Digital Nomad Visa Taxes in Spain and the Beckham Law

Under Spanish income tax law, you're a tax resident for a calendar year if either applies:

• you spend more than 183 days of that year in Spain — short trips abroad still count as days in Spain unless you prove tax residence elsewhere; or
• Spain is the main centre of your business or economic interests.

The law also presumes you're resident if your spouse and dependent minor children live in Spain. In the year you move, whether you're resident depends on these tests — talk to an adviser before you assume either way.

The Beckham Law (officially, the special regime for workers moving to Spain, article 93 of the income tax law) lets qualifying newcomers be taxed much like non-residents. Since 2023 the conditions are:

• You weren't a Spanish tax resident in the previous five years.
• You moved for one of the qualifying reasons. The one that matters here: remote work for an employer using only computers and telecoms — Spain's tax agency explicitly includes holders of the international teleworker visa. Other reasons are a Spanish job, becoming a company director, an activity officially recognised as entrepreneurial, or work as a highly qualified professional for a startup.
• You don't earn income through a permanent establishment in Spain.

What this means in practice: if you're on the digital nomad permit as an employee of a foreign company, you can usually opt in. If you're a freelancer (autónomo) with foreign clients, ordinary freelancing isn't one of the qualifying reasons — you'd need your activity to be recognised as entrepreneurial, which is a separate process.

Your spouse and children under 25 can join the regime too, if they move with you (or later, within your first year) and meet the same five-year condition.

• Rates. Employment income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 a year from the same payer, and 47% above that.
• What's taxed. Your employment income during the regime counts as earned in Spain. Other income is taxed only if it comes from Spanish sources — foreign investment income, for example, generally isn't.
• How long. The year you become resident plus the five following years.
• How to apply. File Modelo 149 online with Spain's tax agency, with supporting documents uploaded separately. You need a Spanish tax number and must be registered in the tax census first.
• Deadline. At most six months from the start of your activity, as shown in your Spanish social security registration. Miss it and you can't opt in later.
• Annual return. Under the regime you file Modelo 151 instead of the usual return.

A flat 24% isn't automatically cheaper. Standard Spanish income tax is progressive, so at the income levels typical for the digital nomad permit, the standard rates can come out lower than 24% — while the Beckham Law tends to help higher earners and people with significant foreign investment income. Run both calculations with a tax adviser before the six-month deadline.

• UK: the UK and Spain have a double taxation agreement, so the same income isn't taxed twice in full. Spanish residents also have to declare assets held outside Spain.
• US: the US taxes its citizens wherever they live, so Americans keep filing US returns on worldwide income. The foreign tax credit and the foreign earned income exclusion can reduce US tax — but only if you file. Get advice from a US tax adviser who works with Americans in Spain.

This is the part we see directly in UGE applications (the full renewal checklist is in our renewal guide):

• Since June 2026 the renewal form asks for your Spanish tax returns (Modelo 100) for the two previous years. The UGE compares your declared annual income with each year's income threshold and checks your social security contributions.
• Your declared income has to keep up with the minimum wage. The threshold rises with Spain's minimum wage every year; a stable income that never grew has led to refusals, and a raise just before renewal doesn't fix past years.
• Register with social security as soon as your permit is approved. It's checked at renewal, and your Beckham Law deadline also runs from that registration.

Always for the Beckham decision, because the six-month deadline leaves little time to compare. Also if you move mid-year, have income or assets in several countries, or are a US citizen. We can walk you through the permit; for the tax side we'll point you to an adviser.