Can a freelancer use the Beckham Law?

As a rule, no. A freelancer invoicing Spanish clients cannot use it just by moving to Spain or registering with RETA. Only three self-employed routes work: company director, entrepreneurial activity with an ENISA report, or highly qualified professional serving startups or working in R&D.

How much do you pay under the Beckham Law?

A flat 24 % on the base up to 600,000 € and 47 % on the excess. Dividends, interest and gains from selling assets follow the separate savings scale, so the 24 % does not apply to all of your income. The regime lasts the year you become a tax resident plus the following five.

Does the digital nomad visa give me the Beckham Law?

For an employee with an international teleworking visa, yes it can grant access if the other requirements are met. For a freelancer, no: the digital nomad visa is an immigration permit and does not open the tax regime on its own.

How long does the regime last?

The year you become a Spanish tax resident and the following five tax years, six in total. After that you move to ordinary income tax.

How and when do you apply?

With form 149, within 6 months of the activity start date on your Social Security registration. Once inside, you file each year with form 151 instead of the ordinary income-tax return.

Being autónomo

Beckham Law for freelancers and relocated workers in Spain

Updated on August 31, 2026

The Beckham Law is Spain's tax regime for people relocating to the country (the impatriate regime): a flat 24 % up to 600,000 € for six years. But it does not apply to most freelancers: a professional invoicing Spanish clients cannot use it just by registering with RETA. Here is who can, the requirements and how to apply, with no small print.

What is the Beckham Law?

The "Beckham Law" is Spain's special tax regime for workers relocating to the country (article 93 of the income-tax law), also known as the impatriate regime. If you qualify, you remain a Spanish income-tax payer but your bill is worked out under the non-resident income-tax rules: a flat 24 % on the tax base up to 600,000 € and 47 % on anything above that. It applies for the year you become a Spanish tax resident plus the following five, six tax years in total.

Saying you "pay tax as a non-resident" is a useful shorthand, not the literal position: you are a resident and an income-tax payer. And the 24 % is not universal. Dividends, interest and gains from selling assets are taxed under the separate savings scale, so not all of your income goes at that rate.

General requirements

You must not have been a Spanish tax resident during the 5 tax years before the move. It used to be 10 years; the Startups Law cut it to 5, effective 1 January 2023.
Your move to Spain must be for one of the reasons the law allows (detailed below).
You have to opt in on time with form 149, and then file each year with form 151.

The tricky part: can a freelancer use it?

This is the most common misunderstanding. The main route into the regime is employment: you move because of an employment relationship with an employer. A freelancer (autónomo) who invoices ordinary services to Spanish clients (consulting, programming, design, trade) does not enter the regime just by moving to Spain or registering with Social Security (RETA).

The reason is not only that your clients are Spanish: self-employed work generates business income that, apart from a few listed exceptions, falls outside the regime. RETA registration plus Spanish clients plus ordinary professional activity equals not eligible, unless you fit one of the legal exceptions and can prove it.

So who can qualify while self-employed?

The law opens only three doors for self-employed activity. Outside these, a freelancer cannot use the regime:

Company director. If the company carries out a real economic activity there is no general shareholding cap; if it is an asset-holding company, your stake must be below 25 %. Director pay is taxed as employment income, and does not let you also invoice professional services on your own account under the regime.
Entrepreneurial activity, classified as such under Law 14/2013, with a favourable report from ENISA. Calling yourself an entrepreneur or setting up a company is not enough: you need that official classification.
Highly qualified professional providing services to startups, or carrying out training, research, development and innovation in the cases the law foresees (in the R&D branch, that pay must be more than 40 % of your work, business and professional income).

Digital nomad visa and the Beckham Law

The international teleworking visa fits article 93 only for employees: a salaried worker with that visa can use the Beckham Law if they meet the rest of the requirements. A self-employed person with a digital nomad visa does not get automatic access. The immigration rule, which caps work for companies in Spain at 20 % of your activity, is a residence rule, not a tax exception: on its own it does not open the regime.

Summary: who can opt in

Profile	Can opt in?
Employee relocated to Spain	Yes, if requirements are met
Salaried teleworker with a digital nomad visa	Yes, if requirements are met
Company director	Yes, with conditions on shareholding
Entrepreneur with a favourable ENISA report	Yes
Highly qualified professional (startups or R&D)	Yes, in the foreseen cases
Ordinary freelancer with Spanish clients	No

How to apply

You opt in with form 149 within 6 months of the activity start date shown on your Spanish Social Security registration (or on the paperwork of your home-country Social Security, if you keep it). From then on you file each year with form 151, not the ordinary income-tax return.

If you are a freelancer and do not fit, what then?

The Beckham Law does not apply to most freelancers, and that is fine: they pay ordinary income tax, where what really moves your bill is using the flat rate properly, missing no deduction and filing your returns on time. That is where Finlai reviews your situation from the start so you pay a fair amount, finds your deductible expenses and handles your Spanish taxes for you. And if your case is close to one of the exceptions, we review it with you before assuming anything.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

This guide is general information and does not constitute personalised tax advice. Always check the official sources or a professional before deciding.