Beckham Law Spain 2026: Rates and Deadlines
Spain’s regime for inbound workers taxes qualifying arrivals broadly as non-residents for six tax years. The Spanish tax authority also states that beneficiaries are not treated as residents for the purposes of a double taxation convention — which changes what the regime means for a U.S. citizen.
Spain’s Beckham Law taxes qualifying new arrivals under non-resident rules for the year of the move and the five following tax periods: 24% on employment income up to €600,000 and 47% above. The election is made on Modelo 149 within six months of the start-of-activity date.
| Item | Position for 2026 |
|---|---|
| Legal basis | Article 93 of Spain’s personal income tax law, as amended by Ley 28/2022 |
| Duration | The tax period in which the change of residence occurs and the five following tax periods |
| Prior non-residence required | Five tax years, reduced from ten by Ley 28/2022 |
| Rate, general base | 24% on employment income up to €600,000; 47% above |
| Rate, savings base | A separate scale of 19%, 21%, 23% and 27%, with a top rate that rose to 30% from 2025 |
| Qualifying limbs | Four: an employment contract, expressly including remote work; appointment as a director; an entrepreneurial economic activity; and a highly qualified professional serving emerging companies or engaged in training, research, development and innovation, where that remuneration exceeds 40% of total business and professional income |
| The election | Modelo 149, within six months of the start-of-activity date on the Spanish Social Security registration |
| Family members | A spouse, or the other parent of the children, and children under 25 or of any age where disabled, may opt in if they relocate within the first year of the regime, meet the same conditions, and keep a combined taxable base below the principal’s |
| Outside the regime | Non-Spanish-source passive items — foreign dividends, foreign interest, foreign rental income and foreign capital gains |
| Wealth tax | By real obligation, on assets in Spain. Ley 19/1991 gives a €700,000 exempt minimum where the Autonomous Community has set none |
| Solidarity tax on large fortunes | Still operative, above €3,000,000, with the same €700,000 minimum and a top rate of 3.5% |
| Treaty position | Article 4(1) of the U.S.–Spain convention excludes from “resident of a Contracting State” a person liable to tax there on source income only |
What the regime does
Article 93 of Spain’s personal income tax law allows qualifying new arrivals to opt to be taxed under Non-Resident Income Tax rules while retaining the status of personal income tax payers. The tax authority’s manual describes the scope as taxation exclusively on income obtained from sources situated in Spain. The regime runs for the tax period in which the change of residence occurs and the five following tax periods.
The rate scale for the general base is 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above. The authority’s own archived instructions record the history — 47% in 2015, 45% from 2016 to 2020, 47% from 2021 — and the 2026 tax-law updates list no change to Article 93 or to those rates. The savings base is taxed on a separate scale of 19%, 21%, 23% and 27%, with a top rate that rose to 30% from 2025.
Eligibility runs on four limbs following the amendments made by Ley 28/2022: an employment contract, expressly including work performed remotely using computer and telecommunications systems; appointment as a director of an entity; carrying on in Spain an economic activity classified as entrepreneurial; and an economic activity carried on by a highly qualified professional providing services to emerging companies or engaged in training, research, development and innovation, where such remuneration exceeds 40% of total business and professional income.
That last point corrects a widely repeated claim. Self-employment is not categorically excluded; two of the four limbs are self-employment routes, added with effect from 1 January 2023. Equally, intra-group posting is no longer a separate statutory route — Ley 28/2022 folded posted workers into the general employment-contract limb.
The election is made on Modelo 149. The order approving the forms sets the deadline as six months from the date of commencement of activity recorded in the Spanish Social Security registration — not six months from the registration date itself. Family members have their own route: a spouse, or the other parent of the children, and children under 25 or of any age where disabled, may opt in provided they relocate within the first year of the principal’s regime, meet the same conditions, and keep a combined taxable base below the principal’s. Their filing deadline is six months from entry into Spanish territory.
Your Spanish main home is taxed under the regime
The Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central settled a long-disputed point on 17 July 2025, in resolution 00/03697/2025, issued in unification of criterion. A taxpayer under the article 93 regime must impute real estate income on urban property owned in Spain that is not assigned to an economic activity, and the property used as the habitual residence is not excluded.
The reasoning is textual. Article 13.1.h) of the non-resident income tax law defines the taxable event and contains no exemption for a main home; article 85 of the personal income tax law is used only to quantify it, at 2% of cadastral value, or 1.1% where the cadastral value has been revised with effect in the tax period or in the previous ten tax periods. Because the resolution was issued in unification of criterion it binds the tax agency and the regional economic-administrative tribunals, so a contrary position has to be taken to the courts rather than argued with the agency.
The scope point that is most often stated too loosely
"Foreign income is outside Spanish tax" is not an accurate summary. The tax authority’s manual states that the entirety of employment income obtained by the taxpayer during the application of the regime, and the entirety of income from an economic activity classified as entrepreneurial, are deemed obtained in Spanish territory.
All worldwide employment income is therefore taxed. What genuinely sits outside are non-Spanish-source passive items — foreign dividends, foreign interest, foreign rental income and foreign capital gains.
On wealth, the authority states that Article 93 taxpayers are subject to wealth tax by real obligation, on their assets in Spain. Ley 19/1991 provides a €700,000 exempt minimum where the Autonomous Community has not set its own, and states expressly that the minimum applies to taxpayers subject to real obligation. The temporary solidarity tax on large fortunes remains operative — the tax authority published an amendment to its Modelo 718 order in June 2026 — with a threshold above €3,000,000, the same €700,000 minimum, and a top rate of 3.5%. It was extended indefinitely pending reform of regional financing rather than made permanent; the statute still reads "the first two financial years."
What is specific to Americans abroad
The most consequential point for a U.S. citizen is one the Spanish tax authority states directly: regime beneficiaries are not regarded as residents for the purposes of applying a double taxation convention, because they are subject to tax exclusively on income from Spanish sources. The treaty text supports that reasoning on its own terms — Article 4(1) of the U.S.–Spain convention excludes from "resident of a Contracting State" any person liable to tax there in respect only of income from sources in that state.
A U.S. citizen electing the regime therefore cannot rely on Spanish residence to claim treaty benefits, while remaining fully subject to U.S. taxation on worldwide income and to U.S. reporting throughout. Spanish tax paid still generates creditable foreign tax in the ordinary way, but the coordination question is a U.S.-side computation rather than a treaty allocation. The protocol amending the 1990 convention entered into force on 27 November 2019.
Two further constraints follow from the structure rather than from anyone’s judgment. Because the regime ends on a fixed date, the first standard year arrives with progressive rates on worldwide income, wealth tax on worldwide assets, and full succession exposure all at once — so the relevant comparison is the combined U.S.–Spanish position across the six regime years and the first year after, not the headline 24% against the headline 47%. And because the election is deadline-bound and the six-year clock attaches to the tax period of the change of residence rather than to the date of arrival, a mid-year arrival consumes a full period.
Two questions cannot be resolved from published primary sources, and are named here rather than answered. Whether the €300,000 main-home exemption in Ley 19/1991 reaches beneficiaries taxed by real obligation is not addressed either way in the statutory article or in the authority’s practical manual. And whether the foreign earned income exclusion is available to someone under the regime is not addressed in any IRS publication; the physical presence test is a day count unaffected by which Spanish regime applies, while the bona fide residence test turns on a two-part disqualifier that the published sources do not apply to this situation.
Sources
- Agencia Tributaria — Manual de tributación de no residentes: Régimen especial de trabajadores desplazados, art. 93 Ley IRPF (duration; five-year prior non-residence; the four qualifying limbs; deemed Spanish-source rule; no treaty residence) — https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/manual-tributacion-no-residentes/regimenes-opcionales/regimen-especial-impatriados.html — checked 2 August 2026
- Agencia Tributaria — Modelo 151, instrucciones de cumplimentación, ejercicio 2023 y siguientes (24%/47% scale; savings scale) — https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/todas-gestiones/impuestos-tasas/impuesto-sobre-renta-personas-fisicas/modelo-151-decla_____los-trabajadores-desplazados-espanol_/instrucciones-cumplimentacion-ejercicio-2023-siguientes.html — checked 2 August 2026
- Boletín Oficial del Estado — Orden HFP/1338/2023, de 13 de diciembre, art. 7.4 (Modelo 149; six months from start-of-activity date; family-member deadline) — https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2023-25416 — checked 2 August 2026
- Boletín Oficial del Estado — Real Decreto 1008/2023, de 5 de diciembre (Reglamento IRPF arts. 113–120; family members) — https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2023-24841 — checked 2 August 2026
- Agencia Tributaria — Contribuyentes del régimen especial del artículo 93: Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio (real obligation) — https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/no-residentes/impuesto-sobre-patrimonio/contribuyentes-reg-especial-art-93-patrimonio.html — checked 2 August 2026
- Boletín Oficial del Estado — Ley 19/1991, del Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio, arts. 4.Nueve y 28 — https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1991-14392 — checked 2 August 2026
- Boletín Oficial del Estado — Ley 38/2022, art. 3 (Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas, consolidated) — https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2022-22684 — checked 2 August 2026
- Internal Revenue Service — Convention between the United States and the Kingdom of Spain, Article 4(1) — https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/spain.pdf — checked 2 August 2026
- U.S. Department of the Treasury — Press release: Protocol to the Spain–United States tax treaty enters into force 27 November 2019 — https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm763 — checked 2 August 2026
- Agencia Tributaria — Novedades de normativa 2026 (no change to art. 93 or the regime rates for 2026) — https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/irpf/novedades-impuesto/novedades-normativa-2026.html — checked 2 August 2026
- Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central — Resolución 00/03697/2025, de 17 de julio de 2025, en unificación de criterio (imputación de rentas inmobiliarias por la vivienda habitual en el régimen del artículo 93) — https://serviciostelematicosext.hacienda.gob.es/TEAC/DYCTEA/Criterios.aspx?s=1&rs=&rn=03697&ra=2025&fd=17%2F07%2F2025&fh=17%2F07%2F2025&u=&n=&p=&c1=&c2=&c3=&tc=1&tr=&tp=&tf=&c=2&pg= — checked 4 September 2026
Figures and rates cited were current as of August 2026 and are subject to change.
Common questions
- Is foreign income really tax-free under Spain’s Beckham Law?
- Not all of it. The tax authority’s manual states that the entirety of employment income obtained during the application of the regime, and the entirety of income from an economic activity classified as entrepreneurial, are deemed obtained in Spanish territory — so all worldwide employment income is taxed. What genuinely sits outside are non-Spanish-source passive items: foreign dividends, foreign interest, foreign rental income and foreign capital gains.
- Can you qualify for the Beckham Law if you’re self-employed rather than on a Spanish payroll?
- Self-employment is not categorically excluded. Two of the four eligibility limbs are self-employment routes, added with effect from 1 January 2023: carrying on in Spain an economic activity classified as entrepreneurial, and an economic activity carried on by a highly qualified professional providing services to emerging companies or engaged in training, research, development and innovation, where such remuneration exceeds 40% of total business and professional income.
- Does electing the Beckham Law stop me claiming US-Spain treaty benefits?
- Yes. The Spanish tax authority states that regime beneficiaries are not regarded as residents for the purposes of applying a double taxation convention, because they are taxed exclusively on income from Spanish sources. Article 4(1) of the U.S. convention with Spain excludes from “resident of a Contracting State” any person liable to tax there in respect only of income sourced there. Spanish tax paid still generates creditable foreign tax in the ordinary way.
- How long do I have to apply for the Beckham Law after arriving in Spain?
- Six months, running from the start-of-activity date recorded in the Spanish Social Security registration — not six months from the registration date itself. The election is made on Modelo 149. Family members who relocate within the first year of the principal’s regime have their own deadline: six months from entry into Spanish territory. The regime covers the tax period of the change of residence and the five following tax periods.
- How long do I have to have lived outside Spain before I can use the Beckham Law?
- Five tax years of prior non-residence, reduced from ten by Ley 28/2022. The regime then runs for the tax period in which the change of residence occurs and the five following tax periods. Because the six-year clock attaches to the tax period rather than to the date of arrival, a mid-year arrival consumes a full period.
- What rate does the Beckham Law actually charge?
- The general base is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above it. The savings base runs on a separate scale of 19%, 21%, 23% and 27%, with a top rate that rose to 30% from 2025. The authority’s archived instructions record 47% in 2015, 45% from 2016 to 2020, and 47% from 2021.
- Can my spouse and children join me on the Beckham regime?
- A spouse, or the other parent of the children, and children under 25 or of any age where disabled, may opt in — provided they relocate within the first year of the principal’s regime, meet the same conditions, and keep a combined taxable base below the principal’s. Their filing deadline is six months from entry into Spanish territory.
- Does the Beckham Law cover remote work for a company outside Spain?
- The employment-contract limb expressly includes work performed remotely using computer and telecommunications systems, following the amendments made by Ley 28/2022. Intra-group posting is no longer a separate statutory route — that same law folded posted workers into the general employment-contract limb.
- Do Beckham Law beneficiaries pay Spanish wealth tax?
- Yes, by real obligation — on their assets in Spain. Ley 19/1991 provides a €700,000 exempt minimum where the Autonomous Community has not set its own, and states expressly that the minimum applies to taxpayers subject to real obligation. The temporary solidarity tax on large fortunes remains operative above €3,000,000.
- What happens the year after the Beckham regime ends?
- Because the regime ends on a fixed date, the first standard year arrives with progressive rates on worldwide income, wealth tax on worldwide assets, and full succession exposure all at once. The relevant comparison is the combined U.S.–Spanish position across the six regime years and the first year after.
- Can I claim the foreign earned income exclusion while I am on the Beckham regime?
- That question is not addressed in any IRS publication. The physical presence test is a day count unaffected by which Spanish regime applies, while the bona fide residence test turns on a two-part disqualifier that the published sources do not apply to this situation. The point is left open by the primary sources.
- Do Beckham Law beneficiaries pay imputed income tax on their own home in Spain?
- The Spanish position is that they do. On 17 July 2025, in resolution 00/03697/2025, the Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central held in unification of criterion that a taxpayer under the article 93 regime must impute real estate income on urban property owned in Spain and not assigned to an economic activity, and that the property used as the habitual residence is not excluded. Article 13.1.h) of the non-resident income tax law defines the taxable event and carries no exemption for a main home; article 85 of the personal income tax law is used only to quantify the amount, at 2% of cadastral value, or 1.1% where the cadastral value has been revised with effect in the tax period or in the previous ten tax periods. Because the resolution was issued in unification of criterion it binds the tax agency and the regional economic-administrative tribunals, so a contrary position would have to be pursued through the courts.
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