the part people get wrong. The election must be filed within six months of registering with Spanish social security. Let that window close web and the regime is lost for the whole assignment. The benefit then runs for a total of six tax years.

It is not automatically the better option. Where a large part of your wealth sits abroad, the effect on wealth tax and on the 720 declaration should be calculated before deciding. A short analysis before applying is usually time well spent.

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