What Spain's Beckham Law Actually Saves, by Income Band
The headline of Spain's Special Regime for Inbound Workers is a flat 24%. The saving it produces is not linear: below roughly €30,600 of employment income the regime is a net loss, and above €600,000 the annual saving stops growing altogether — it is fixed at €122,902 no matter how much more you earn.
1. Summary figures
| Item | Value | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Flat rate on employment income up to the threshold | 24% | Regime rule |
| Rate on employment income above the threshold | 47% | Regime rule |
| Threshold | €600,000 | Regime rule |
| Duration of the regime | 6 tax years | Regime rule |
| Election deadline (Modelo 149) | 6 months from Social Security registration | Regime rule |
| Spanish-work condition | 85% of work performed in Spain | Regime rule |
| Standard IRPEF top rate reached at | 47% from €300,000 | Representative national scale |
| Break-even income | ≈ €30,575 | Derived |
| Maximum annual saving | €122,902 | Derived (constant above €600,000) |
| Peak saving as share of income | 20.5% at €600,000 | Derived |
2. Annual saving by income band
| Gross employment income | Beckham 24% | Standard IRPEF | Annual saving | % of income | Over 6 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €25,000 | €6,000 | €5,666 | −€334 | −1.3% | −€2,007 |
| €30,000 | €7,200 | €7,166 | −€34 | −0.1% | −€207 |
| €30,575 | €7,338 | €7,338 | €0 | 0.0% | €0 |
| €35,000 | €8,400 | €8,666 | €266 | 0.8% | €1,593 |
| €40,000 | €9,600 | €10,502 | €902 | 2.3% | €5,409 |
| €60,000 | €14,400 | €17,902 | €3,502 | 5.8% | €21,009 |
| €80,000 | €19,200 | €26,902 | €7,702 | 9.6% | €46,209 |
| €100,000 | €24,000 | €35,902 | €11,902 | 11.9% | €71,409 |
| €150,000 | €36,000 | €58,402 | €22,402 | 14.9% | €134,409 |
| €200,000 | €48,000 | €80,902 | €32,902 | 16.5% | €197,409 |
| €300,000 | €72,000 | €125,902 | €53,902 | 18.0% | €323,409 |
| €450,000 | €108,000 | €196,402 | €88,402 | 19.6% | €530,409 |
| €600,000 | €144,000 | €266,902 | €122,902 | 20.5% | €737,409 |
| €800,000 | €238,000 | €360,902 | €122,902 | 15.4% | €737,409 |
| €1,000,000 | €332,000 | €454,902 | €122,902 | 12.3% | €737,409 |
Every figure in this table is derived — computed from the two published rate schedules in Section 2-1, not taken from any published table.
2-1. The two rate schedules being compared
| Band | Standard IRPEF (representative national scale) | Beckham regime |
|---|---|---|
| up to €12,450 | 19% | 24% |
| €12,451 – €20,200 | 24% | 24% |
| €20,201 – €35,200 | 30% | 24% |
| €35,201 – €60,000 | 37% | 24% |
| €60,001 – €300,000 | 45% | 24% |
| €300,001 – €600,000 | 47% | 24% |
| above €600,000 | 47% | 47% |
The loss at low incomes comes from the first band: standard IRPEF charges 19% on the first €12,450 where the regime charges 24% on every euro. Only when enough income sits in the 30%-and-above bands does the flat rate overtake the progressive one — that crossing is the €30,575 break-even.
3. What changed, and how it compares
No year-over-year delta is published here. Our dataset holds the 2026 rate set only; it carries no prior-year rates for this regime, and we do not publish a change figure we cannot source. What our record does show is that the rate, the €600,000 threshold and the six-year duration have not changed in our data since this calculator was first published.
What did change in recent years is who may elect the regime rather than what it charges: the Startup Law (Ley 28/2022) extended it to digital nomads, company directors — including founders of genuine trading companies — and certified startup founders.
| Regime | Headline | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Spain — Beckham Law | 24% flat, 6 years | Employment income up to €600,000 |
| Portugal — IFICI (NHR successor) | 20% flat | Qualifying Portuguese employment/self-employment income |
| Italy — new residents regime | €300,000 substitute tax (flat amount) | Foreign income, regardless of size |
| Greece — Art. 5C | 50% exemption | Employment income of inbound workers |
The comparison is structural, not a ranking: Spain and Portugal tax a rate, Italy charges a fixed amount that only makes sense at very large foreign income, and Greece exempts a share.
4. Methodology and limits
How the figures were produced
- Both tax columns are computed with the same bracket engine that runs our public calculator, from the same policy set: flat 24% to €600,000 then 47%, against the IRPEF scale in Section 2-1. The €150,000 row (€22,402) reproduces the live calculator's output exactly.
- Break-even (≈€30,575) is solved numerically as the income where the two schedules produce the same tax. Derived.
- Maximum annual saving (€122,902) is the gap at the €600,000 threshold; above it both schedules run at 47%, so the difference is constant. Derived.
- Six-year columns are the annual saving multiplied by the regime's six tax years, with no indexation, salary growth or discounting. Derived.
Limits — please carry these with any citation
- The standard-IRPEF column uses representative national rates only. Spain's regional governments set half the scale, so an identical salary produces a different standard bill in Madrid than in Catalonia. Regional variation is not modelled.
- Personal and family allowances, deductions, and social-security contributions are excluded from both columns. Real tax bills are lower than both columns; the difference between them is the figure of interest, not the levels.
- The comparison is for employment income only. The regime treats other income types differently and this report does not model them.
- Because allowances are excluded, the real crossover for an individual sits somewhat away from €30,575. Quote it as "around €30,000 of employment income", not as a filing threshold.
- Eligibility conditions — no Spanish tax residence in the prior five years, a qualifying move, Modelo 149 within six months, the 85% Spanish-work rule — are not part of the tax arithmetic. A taxpayer who fails them pays the standard column regardless of income.
- This report is not tax advice.
5. Citable sources
Sources and official references: BOE — Ley 35/2006, consolidated Personal Income Tax Act (Art. 93 is the inbound-workers regime); BOE — Ley 28/2022 (Startup Law), which widened who may elect the regime; BOE — consolidated Personal Income Tax Regulation (procedure and election mechanics); Agencia Tributaria — electronic office; Agencia Tributaria — IRPF section. Underlying tool: Permitely Spain Beckham Law Calculator. Every URL above was fetched and confirmed reachable by our own source probe on 19 August 2026; on the Ley 35/2006 text the probe also confirmed the article number and the rate present in the body. The Agencia Tributaria main site (agenciatributaria.es) was reachable only through the Internet Archive from our infrastructure, so the Sede URLs above are cited in its place.
Suggested citation. Permitely analysis (2026), Beckham Law savings by income band. Savings figures are Permitely calculations from the published rate schedules, not official statistics.
6. Quotable lines
- "Below about €30,600 of employment income, electing Spain's Beckham Law makes the taxpayer worse off — at €30,000 it costs €34 more per year than the ordinary scale."
- "The regime's annual saving stops growing at €600,000. Above that threshold it is fixed at €122,902, so a €1,000,000 earner saves exactly what a €600,000 earner saves."
- "At €150,000 the regime is worth €22,402 a year — €134,409 across its six tax years."
- "In relative terms the Beckham Law peaks precisely at its own threshold: 20.5% of income at €600,000, falling to 12.3% at €1,000,000."