News brief · Taxation
Spain: the Beckham Law opened to company directors
Spain's regime for posted workers has been opened to company directors. For an executive, this changes access but not the mechanics: the regime remains limited to six years and leaves wealth taxation untouched.
By Editorial team · on May 20, 2026
What the regime provides
Spain's regime for posted workers allows a person who transfers their residence to Spain to be taxed under the rules applicable to non-residents, that is, on their Spanish-source income only.
The applicable rate is 24%1 up to a taxable base threshold set at €600,0002, above which a higher rate applies.
The benefit lasts 6 years3: the year of the transfer and the following five. It is time-limited and cannot be renewed.
The comparison with the general scale is illuminating: the latter reaches 47%4 at its top marginal rate, to which the regional share is added.
What opening it to directors changes
The regime was long closed to people holding a significant stake in the company employing them, which excluded shareholder-directors.
Opening it to directors now allows an executive to transfer their residence to Spain while keeping a corporate office, subject to conditions relating in particular to their shareholding.
We do not publish the shareholding threshold above which access remains closed, the conditions applicable to asset-holding entities or the date this extension took effect: we have not been able to verify them in an up-to-date official Spanish source.
This gap matters: it is precisely this threshold that determines whether or not a given director can benefit from the regime, and it is the first point to have checked.
The opening does not, however, change the rate, the duration or the tax base. It widens the eligible population, not the advantage.
This opening is part of a broader extension of the scheme, which also covers employees teleworking from Spain for a foreign employer and certain entrepreneurial profiles. The prior non-residence requirement has also been shortened.
The stated aim is to capture a skilled and mobile population that the Portuguese and Italian regimes were attracting. Competition between European preferential regimes has become explicit, and it explains the rapid succession of reforms in all three countries.
What the regime does not cover
The solidarity tax on large fortunes applies to wealth above more than €3,000,0005. A beneficiary of the regime is subject to it only on assets located in Spain, which considerably reduces the base for the duration of the scheme.
This reduction ends when the regime ends. This is the heaviest threshold effect: in the seventh year, the wealth base becomes worldwide and the general scale applies.
An executive who has set their standard of living on the basis of the first six years then faces a burden of an entirely different order. This deadline must be included in projections from the outset.
The savings base, applicable to dividends and capital gains, ranges from 19%6 to 30%7 for an ordinary resident.
Nor does the regime exempt the taxpayer from Spanish reporting obligations on assets and rights located abroad, failure to comply with which was long penalised under a system that the Court of Justice of the European Union found disproportionate. These obligations continue in a revised form and must be complied with.
What to do
- Have the eligibility of the corporate office and the shareholding checked, a condition of access for a director.
- File the election within the required period after acquiring Spanish tax residency: the regime does not apply automatically.
- Measure the effect of the 6 years3 limit on the seventh year.
- Choose the autonomous community taking into account the taxation applicable once the regime ends.
- Handle the departure from France under its own criteria, as presence of more than more than 183 days8 establishes habitual residence in Spain.
One last question, specific to directors, must be dealt with upstream: that of permanent establishment. Managing from Spain a company established elsewhere can create a taxable presence of that company in Spain, which is a risk for the company and not for the individual — but one that often determines whether the other shareholders agree.
Please note
Sources and verification dates
- 1.
Spain, regime for posted (inbound) workers: rate applicable below the threshold : 24%
« Para la determinación de la cuota íntegra: 1.º A la base liquidable, salvo la parte de la misma correspondiente a las rentas a que se refiere el artículo 25.1.f) del texto refundido de la Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes, se le aplicarán los tipos que se indican en la siguiente escala: Base liquidable – Euros Tipo aplicable – Porcentaje Hasta 600.000 euros. 24 »
boe.esVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 2.
Spain, regime for posted (inbound) workers: tax base above which the higher rate applies : €600,000
« Artículo 93 — 2. […] se le aplicarán los tipos que se indican en la siguiente escala: Base liquidable — Hasta 600.000 euros : 24 ; Desde 600.000,01 euros en adelante : 47 — LIRPF, art. 93. »
boe.esVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 3.
Spain, regime for posted (inbound) workers: period of application : 6 years
« Las personas físicas que adquieran su residencia fiscal en España como consecuencia de su desplazamiento a territorio español podrán optar por tributar por el Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes, con las reglas especiales previstas en el apartado 2 de este artículo, manteniendo la condición de contribuyentes por el Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas, durante el período impositivo en que se efectúe el cambio de residencia y durante los cinco períodos impositivos siguientes »
boe.esVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 4.
Spain: top marginal rate of the general IRPF scale : 47%
« Artículo 63. Escala general del Impuesto. — 1.º […] Base liquidable — Tipo aplicable : Hasta 12.450,00 — 9,50 ; 12.450,00 – 20.200,00 — 12,00 ; 20.200,00 – 35.200,00 — 15,00 ; 35.200,00 – 60.000,00 — 18,50 ; 60.000,00 – 300.000,00 — 22,50 ; En adelante — 24,50 — LIRPF, art. 63 (échelle de l'État ; l'échelle autonomique, art. 74, s'y ajoute : avec l'échelle de référence de 24,50 % le taux marginal cumulé est de 47 % au-delà de 300 000 €, mais chaque communauté autonome fixe la sienne, de 45 % à 54 %). »
boe.esVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 5.
Spain: wealth threshold of the temporary solidarity tax on large fortunes : €3,000,000
« Artículo 3. Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas. — Uno. Naturaleza y objeto del Impuesto. El Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas es un tributo de carácter directo, naturaleza personal y complementario del Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio que grava el patrimonio neto de las personas físicas de cuantía superior a 3.000.000 de euros. […] Tres. Hecho imponible. Constituirá el hecho imponible del impuesto la titularidad por el sujeto pasivo en el momento del devengo de un patrimonio neto superior a 3.000.000 de euros. — Ley 38/2022, de 27 de diciembre, art. 3 (texte consolidé, BOE). »
boe.esVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 6.
Spain: rate of the first bracket of the savings income schedule : 19%
« Artículo 66. Tipos de gravamen del ahorro. — 1.º A la base liquidable del ahorro se le aplicarán los tipos que se indican en la siguiente escala: Hasta 6.000 — 9,5 ; 6.000,00 – 50.000,00 — 10,5 ; 50.000,00 – 200.000,00 — 11,5 ; 200.000,00 – 300.000,00 — 13,5 ; En adelante — 15. Artículo 76. Tipo de gravamen del ahorro [part autonomique] — même barème : 9,5 / 10,5 / 11,5 / 13,5 / 15. — LIRPF, art. 66 et 76 : taux cumulés 19 / 21 / 23 / 27 / 30 %. »
boe.esVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 7.
Spain: top rate of the savings income schedule : 30%
« Artículo 66 […] 200.000,00 – 300.000,00 — 13,5 ; En adelante — 15 ; Artículo 76 — même barème — LIRPF, art. 66 et 76 : taux cumulés 27 % de 200 000 à 300 000 € et 30 % au-delà de 300 000 €. »
boe.esVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 8.
Spain: annual presence that establishes habitual residence : 183 days
« Que permanezca más de 183 días, durante el año natural, en territorio español. Para determinar este período de permanencia en territorio español se computarán las ausencias esporádicas, salvo que el contribuyente acredite su residencia fiscal en otro país. »
boe.esVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source