Spanish Digital Nomads

[Javeanomad]

Can anyone confirm the personal taxation status when under the digital nomad visa in Spain?

I have had conflicting information, with some stating the Beckham laws apply and the income tax due is 24% and others have said there is the ability to pay 15% on all your global income provided you are a tax resident in Spain. 

Does anyone have any more detailed knowledge of this?

[CassyL]

Hi @Javeanomad, 

Since I don't have first hand experience on this, I looked into several resource articles to get a clearer picture on the differences between the Beckham laws, and the resident tax in Spain. I reached out to our internal experts and am waiting to get further clarity on the two, but in the meantime, here's what I found regarding the Beckham laws,:

The tax law gives foreign workers who move to Spain to work and become residents the option of paying a fixed reduced tax rate of 24% up to €600,000 (USD 644,000) only on income generated in Spain for the first six years. After €600,000, the tax rate goes up to 47%. 

Instead of paying progressive tax on their worldwide income (19-47%), those that qualify for Beckham’s law are considered a non-resident for tax purposes. 

You can read more details from the full article here. Additionally, if you don't already have your Digital Nomad Visa, it might be worth it to take a look through the Digital Nomad Visa guide for Spain specifically. I'll follow up here when I get more updates! 

Thanks for asking your question on the Deel Community, 
-Cassy 

[Javeanomad]

Hey Casey,

thanks for looking into this and for the resources provided. That’s very helpful.

I guess my question then is does the digital nomad visa have some special tax arrangements outside the beckham law which sets tax at 15% (as suggested by some articles)

or is the tax for the digital nomad visa just dealt with by the beckham law?

[CassyL]

Hi @Javeanomad, thanks so much for your patience while I dug into this further with our Deel experts! As often noted in the Community, I just want to mention that it's important to consult your own tax advisors when exploring specific and personal financial requirements. 

With that being said, here's what we were able to find regarding your question around any special tax arrangements outside the Beckham Law for digital nomads:

Subject to conditions, an individual who moves to Spain to work there may elect to be taxed under the rules of the income tax on non-residents in the tax year in which he moves to Spain and the following 10 tax years. Then, the income tax rate applicable on employment income will be 24% on taxable income below EUR 600,000 and 47% above.

As from 1 January 2023, the eligibility criteria have been broadened to “digital nomads”: employees working remotely using exclusively computer and telecommunications technologies.

In short, it does not appear that there are any other special tax benefits we were able to identify. Hopefully this helps to point you in the right direction!  

Thanks so much, 
-Cassy 

[Javeanomad]

thanks so much for looking into this. It is very helpful 

[Philip]

Hi, I just completed the painful Spanish Digital Nomad process. If you have an employment contract with a foreign company you qualify for the 24% fixed tax rate. If you are a contractor with your foreign company you are seen as self-employed and then you are expected to pay the stanard Spanish taxes of up to 48% regardless if you have the Digital Nomad visa! Nasty surprise I got!

[mialvera]

Hi, Sorry to hear that!
I was about to go into that process and I fall under the contractor agreement. I was also told that I would have a 24% fixed rate. From your experience can you please tell me range value based on salary? Since you said up to 48%, it would be great to have a closer value.  For example 4K would pay 25 - 30% 🙏🏼