Skip to content
Calculadora Capital
Tax Calculators

Form 151: the Beckham law

The article 93 regime is not a flat 24%: it splits your income into two bases and only one benefits. This tool works out what you pay with the regime and what you would pay without it, which tax years your six-year window covers, and whether you meet the conditions to file form 149.

Pick the question: what the regime costs against ordinary income tax, which tax years it covers, or whether you meet the article 93 conditions.

Spanish expatriate regime details
Tax with the regime
€25,680.00
Ordinary tax, for reference
€35,481.50
What it saves you
€9,801.50
Employment income, with the regime24 % / 47 %€21,600.00
Employment income, ordinary tax reference€31,401.50
Dividends and interest, with the regime19 / 21 / 23 / 27 / 30 %€4,080.00
Dividends and interest, ordinary tax€4,080.00
Saving on the employment side€9,801.50
Saving on the savings side€0.00
Effective rate with the regime23.35 %
Ordinary effective rate32.26 %
  • • On the savings side the regime saves nothing: its 19-30 % scale is, to the cent, the sum of the state half in article 66.1 and the regional half in article 76.
  • • The ordinary figure is a REFERENCE built on article 65, because each region approves its own scale (article 74.1.1) and none is invented here.
What the regime does not do, and what this calculator does not compute

The threshold between the two general-base rates is €600,000.00, and only the excess is taxed at the higher one.

The savings base is the income of article 25.1.f) of the non-resident income tax act: dividends, interest and capital gains.

Under the regime wealth tax becomes a real obligation, that is only on assets located in Spain. Not computed here.

The foreign double-taxation credit is capped at 30 % of the tax on that income, where an ordinary resident applies article 80 with no such cap. Not computed here.

A spouse and children under 25 can join if the sum of their taxable bases is lower than the main taxpayer's. Not computed here.

Video: how to use the calculator

1

Two bases, two scales, and only one benefits

Letter e) of article 93.2 requires that the taxable base distinguish «the income referred to in article 25.1.f) of the consolidated Non-Resident Income Tax Act, and the remaining income». The remainder gets two rates: 24% up to 600,000 euros and 47% from 600,000.01 upwards. The article 25.1.f) income dividends, interest and capital gains gets a progressive scale from 19% to 30%. Almost everything published about this regime calls it a «flat 24%» and describes half the base.

2

The savings scale is your neighbour’s, to the cent

An ordinary resident pays tax on dividends in two halves: the state half of article 66.1.1 and the regional half of article 76.1. The two tables are identical 9.5, 10.5, 11.5, 13.5 and 15 per cent, with accumulated figures of 0, 570, 5,190, 22,440 and 35,940 euros and their sum is exactly the scale article 93.2.e).2 gives the expatriate. This is not a loose approximation: the thresholds match one for one and the accumulated figures are exactly double. Someone on the regime who lives off investment income saves nothing at all on it.

3

Above 600,000 euros it saves nothing at the margin either

The full ordinary marginal rate on the general base is the article 63.1 scale, reaching 24.5% from 300,000 euros, plus the article 65 scale, reaching 22.5% from 60,000. They add to 47%, which is exactly the second rate of article 93.2.e).1. The legislator set the regime’s ceiling at the ordinary marginal rate, so the whole benefit lives in the 24% band and in what the regime leaves out of the base.

4

The six-year clock does not start when you move

Article 93.1 grants the regime «during the tax period in which the change of residence takes place and during the five following tax periods», that is six tax years and not five. And the second paragraph of article 115 of the regulation, added by Royal Decree 1008/2023, says which is the first: «the tax period in which residence is acquired shall be taken to be the first calendar year in which, once the move has taken place, the stay in Spanish territory exceeds 183 days». Someone arriving on 15 May passes 183 days that same year and their regime runs from that year to the sixth; someone arriving on 15 October does not, their first tax year is the next one, and the regime reaches a whole extra calendar year. The line falls on 2 July and leap years do not move it, because the extra day is in February.

5

The window to opt in, and the paper that decides your payslip

The option is exercised on form 149 and article 116.1.a) of the regulation gives «a maximum period of six months from the start-of-activity date recorded in the Spanish Social Security registration». Not from entering the country: arriving and starting to contribute can be different months, and the second is the one that counts. There is a third clock almost nobody mentions: article 119.4 gives the tax agency ten working days to issue a certifying document, and that paper is what the taxpayer hands to their withholding agent. Until they have it, their payslip is withheld like any resident’s.

6

Renouncing is forever, and exclusion runs backwards

Article 117.1 opens renunciation only «during the months of November and December preceding the start of the calendar year in which the renunciation is to take effect», and paragraph 4 of the same article closes it in seven words: «shall not be able to opt for its application again». Ever. Exclusion is a different thing and runs the other way: article 118.1 makes it effective «in the tax period in which the breach occurs», that is backwards within the current year, with one month to report it. Article 11 of Order HAP/2783/2015 then chains a third deadline: the ten days to hand form 145 to your payer run not from the breach but from the end of that month.

7

Four ways in, and the footballer’s is bricked up

The Startups Act 28/2022 widened the single route that existed. Today article 93.1.b) admits four: an employment contract including the international teleworking visa of Act 14/2013, which is how the digital nomad comes in becoming a company director, an entrepreneurial activity with a favourable ENISA report, and a highly qualified professional serving startups whose pay for that exceeds 40% of their earnings. The same reform cut the lookback from ten years to five. And number 1 of that letter expressly excludes the special employment relationship of professional athletes: the regime keeps the nickname of the player who opened it and its eponym could not use it today.

8

When form 151 is due

Its own Order does not set the date. Article 3.1 of Order HAP/2783/2015 says the deadline «shall be the same as the one approved each year, generally, for personal income tax returns», that is the Renta campaign deadline, approved each year in a different order. For tax year 2025 the tax agency’s 2026 taxpayer calendar files form 151 under «Until 30 June», alongside D-100 and D-714. What its own Order does fix is the direct debit: article 3 and the amendment to annex II of Order EHA/1658/2009 close it «until 25 June», five days before the deadline it closes.

Worked example

An engineer arrives in Spain on 15 October 2026 on an employment contract, has spent seven years without Spanish tax residence and earns 90,000 euros of salary plus 20,000 of dividends. With the regime they pay 21,600 euros on the salary (90,000 at 24%) and 4,080 on the dividends (1,140 on the first 6,000 plus 21% of the remaining 14,000): 25,680 euros in total. Without the regime, the article 65 reference gives 31,401.50 euros on the salary and the same 4,080 on the dividends, that is 35,481.50 in total. The regime saves them 9,801.50 euros on the salary and exactly zero on the dividends. And because 15 October leaves only 78 days of the calendar year, article 115 sets their first tax year at 2027 and the window reaches 2032: arriving in October rather than May handed them a whole extra calendar year.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Beckham law a flat 24%?
No. Article 93.2.e) splits the taxable base in two. The general base is taxed at 24% up to 600,000 euros and 47% on the excess. The income of article 25.1.f) of the consolidated Non-Resident Income Tax Act dividends, interest and capital gains is taxed on a progressive 19% to 30% scale, which is the same one an ordinary resident pays.
So the regime saves nothing on dividends?
Nothing, and you can check it by adding two articles. Article 66.1.1 prints the state half of a resident’s savings scale and article 76.1 an identical table as the regional half: 9.5, 10.5, 11.5, 13.5 and 15 per cent. Their sum gives exactly the 19, 21, 23, 27 and 30 per cent article 93.2.e).2 applies to the expatriate, with the same thresholds and accumulated figures at exactly double.
How many years does the regime last?
Six tax years. Article 93.1 grants it «during the tax period in which the change of residence takes place and during the five following tax periods». Five plus one is six, and the «five years» figure that circulates is a whole tax year short.
When does the first year start counting?
In the first calendar year with more than 183 days of presence, not the year of the move. The second paragraph of article 115 of the regulation says so, and the consequence is counterintuitive: someone moving in October does not reach 183 days that year, their first tax year is the next one, and the regime covers a whole extra calendar year than for someone who moved in May.
What is the deadline for form 149?
Six months from the start-of-activity date recorded in the Spanish Social Security registration, under article 116.1.a) of the regulation and article 7 of Order HAP/2783/2015. It is not counted from your arrival in Spain. For the family members of article 93.3 the window is six months from their entry into Spanish territory, or the main taxpayer’s window if that is longer.
Can I renounce and opt back in later?
No. Article 117.1 only opens renunciation in November and December of the year before it takes effect, and paragraph 4 shuts the door: «taxpayers who renounce this special regime shall not be able to opt for its application again». Exclusion for a breach is different and takes effect in the tax period of the breach itself.
Can a footballer use the Beckham law?
Not since 2015. Number 1 of letter b) of article 93.1 admits a move «as a consequence of an employment contract, with the exception of the special employment relationship of professional athletes governed by Royal Decree 1006/1985». The regime keeps the nickname of the player who opened it and expressly excludes them.
Can my family join me on the regime?
Article 93.3 allows it for a spouse and children under twenty-five any age in the case of disability or the parent where there is no marriage, on four conditions. The only arithmetical one is letter d): the sum of the family members’ taxable bases must be lower than the main taxpayer’s. Not each one: the sum.
What happens to wealth tax?
The penultimate paragraph of article 93.1 says that «the taxpayer who opts for taxation under the Non-Resident Income Tax shall be subject to wealth tax by real obligation», that is only on assets and rights located in Spain. It is an effect of the regime that is almost never mentioned alongside the rate.
And when is form 151 filed?
In the general Renta campaign window. Article 3.1 of Order HAP/2783/2015 sets no date of its own: it defers to whichever is approved each year for income tax returns. For tax year 2025 the 2026 taxpayer calendar files it under «Until 30 June», and the direct debit closes on 25 June.

Related calculators & reading

Embed this calculator

Paste this code on your site to show the calculator. It includes an attribution link.

Language
Theme
Accent

Preview

Free. The code adjusts its height automatically.

Sources

Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: