For many holders of the Beckham Law regime, property in Spain is a fact of life — not just a temporary arrangement. They arrive, settle in, and sooner or later they upgrade their home. When they do, an uncomfortable question arises: does the sale trigger a taxable capital gain at the flat 24% IRNR rate, with no allowances and no exemptions? The answer, thanks to a binding consultation published in December 2025, is no — not if the proceeds are reinvested in a new primary residence.
The Dirección General de Tributos (DGT) published consulta vinculante V2467-25 on 11 December 2025, directly addressing this scenario. The ruling confirms that a taxpayer under the Special Expatriate Regime (the so-called Beckham Law, Article 93 LIRPF) can apply the primary home reinvestment capital gains exemption — the same relief available to ordinary Spanish IRPF taxpayers — by virtue of the Disposición Adicional Séptima (DA 7ª) of the Non-Resident Income Tax Law (TRLIRNR). The ruling resolves a question that had been technically uncertain since 2010, when a prior DGT consultation took the opposite view.
Key takeaways
- Beckham Law holders who sell their primary home in Spain and reinvest in a new primary residence can exclude the capital gain from taxation, via DA 7ª TRLIRNR.
- The exemption applies because Beckham Law taxpayers are EU residents (resident in Spain), which is the condition DA 7ª sets — not ordinary IRPF taxpayer status.
- The "amount to reinvest" is the sale price net of the outstanding mortgage principal cancelled at the time of sale — not the gross sale price.
- Reinvestment in the new home can consist of both cash and a new mortgage: the financed portion also counts as reinvested, per Supreme Court ruling STS 1239/2020.
- The 2-year reinvestment window applies in both directions: up to 2 years before or after the sale of the old home.
Why the reinvestment exemption was uncertain for Beckham Law holders
Under the ordinary IRPF rules applicable to Spanish tax residents, Article 38 LIRPF provides a capital gains exemption when a taxpayer sells their primary home (vivienda habitual) and reinvests the proceeds in a new primary home within two years. This is a well-established relief that millions of Spanish homeowners have relied on for decades.
Beckham Law holders, however, are taxed under the non-resident income tax regime (IRNR), not under IRPF. Article 24.4 TRLIRNR provides that capital gains for IRNR purposes are calculated using the IRPF rules — but this does not automatically import the Article 38 LIRPF exemption itself. The DGT had previously ruled, in consulta V0384-10 (2010), that the reinvestment exemption did not apply to IRNR taxpayers: the concept of vivienda habitual is an IRPF concept, and Article 13.1.i TRLIRNR — which governs IRNR-source income categories — contains no exception for primary residences comparable to IRPF's Article 38.
That 2010 position left Beckham Law holders in an uncomfortable legal gap. Selling a home to upgrade to a larger one — a completely ordinary life event — could produce a taxable gain taxed at 24% with no available relief. For a property that had appreciated significantly, the tax cost could be substantial. Practitioners routinely flagged this issue, but no formal solution existed until the legislative change in 2015.
The 2015 breakthrough — Disposición Adicional Séptima TRLIRNR
The legislative answer came with the reform that introduced DA 7ª into the TRLIRNR, effective from 1 January 2015. This provision — driven by EU free movement of capital and non-discrimination principles — explicitly extends the primary home reinvestment exemption to IRNR taxpayers who are residents of an EU member state or of the European Economic Area.
The mechanism of DA 7ª is precise: it provides that EU resident taxpayers subject to IRNR who obtain capital gains from the transfer of their Spanish primary home may apply the exemption provided for in Article 38 LIRPF, subject to the reinvestment conditions set out in Article 41 of the Income Tax Regulations (RIRPF). In other words, DA 7ª acts as a bridge: it takes an IRPF concept (the primary home reinvestment exemption) and makes it available to a category of IRNR taxpayers, namely those who are EU residents.
Beckham Law holders are, by definition, resident in Spain — an EU member state. They are therefore EU residents for the purposes of DA 7ª, even though they are taxed as non-residents under the IRNR framework. The EU residence condition in DA 7ª does not require IRPF taxpayer status; it requires only residence in the EU. This is the key legal step that the DGT confirmed in V2467-25.
The December 2025 ruling — facts and decision
The consultation was submitted by a married taxpayer who had been under the Beckham Law regime from tax years 2019 through 2024. His spouse is tax resident in Spain under the ordinary IRPF regime. They held their Madrid home under the Spanish community of property regime (régimen de gananciales).
The timeline of the transactions was as follows. On 11 February 2021, the couple acquired their primary home in Madrid — a jointly owned property purchased partly with a mortgage and partly with their own funds. On 28 May 2024, they sold that home, cancelling the outstanding mortgage principal at the time of sale. Thirty days later, on 27 June 2024, they purchased a new primary home in Madrid — also jointly owned — using a combination of proceeds from the sale and a new mortgage. The new home was to be occupied as their primary residence within 12 months of acquisition.
The taxpayer asked the DGT: can the capital gain arising on the 28 May 2024 sale be exempted from IRNR taxation under the primary home reinvestment exemption?
The DGT's answer was unambiguous: yes. The ruling confirms that the DA 7ª TRLIRNR mechanism applies to the taxpayer's situation. Since he is a Beckham Law holder resident in Spain — an EU member state — he qualifies as an EU resident for DA 7ª purposes. He can therefore apply the Article 38 LIRPF exemption to the capital gain, provided the reinvestment conditions in Article 41 RIRPF are satisfied.
How the reinvestment calculation works
The mechanics of the exemption, as set out in Article 41 RIRPF and confirmed by the DGT in this ruling, deserve careful attention. Several points are critical for Beckham Law holders who have or have had a mortgage on their home.
What counts as the "total amount obtained" for reinvestment purposes? Where the sold home was subject to a mortgage, the "total amount obtained" from the sale — the figure that must be reinvested to achieve full exemption — is the sale price minus the outstanding mortgage principal cancelled or paid off at the time of sale. It is not the gross sale price. This reflects the economic reality: the seller does not pocket the full sale price when a mortgage is repaid simultaneously with the sale. The net equity received is the relevant figure.
In the facts of V2467-25, the sellers cancelled their mortgage at the time of the 28 May 2024 sale. Accordingly, the reinvestment base is the net proceeds after discharge of the mortgage — not the gross contractual sale price.
What counts as "reinvestment" in the new home? The new home purchase was financed partly from the sale proceeds and partly from a new mortgage. The DGT confirms — consistent with the Supreme Court's ruling in STS 1239/2020 of 1 October 2020 — that the amount financed by the new mortgage also counts as "reinvested" for exemption purposes. The Supreme Court held that the use of mortgage financing to acquire the new primary home does not disqualify the acquisition from the reinvestment exemption; the financed amount is treated as part of the reinvestment. This is economically logical: the taxpayer is committing their financial capacity to the new home, whether funded by cash or credit.
The 2-year window. Reinvestment must occur within two years before or after the sale of the old home. In this case, the old home was sold on 28 May 2024 and the new home was acquired on 27 June 2024 — a gap of approximately one month. The timing condition is clearly satisfied.
Effective occupation as primary residence. The new home must be occupied effectively as the taxpayer's primary residence within 12 months of acquisition. This is a substantive requirement — not a mere formal one. Evidence of actual occupation (utility registrations, padron municipal, etc.) should be maintained.
What the DGT has done here is close a gap that was technically open since 2010 and practically significant since the Beckham Law became genuinely popular after the Startups Law reforms. The route via DA 7ª was always available in principle from 2015 — the ruling confirms it is available in practice, with the mortgage netting rule and the new-mortgage counting rule fully operative. — DPLL Tax & Legal · Editorial commentary, May 2026
Practical guide — qualifying for the exemption
For Beckham Law holders who are considering selling their primary home in Spain and buying a new one, the following steps are essential to protect the exemption:
- Confirm your DA 7ª eligibility. You must be taxed under the IRNR via the Beckham Law and be a resident of an EU member state — which, if you live in Spain, you are. If you have left Spain and are no longer resident in the EU at the time of sale, DA 7ª will not apply.
- Calculate your reinvestment base correctly. If your old home has a mortgage, subtract the outstanding principal cancelled at the time of sale from the gross sale price. The resulting net figure is the amount you must reinvest to achieve full exemption. Reinvesting only part of this amount does not disqualify the exemption entirely — but only the proportionate share of the gain covered by the reinvestment is exempt.
- Count your new mortgage as reinvestment. If you take out a new mortgage to buy the replacement home, the financed amount counts towards your reinvestment total. Document the new mortgage clearly, including its connection to the purchase of the primary residence.
- Meet the timing requirements. Reinvestment must occur within two years before or after the sale. If you buy the new home before selling the old one, you can still qualify — but you must sell within two years of the new purchase.
- Occupy the new home as your primary residence within 12 months. "Primary residence" has a specific Spanish tax law meaning: the dwelling must be your habitual home, and effective occupation must begin within 12 months of acquisition (or of construction completion). Register at the new address and document the occupation date.
What happens when only partial reinvestment occurs
Full exemption requires that the total net proceeds from the sale are reinvested in the new primary home. If only part of the proceeds is reinvested — for example, if the taxpayer retains some of the sale proceeds as savings — only the proportionate share of the gain is exempt.
The formula is straightforward: the exempt fraction of the gain equals the reinvested amount divided by the total amount obtained (the net sale proceeds). If €300,000 net is obtained from the sale and €240,000 is reinvested, then 80% of the capital gain is exempt and 20% remains taxable at the 19% IRNR rate applicable to capital gains (for EU residents). Note that the 19% rate applies to capital gains for EU residents, not the general 24% flat rate that applies to income.
This proportional mechanism means that partial reinvestment is not a binary all-or-nothing outcome. Taxpayers should model the partial exemption carefully before deciding how much of the sale proceeds to deploy towards the new home purchase, particularly if they want to retain liquidity for other purposes.
For full exemption planning purposes — particularly if the new home is more expensive than the old one's net sale proceeds — the Supreme Court's STS 1239/2020 position on mortgage financing is especially valuable: a new mortgage adds to the reinvestment total, meaning it is possible to achieve full exemption even when the cash component of the purchase is less than the net sale proceeds, provided the mortgage brings the total acquisition cost up to the required level.
If you are a Beckham Law holder navigating a home sale and purchase in Spain, specialist advice is essential given the interaction between the IRNR regime, the DA 7ª bridge, and the mortgage calculation rules. For further context, the non-resident income tax filing guide explains the broader IRNR framework. Once you are within the Beckham Law regime, your annual return is filed on Modelo 151 annual return rather than the standard Modelo 210. For a personalised analysis of your specific home sale situation, including the correct reinvestment base calculation, we recommend seeking specialist advice from a qualified Spanish tax practitioner.