To be taxed under Spain's special regime for inbound workers, the Beckham Law in Article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Act (LIRPF), meeting the requirements is not enough: you must tell the tax authority that you opt into it, using Modelo 149, within a set deadline. That deadline is laid down in Article 116 of the Personal Income Tax Regulation (RIRPF), and it is the most common reason why someone who met every requirement ends up without the regime.
Key takeaways
- The maximum deadline is six months from the start date of activity shown on your Social Security registration (alta) in Spain, or on the documentation that lets you remain under your home country's social security.
- It does not run from your arrival in Spain, from signing your contract, or from being assigned a Social Security number.
- If registration is not required, it runs from the date on the document that evidences the start of the activity.
- Your spouse and children have their own deadline: six months from their entry into Spain, or yours if that is longer.
- The regulation sets it as a maximum deadline and provides for no extension.
What the regulation says exactly
Following the reform by Real Decreto 1008/2023, Article 116 of the Regulation provides that the option is exercised through an individual notice from each taxpayer to the tax authority, and sets two different deadlines. The Directorate General for Taxes (DGT) quotes it in binding ruling V0057-24 of 14 February 2024. For the displaced worker, the deadline reads:
Within a maximum period of six months from the start date of the activity shown on the registration with the Social Security system in Spain or on the documentation that allows, where applicable, the home-country social security legislation to continue to apply, or, where registration with the Social Security system is not compulsory, on the document evidencing the start date of the activity. Art. 116.1.a) RIRPF, as quoted in binding ruling V0057-24 (unofficial translation)
When the clock starts
What counts is the start date of activity shown on the registration. Check it on the registration document itself, not on other paperwork from your move:
- Your arrival date in Spain does not start the clock.
- Signing your contract or secondment letter does not either.
- The decision assigning your Social Security number is not the registration: it gives you a number, but does not show when the activity starts.
- If you keep your home country's social security, for example with an A1 certificate, the date on that documentation counts.
Spouse and children: a deadline of their own
Since 2023, your spouse and your children under 25, or of any age in the case of disability, can also opt into the regime. Each of them files their own notice, and their deadline is six months from their entry into Spain, or yours if that is longer (Article 116.1.b) RIRPF, in the same ruling V0057-24). We explain the family requirements in our analysis of ruling V0266-26.
What happens if you miss it
The regulation speaks of a maximum deadline and provides for no extension. The option is also tied to the move that gives rise to it. In binding ruling V2113-14 of 1 August 2014, the DGT concluded that a worker posted to Spain in 2011, who did not become tax resident at that time, could not opt into the regime in 2014, even though he became resident that year when his family moved. So treat the six months as a fixed date, not as a guideline.
How not to leave it late
- Get registered, or obtain the equivalent document, as soon as you start working, and note the start date shown on it.
- Work out your deadline: six months from that day.
- Prepare in good time the employer documentation that goes with the notice, under Article 119 of the Regulation.
- If you are unsure whether you meet the requirements, settle it before the clock runs out, not after.
If you are still within the deadline and want your case reviewed, DPLL Tax & Legal, editorial partner of beckhamlaw.eu, prepares and files the application: application guide at dpll.eu.