Beckham law calculator

What is the Beckham law in Spain?

The Beckham law is the everyday name for a special income tax regime for people who move to Spain to work. If you qualify, your salary is taxed at a flat up to a year, and on anything above that, instead of the normal scale that rises with your income.

It is optional: you have to apply for it. It covers tax years in total, starting with the year you become tax resident in Spain. That first year is the first calendar year in which you spend more than days in Spain after you move.

While you are on the regime, Spain taxes you only on income from Spain. Your salary counts as Spanish income wherever you do the work, but other foreign income, such as rent or dividends from abroad, is not taxed in Spain. Wealth tax applies only to what you own in Spain.

What are the Beckham law requirements in Spain?

You must not have been tax resident in Spain in any of the previous years. You must also be moving to Spain for one of these reasons:

• a job with an employer in Spain;
• your employer sends you to Spain;
• you work remotely as an employee of a foreign company, for example with the digital nomad visa (self-employed remote work does not count on this route);
• you become a director of a company (if the company mainly holds assets, your stake must not make it a related party of yours);
• you start an innovative business with a favourable report from ENISA, the state body that assesses them;
• you are a highly qualified professional working for start-ups, or you do research or training work, and that work brings in more than of your income from work and business.

There is no salary limit. Your spouse and children under can also join if they move with you, as long as their combined income is lower than yours.

Nationality makes no difference. If you’re Spanish and have lived abroad for more than years, the regime applies to you too. Many returning emigrants only discover this after they’ve signed the contract, with the -month clock already running from their registration date.

Beckham law tax calculator: how much would I save?

The calculator above compares two estimates for your salary.

• Under the regime: the flat rate on your salary, with no personal allowances.
• Under normal income tax: a state scale from to , plus your region’s own scale. A personal allowance ( at state level, more as you get older) and allowances for children keep the first part of your income tax-free. Your Social Security contribution ( on a permanent contract) is deducted first.

Because the normal scale starts low, it is often cheaper on lower salaries. Above a certain salary the flat rate starts to pay off. That point depends on your region, age and children, so the calculator works it out for you and warns you if your salary is below it.

The comparison covers salary only. Social Security is the same either way, so it is left out of the saving. Regional deductions are not included, and the Basque Country and Navarre, which have their own tax systems, are not covered. Savings income (interest, dividends and gains) is taxed separately under the regime, at to , and is not in the figures.

How do I apply for the Beckham law, step by step?

1. Register with Spanish Social Security when you start work. The date in that registration starts the clock.
2. Make sure you have a Spanish tax number (NIF).
3. Upload your supporting documents to the Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) online, in the separate procedure for this regime.
4. File form online within months of your Social Security registration date. The calculator counts this date to date and suggests applying at least days early.
5. If your request is accepted, the Tax Agency issues a certificate within working days. Give a copy to your employer.

If the deadline has passed, you can no longer join for that start date. You can leave the regime only in November or December, with effect from the next year, and once you leave or are excluded you cannot join again.

While you are on the regime you probably do not need to file modelo 720, the return for assets abroad, for those years. Confirm this with the Tax Agency.