Es Beckham

---
name: es-beckham
description: "Use this Guide to assess and compute Spain’s incoming-worker special tax regime under article 93 for 2026, commonly called the Beckham regime. It covers qualifying employment, remote employment, administrators, entrepreneurs, highly qualified professionals and associated family members, the prior non-residence test, election evidence, income-source and service-period rules, annual ordinary and savings scales, foreign-tax relief, withholding, Modelo 149 and Modelo 151. Trigger phrases include Ley Beckham, régimen de impatriados, trabajadores desplazados, incoming-worker tax, digital nomad tax election, 24 percent regime and Spanish special residence taxation. Obtain the move and activity dates, residence history, actual election, service-period income, source evidence and payer certificates. A visa, foreign employer or foreign bank account alone does not settle eligibility or tax treatment."
license: "AGPL-3.0-or-later (code) / OpenAccountants Guide License v1.0 (content)"
metadata:
  source: openaccountants
  openaccountants_url: "https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/es-beckham"
  jurisdiction: "ES"
  tax_year: "2026"
  last_updated: "2026-10-28"
---

# Spain: incoming-worker special tax regime v1.3

Calculate the 2026 art. 93 special regime, commonly called the Beckham regime, only after documenting eligibility and election. This revision is sourced from the law; independent whole-pack review is pending and no accountant has signed it off.

## Who this applies to

[LIRPF art. 93](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) lets qualifying individuals who become Spanish tax resident because of moving to Spain elect the special IRNR computation **while remaining IRPF taxpayers**. The move must meet a statutory work, administrator, entrepreneur or highly qualified professional route, and occur in the first application year or the preceding year. The individual must not have been Spanish resident during the five tax periods before the move. The professional-athlete special employment relationship is excluded.

Qualifying employment includes a Spanish employment/statutory relationship, an employer-directed posting evidenced by its letter, or employment performed remotely using the specified IT/telecommunications means. The international telework visa supports the employment route; a visa does not dispense with the remaining tax conditions. Ordinary freelance work is not automatically qualifying remote **employment**.

An administrator can qualify, but an administrator of a patrimonial entity must not hold a participation that makes them related under LIS art. 18. Entrepreneurial activity requires the [RIRPF art. 113.2](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a113) ENISA/residence-authorisation evidence. Highly qualified services to qualifying emerging companies or the specified training/research/development/innovation activity require the same article's evidence and art. 93.1.b.4's **more-than-40%** remuneration condition. No Spanish PE income is allowed except in the expressly permitted entrepreneur/highly-qualified activity routes. Do not classify every investment manager or self-employed digital nomad as eligible.

Before electing, check **RIRPF article 116.3**: a taxpayer who has used the special incoming-worker employment-withholding procedure in **article 89.B cannot exercise this special-regime option**. Article 89.B concerns an employee anticipating ordinary Spanish IRPF withholding on a move to Spain; AEAT identifies that communication as **Modelo 147**. It is a different procedure from the Modelo 149 special-regime election. Retain the actual prior communication, AEAT accreditation and payer implementation evidence rather than assuming that a timely 149 overrides the bar. [RIRPF arts.89.B/116.3](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a116); [AEAT general incoming-worker procedure/Modelo147](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/irpf/tengo-que-presentar-declaracion/regimen-fiscal-aplicable-trabajadores-desplazados.html).

For example, an employee otherwise meets the article 93 residence-history, move and employment conditions and remains within the six-month election deadline, but has already used article 89.B's special withholding procedure. Article 116.3 bars the election on those facts. Absence of that prior procedure only clears this additional gate; every other eligibility/election condition still applies. The article89.A passive-benefit withholding procedure is a separately named procedure, so do not broaden the specific89.B bar by analogy.

Qualifying spouse/children under 25, disabled children of any age, or the specified unmarried co-parent can elect individually under art. 93.3. Check their move/residence timing, five-year non-residence history, prohibited-PE condition and the annual **combined associated bases strictly below the principal's base**. [RIRPF art. 113.3](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a113) addresses an associated person's earlier arrival without earlier tax residence than the principal's first regime year. A family relationship alone does not grant automatic treatment.

## Rates, bands and thresholds

| Item | 2026 amount/rule | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Regime duration | First residence application period plus five following tax periods; associated people cannot outlast principal | [LIRPF art. 93.1/3](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93), [RIRPF art. 115](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a115) |
| Pre-move non-residence | Five preceding tax periods | [LIRPF art. 93.1.a](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| Ordinary special-regime base, first 600,000 | 24% | [Art. 93.2.e.1](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| Same base above 600,000 | 47% on excess | [Art. 93.2.e.1](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| Spanish-source savings-category base 0–6,000 | 19%, opening quota 0 | [Art. 93.2.e.2](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| >6,000–50,000 | 21%, opening quota 1,140 | [Art. 93.2.e.2](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| >50,000–200,000 | 23%, opening quota 10,380 | [Art. 93.2.e.2](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| >200,000–300,000 | 27%, opening quota 44,880 | [Art. 93.2.e.2](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| >300,000 | **30%**, opening quota 71,880 | [Art. 93.2.e.2, current since 2025](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| Employment withholding | Each payer: 24%, with 47% on that payer's annual remuneration above 600,000 | [Art. 93.2.f](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93) |
| Foreign-work/qualifying foreign-entrepreneur tax credit | Art. 80 credit plus overall 30% limit on the quota attributable to all such work/entrepreneur income | [RIRPF art. 114.2.b](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a114) |

## The base

### Identify Spanish-source income correctly

Under [LIRPF art. 93.2.b](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93), **all employment income and income from a qualifying entrepreneurial activity obtained during the regime is deemed Spanish-source**. Foreign work, employer, payroll or bank account does not by itself exclude it. [RIRPF art. 114.2.a](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a114) excludes from that deeming rule income attributable to activity **before the move** or **after the notified end of the posting**, without removing any independently Spanish-source income under IRNR rules. Allocate a bonus/award by the underlying service period and keep the evidence.

For other income, apply [TRLIRNR art. 13](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2004-4527#a13). A genuinely foreign-source passive dividend, interest receipt, property rent or gain is not automatically brought into this special Spanish base. A foreign account can hold Spanish-source income, so its location is not the source test. Conversely, Spanish-property rent and other Spanish-source ordinary income enter the non-savings category unless the statute puts them in art. 25.1.f's savings category. Spanish-source dividends, interest and transfer gains use that separate savings-category scale.

Apply the IRNR base rules as modified by art. 93: ordinary employment is gross income, without automatically importing the annual resident employee-expense deduction or personal/family minimum. Art. 93.2.a disapplies the enumerated IRNR provisions, including general art. 14 exemptions except the specified exempt in-kind employment. Do not add ordinary IRPF exemptions/reliefs merely because the individual remains an IRPF taxpayer ([LIRPF art. 93.2](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93); [TRLIRNR art. 24](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2004-4527#a24)).

### Annual tax and credit

1. Build a source/service-period register for each income item. Classify ordinary base O and Spanish-source art. 25.1.f savings base S. The year's subject income is accumulated **without compensation between income items**; do not offset a loss against salary or a separate positive gain under an ordinary resident-loss assumption.
2. Compute `ordinary_tax = 0.24 ×min(O, 600,000) +0.47 ×max(O −600,000, 0)`.
3. Compute savings tax progressively using the table, including **30% above 300,000**. The regime has two annual categories, not a 24% tax on everything and not the old 28% top savings rate.
4. Determine permitted donation/payment-on-account deductions under [TRLIRNR art. 26](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2004-4527#a26) and [RIRPF art. 114.2.b](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a114). Include the specified IRNR tax already paid on account where applicable.
5. For foreign employment/qualifying entrepreneurial income, calculate the [LIRPF art. 80](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a80) foreign-tax credit, then enforce the additional **30% of work/entrepreneur quota** cap in RIRPF art. 114.2.b. The effective-rate computation excludes both savings base and savings quota. Express the effective percentage to two decimal places under LIRPF art. 80.2: `effective_percentage = round(100 × ordinary_tax / O, 2)`. In a salary-only ordinary category, the ceiling is `min(qualifying_foreign_tax, foreign_work_income × effective_percentage / 100, 0.30 ×ordinary_tax)`. With mixed ordinary-category income, first attribute the quota to all qualifying work/entrepreneur income; do not take 30% of unrelated property tax or the savings quota.
6. Subtract supported withholdings/payments on account to obtain the return balance. Multiple employers each below the payer withholding threshold can leave a material annual top-rate balance. Reconcile final annual tax with actual payer certificates rather than assuming the 24% deducted was final.

For professional economic activity, [RIRPF art. 114.3](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a114) limits withholding to activities classified as professional under its special rule and requires the applicable rate on invoices. Formal payer reporting follows the IRNR-model route stated there; do not assume all special-regime payroll belongs in ordinary 111. A Spanish-property transfer also carries the [TRLIRNR art. 25.2](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2004-4527#a25) purchaser-retention rule through RIRPF art. 114.5.

### Regime and other taxes

The election sets wealth-tax **real-obligation** treatment under [LIRPF art. 93.1](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93); it does not exempt every Spanish asset or determine a regional wealth allowance. Social-security legislation is determined separately, including a valid origin-state coverage document where applicable. Treaty residence/certificate eligibility is a separate issue under [RIRPF art. 120](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a120), rather than an automatic result of this domestic election.

## Deadlines and filing

| Action | Deadline/mechanism | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Principal election, Modelo 149 | Maximum six months from documented activity start in Spanish SS registration, retained-origin SS documentation or, where no SS registration is mandatory, activity-start evidence | [RIRPF art. 116.1.a](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a116) |
| Prior incoming-worker withholding procedure | Article116.3 bars election if the taxpayer has used article89.B; inspect Modelo147/accreditation/payer evidence before treating149as available | [RIRPF art.116.3](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a116) |
| Associated person's individual election | Six months from entry, or principal's election deadline if later | [Art. 116.1.b](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a116) |
| Evidence and accreditation | Route-specific documents under art. 119; provide regime accreditation to withholders | [Art. 119](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a119) |
| Annual return, Modelo 151 | Electronic; same annual window approved for general IRPF, with separate direct-debit cut-off | [Order HFP/1338/2023 arts. 3–4](https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2023-25416) |
| Voluntary renunciation | November/December before the year it takes effect; worker communication to payer and 149, no re-election | [RIRPF art. 117](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a117) |
| Exclusion | Effective in breach year; notify within one month; no re-election | [Art. 118](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a118) |
| Posting ends while still resident that year | Notify within one month, relevant to later service-period income | [Art. 119.5](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a119) |

An NIE alone does not start or satisfy the election. Retain the actual qualifying activity date and submitted election/accreditation. Do not describe a missing election as automatically curable or irretrievable without examining the actual filed evidence/procedure. For a 2026 return filed in 2027, use that year's approved campaign window rather than an assumed permanent 30 June date.

For associated people, loss of the combined-base condition or the principal's renunciation/exclusion excludes the associated group as provided in art. 118.4; other individual eligibility failures can exclude only the affected member. Divorce/nullity is expressly not itself a failure of family eligibility in that provision. Track all elections and annual tests individually.

## Penalties and interest

An unprompted late 151 with tax due follows [LGT art. 27](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2003-23186#a27): generally 1% plus 1% per complete month through twelve months, then 15% plus the specified subsequent interest, with the article's conditions/reductions. Under-declared tax or a required information communication follows its own [arts. 191/198/199](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2003-23186#a191) classification. A penalty or surcharge payment does not itself establish substantive eligibility for a missed election. Use [LGT arts. 26/28](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2003-23186#a26) for actual interest and collection stage, not an invented fixed fee for every late communication.

## Cross-border points

The central cross-border distinction is **source and service period**, not the currency or payer account. Worldwide employment during the regime is within the deeming rule; genuinely foreign-source passive income needs the separate IRNR source test. Foreign work tax can produce only the bounded credit above, not an automatic exemption. Obtain actual foreign assessments and the attributable service-income schedule.

A tax visa is not the regime election, and an A1/origin-coverage document is not proof of a tax exemption. Establish treaty entitlement, social security and this domestic election separately. On leaving, review art. 119.5 notification, the remaining residence year, source rules for later payments and potential [LIRPF art. 95 bis](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a95bis) exit-tax residence-history rules, including its special-regime counting provision. Do not infer no departure obligations merely because the six-year election ended.

## Two worked examples that recompute

### 1. Employment abroad remains included, foreign passive dividend does not automatically enter

A hypothetical valid elector has **110,000 gross employment income for services performed during the 2026 regime**, including 20,000 for work physically abroad. No qualifying foreign tax was paid. A Spanish-source dividend is 4,000; a separate 5,000 dividend is established to be genuinely foreign-source under art. 13. Include the whole 110,000 employment, ordinary tax **26,400**, plus Spanish-dividend tax **760**, total **27,160** before supported payments on account. The foreign dividend is outside this special Spanish source base; the foreign-work salary is included. No ordinary employee-expense or personal-minimum deduction is assumed ([LIRPF art. 93](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93); [RIRPF art. 114](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a114)).

```oa-check
name: Spain 2026 impatriate employment-source deeming and passive source
inputs:
  spanish_work_salary: 90000
  foreign_work_salary: 20000
  spanish_dividend: 4000
  foreign_source_dividend: 5000
steps:
  employment_base: spanish_work_salary + foreign_work_salary
  ordinary_tax: min(employment_base, 600000) * 0.24 + max(employment_base - 600000, 0) * 0.47
  savings_tax: spanish_dividend * 0.19
  excluded_foreign_passive: foreign_source_dividend
  total_gross_tax: ordinary_tax + savings_tax
expected:
  employment_base: 110000
  ordinary_tax: 26400
  savings_tax: 760
  excluded_foreign_passive: 5000
  total_gross_tax: 27160
```

### 2. Two employers, top savings band and foreign-credit cap

A hypothetical valid full-year elector receives **650,000 employment**, half from each of two payers, all for services during the regime. Of it, 300,000 relates to work abroad with 80,000 qualifying foreign tax. Spanish-source dividends are 310,000, with no loss or donation deduction. Ordinary tax is **167,500**; savings tax **74,880**. The salary-only effective percentage is **25.77%**, expressed to two decimal places under LIRPF art. 80.2, giving a foreign-income limit of **77,310**, but the extra 30%-of-employment-quota limit restricts credit to **50,250**. Tax after credit is **192,130**. Each salary payer paid only 325,000 and withheld 24%, total 156,000; dividend withholding at the IRNR 19% rate is 58,900. With supported credits of 214,900, the return balance is **−22,770**, a refund. The result tests annual aggregation, payer-specific withholding and the additional credit cap ([LIRPF art. 93.2.e/f](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a93); [RIRPF art. 114.2.b](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a114); [TRLIRNR art. 25.1.f](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2004-4527#a25)).

```oa-check
name: Spain 2026 impatriate annual bands and foreign-credit ceiling
inputs:
  salary: 650000
  foreign_work_salary: 300000
  foreign_tax: 80000
  spanish_dividend: 310000
steps:
  employment_tax: min(salary, 600000) * 0.24 + max(salary - 600000, 0) * 0.47
  savings_tax: 71880 + (spanish_dividend - 300000) * 0.30
  foreign_effective_percentage: round(100 * employment_tax / salary, 2)
  foreign_income_limit: foreign_work_salary * foreign_effective_percentage / 100
  special_credit_limit: employment_tax * 0.30
  foreign_credit: min(foreign_tax, min(foreign_income_limit, special_credit_limit))
  tax_after_credit: employment_tax + savings_tax - foreign_credit
  salary_withholding: salary * 0.24
  dividend_withholding: spanish_dividend * 0.19
  return_balance: tax_after_credit - salary_withholding - dividend_withholding
expected:
  employment_tax: 167500
  savings_tax: 74880
  foreign_effective_percentage: 25.77
  foreign_income_limit: 77310
  special_credit_limit: 50250
  foreign_credit: 50250
  tax_after_credit: 192130
  salary_withholding: 156000
  dividend_withholding: 58900
  return_balance: -22770
```

## Ask the client first

1. What move, residence, qualifying work/activity and documented social-security/origin-coverage dates establish eligibility and the election deadline?
2. What residence history, prior article89.B/Modelo147 procedure and actual149election/accreditation support each principal/associated person?
3. Which income relates to pre-move, regime-period or post-notified-posting services, and what establishes each other item's Spanish/foreign source?
4. What entrepreneur/emerging-company/qualification/administrator ownership and PE evidence satisfies the selected route?
5. What foreign tax, service allocation and payer withholding certificates support the credit and annual balance?
6. What associated-person bases and events require continued eligibility, notification, renunciation or exclusion?

## Sources

| Official source | Scope read | Read on |
|---|---|---|
| [LIRPF, Ley 35/2006, arts. 80/93/95 bis](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764) | Eligibility, source deeming, 2026 scales, payer threshold, family conditions and departure reference | 2026-10-26 |
| [RIRPF, RD 439/2007, arts. 113–120](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820) | Evidence, exclusions, credit ceiling, election clocks, family arrival, notification, renunciation and exclusion | 2026-10-26 |
| [TRLIRNR, RDL 5/2004](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2004-4527) | Art. 13 sources, arts. 24–26 base/rates/credits and property retention | 2026-10-26 |
| [Orden HFP/1338/2023](https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2023-25416) | Electronic 149/151 and annual campaign/direct-debit windows | 2026-10-26 |
| [LGT, Ley 58/2003](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2003-23186) | Late filing, interest/collection and penalty classification | 2026-10-26 |
| RIRPF arts.89.B/116.3 and AEAT general incoming-worker page linked above | Prior special ordinary-withholding procedure bars the incoming-worker special-regime election; Modelo147 distinguished from149 | 2026-10-28 |
| [LIRPF art. 80.2](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a80) and [RIRPF art. 114.2.b](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a114) | Effective percentage expressed to two decimal places in the general salary-only method and second example; additional cap and final result unchanged | 2026-10-28 |

**Not yet confirmed:** the exact allocation of a complex multi-period equity award or mixed-category foreign-credit ceiling without its supporting service/source records; case-specific treaty residence entitlement and wealth-tax calculation. The ordinary employment and Spanish-source savings computations above are supplied; specialist PE/activity and family boundary cases need their actual eligibility evidence. Independent whole-pack review remains outstanding.

## Today's figures and who stands behind this skill

This file is an AI skill (tax rules your AI follows) from OpenAccountants, copied on 2026-10-28. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change. For the current version of this skill, its official sources and the named accountant (if any) who stands behind it, call `get_skill` with slug `es-beckham` on the OpenAccountants connector (https://www.openaccountants.com/connect), or read https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/es-beckham. If neither is available, confirm every figure against the official source pages cited above before relying on it.