Beckham Law and the Spain Digital Nomad Visa: Complete 2026 Guide

The Beckham regime is a special personal income tax status regulated by article 93 of the Spanish IRPF Law. Instead of being taxed as an ordinary resident on worldwide income at progressive rates up to ~47%, you are taxed as a non-resident on Spanish-source income at a flat 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above that.

Foreign employment income earned during the regime is treated as Spanish-source (so it is inside the flat rate), while most other foreign income — dividends, interest, rental income from abroad — remains outside Spanish taxation altogether. That is what makes the regime so attractive to remote workers with foreign employers or foreign passive income.

The regime lasts for the arrival year plus five following tax years — six calendar years in total — and cannot be extended.

Historically the regime only covered people moving to Spain on a Spanish employment contract or as a director of a Spanish company. The 2023 reform broadened it. You now qualify if:

Take a remote employee earning €90,000 gross from a US or UK employer. Under the ordinary regime in a mid-tax autonomous community (Madrid or Valencia), the effective IRPF rate at that income sits around 30–33%. Under Beckham it is a flat 24% on that same €90,000 — an ~€7,000 to €9,000 saving per year, plus you avoid Modelo 720 and wealth-tax filing on non-Spanish assets in most cases.

At €200,000 the saving is proportionally larger because you never hit the top 47% bracket. At €40,000 the saving is much smaller — sometimes negative once you factor in the loss of personal allowances and deductions — so Beckham is not always the right choice for lower incomes.

Since 2023, your spouse and children under 25 (or disabled dependants of any age) can apply for their own Beckham status, provided their taxable base is lower than the main applicant’s and they move within the same window. That is a meaningful difference for dual-income households on the DNV.

You elect the regime by filing Modelo 149 with the Spanish tax authority (AEAT) within six months of your Social Security registration or DNV approval. The submission is electronic and requires a digital certificate; a tax adviser can file it on your behalf via representation.

Once accepted, you file your annual return on Modelo 151 (instead of the ordinary Modelo 100). Payroll from a Spanish employer is withheld at the 24% flat rate directly.

Three mistakes account for most Beckham rejections we see with DNV clients: