Beckham Law: The Family Members Extension Under Art. 93.2 LIRPF

Introduction: The Beckham Law is a Family Affair

When non-Spanish individuals relocate to Spain and apply for the régimen especial de tributación de impatriados — popularly known as the Beckham Law — the focus in the planning phase is almost invariably on the principal taxpayer: the executive, the investor, the digital nomad, the entrepreneur. Yet Article 93 of the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas (LIRPF) has always included a less-discussed but equally significant provision: the extension of the special regime to certain family members of the principal taxpayer. This provision is found in Article 93.2 LIRPF and, since its amendment by Ley 28/2022, de 21 de diciembre (the Startup Law), its scope and mechanics have been clarified in ways that make family planning under the Beckham Law both more important and more complex.

The practical stakes are high. A principal taxpayer who properly applies for and obtains the Beckham Law regime, but whose spouse and children remain as ordinary Spanish IRPF residents, will face a substantial and unnecessary tax asymmetry within the household. The spouse's Spanish-source income — perhaps salary from a local employer found after arrival, or income from an investment portfolio — will be taxed at progressive IRPF rates reaching up to 47% (or higher in certain autonomías), while the principal is taxed at a flat 24%. More significantly, the spouse will be taxed on worldwide income, not just Spanish-source income, meaning that foreign savings and investments will be drawn into the Spanish tax base without any territorial limitation.

This article explains the legal basis for the family member extension, the conditions each family member must independently satisfy, the critical procedural requirements, and the practical traps — particularly the income cap rule — that can cause the regime to be lost after it has been obtained. It also addresses the independent 6-year period, the tax treatment of family members under the regime, and the important question of what happens to family members when the principal taxpayer loses the Beckham Law status.

The Legal Basis: Article 93.2 LIRPF

Article 93 LIRPF establishes the régimen especial de tributación de impatriados. Paragraph 1 sets out the conditions for the principal taxpayer — the person whose own professional, entrepreneurial, or investment activity is the reason for the relocation. Paragraph 2 is the family member provision. It extends the right to opt for the special regime to the following persons who move to Spain with or after the principal taxpayer:

• The spouse (cónyuge) of the principal taxpayer; and
• Children under 25 years of age at the time the regime begins for the family member; or children of any age if they have a recognised disability (discapacidad) within the meaning of Spanish law.

The statute is explicit about who qualifies and, equally important, about who does not. Parents of the principal taxpayer are not covered. Siblings are not covered. Civil partners (parejas de hecho) are not automatically covered at the national level — their treatment depends on the autonomía of residence and whether the relevant autonomía's civil registry of parejas de hecho is recognised for family law purposes in the relevant interpretation. In general, applying Art. 93.2 to a pareja de hecho is more legally precarious than applying it to a lawfully married spouse, and the position should be reviewed carefully in each case.

The Four Conditions for Family Member Eligibility

Art. 93.2 LIRPF does not grant the regime automatically to all family members. Each qualifying family member must independently satisfy four conditions. Failure to meet any one of them means the family member cannot access the regime, even if the principal taxpayer is validly enrolled.

Condition 1: Relocation to Spain With or After the Principal

The family member must have moved to Spain either simultaneously with the principal taxpayer or subsequently. A family member who was already resident in Spain before the principal arrived cannot use the Art. 93.2 extension — the extension is designed to cover family members who are drawn to Spain by the principal's relocation, not family members who were already there.

There is no statutory maximum for how long after the principal the family member may arrive. A spouse who joins the principal taxpayer two years after the principal's arrival can still access the regime under Art. 93.2, as long as the other conditions are met. The family member's own regime period will, however, run from their own arrival date — not the principal's arrival date — as explained in detail below.

Condition 2: No Spanish Tax Residence in the Five Preceding Fiscal Years

The family member must not have been a Spanish tax resident during the five fiscal years (1 January to 31 December) immediately preceding the year in which they establish Spanish tax residence as a result of the move with the principal. This five-year non-residence requirement is identical in structure to the condition imposed on the principal taxpayer under Art. 93.1.

The five-year window is calculated prospectively from the family member's own year of arrival, not the principal's. A spouse who arrives in Spain in 2026, having last been resident in Spain in 2020, has a gap of only five fiscal years (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) — which satisfies the condition exactly, as the years of non-residence are the five years immediately preceding 2026. A spouse who was last resident in Spain in 2022 and arrives in 2026 would not satisfy the condition, because 2022 falls within the five fiscal years before 2026.

Condition 3: Acquisition of Spanish Tax Residence as a Result of the Move

The family member must acquire Spanish tax residence as a direct result of their relocation to Spain with (or after) the principal taxpayer. Spanish tax residence is acquired when the family member spends more than 183 days in Spain in the calendar year, or when the main centre or base of their economic activities or interests is located in Spain (Art. 9 LIRPF).

For most family members — particularly a non-working spouse who moves with the principal and establishes their household in Spain — this condition is satisfied automatically and quickly. A spouse who registers on the padrón municipal, enrolls children in school, and establishes the family home in Spain will acquire Spanish tax residence in the year of arrival if they spend the requisite 183 days there. The condition is essentially a confirmation that the family member has genuinely relocated, not merely visited Spain for an extended period while maintaining residence elsewhere.

Condition 4: The Income Cap — Spanish Income Must Not Exceed the Principal's Qualifying Income

This is the most consequential and most frequently misunderstood condition in the family member extension. Art. 93.2 provides that the family member's regime is subject to a cap: if the family member has their own Spanish-source income from an economic activity (rendimientos de actividades económicas or employment income from a Spanish-source activity), that income must not exceed the principal taxpayer's qualifying Spanish income — the income that justified the principal's access to the Beckham Law.

The income cap condition applies specifically to family members who develop their own economic activity in Spain. A non-working spouse, or a child who is a full-time student with no income in Spain, faces no income cap risk — the condition simply does not come into play. The risk arises when a family member begins earning in Spain.

The practical implications of the income cap are explored in detail in the section on traps and risks below. For now, the key point is that the income cap is an ongoing condition that can be breached at any point during the family member's six-year regime period — not just at the point of initial application — and that a breach causes the immediate loss of the regime for the family member concerned.

Comparison: Principal Taxpayer Conditions vs. Family Member Conditions

The Separate Modelo 149 Requirement: Not Automatic

Perhaps the most practically important procedural point about the family member extension is this: it is not automatic. A family member who arrives in Spain with the principal taxpayer, who satisfies all four substantive conditions, and who never files Modelo 149 will not benefit from the Beckham Law. They will instead be taxed as an ordinary Spanish IRPF resident, on a worldwide basis at progressive rates.

Each qualifying family member must independently file their own Modelo 149 — the Beckham Law application form — within six calendar months from the date on which they themselves establish Spanish tax residence. This deadline is strict, non-extendable, and widely missed by families who assume that the principal taxpayer's application covers the whole household.

The six-month clock for the family member begins running from the date the family member acquires Spanish tax residence — which, as noted above, is typically the date of empadronamiento or, for EU nationals, the date of registration in the Registro Central de Extranjeros. If the family member arrives with the principal and registers on the same date, their six-month deadline coincides with the principal's. If the family member arrives later — as frequently happens with spouses who join their partner after the partner has settled in and found accommodation, or with children who finish a school year abroad before joining the family — the family member's own six-month clock starts on their own date of registration.

Modelo 149 for a family member requires the same documentary package as for a principal: NIE (or application for NIE in progress), passport, proof of the family relationship (marriage certificate apostilled as appropriate, birth certificate for children), proof that the principal taxpayer has validly opted for the Beckham Law regime, evidence of the family member's absence from Spain for the preceding five fiscal years, and documentation of the date of establishment of Spanish tax residence. The application is filed at the AEAT office with territorial jurisdiction over the family member's Spanish address.

The Independent Six-Year Regime Period

One of the most important structural features of the family member extension — and one that is frequently misunderstood even by practitioners — is that each family member's regime period is independent. The six-year regime runs from the family member's own date of Spanish tax residence, not from the principal taxpayer's date.

The practical consequence of this independence is significant. Consider a household where the principal taxpayer arrives in Spain in January 2022 and files Modelo 149. Their six-year Beckham Law period covers the fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027 (the year of arrival counting as year one of the special regime). If the principal's spouse arrives in Spain two years later — in January 2024 — and files their own Modelo 149 within six months of establishing Spanish tax residence, the spouse's six-year period covers fiscal years 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029.

This means that in the years 2028 and 2029, the principal taxpayer has reverted to ordinary IRPF status — taxed on worldwide income at progressive rates — while the spouse remains within the Beckham Law, taxed at 24% on Spanish income with a territorial exclusion for foreign income. The two members of the household are simultaneously taxed under different fiscal frameworks.

Tax Treatment of Family Members Under the Beckham Law

Income Tax: The 24% Flat Rate and Territorial Approach

Family members who are validly enrolled in the Beckham Law regime are taxed under the Impuesto sobre la Renta de No Residentes (IRNR) framework, in the same way as the principal taxpayer. The key features are:

• Spanish-source income is taxed at a flat rate of 24% on the first €600,000 of net income, and at 47% on the excess above €600,000 in any tax year.
• Foreign-source income — salary paid by a foreign employer, foreign dividends, foreign bank interest, foreign capital gains, foreign rental income — is not taxed in Spain. The territorial approach means that only Spanish-source income enters the Spanish tax base.
• Savings income (investment income, capital gains from Spanish assets, dividends from Spanish companies, Spanish bank interest) is taxed at the IRNR savings scale: 19% up to €6,000; 21% from €6,000 to €50,000; 23% from €50,000 to €200,000; 27% from €200,000 to €300,000; and 28% above €300,000. This savings scale is identical to the one applicable to ordinary IRPF residents on their savings base (base imponible del ahorro).
• No personal allowances, deductions, or family credits from the ordinary IRPF system apply within the Beckham Law framework. The IRNR regime is a gross-income-based flat tax, with no access to the general deduction (mínimo personal y familiar), the childcare deduction, the mortgage interest deduction (abolished for acquisitions after 2013 in any event), or autonomía-level deductions. This is the trade-off for the flat 24% rate and the territorial exclusion.

Annual Tax Filing

Family members enrolled in the Beckham Law file an annual Declaración del IRNR (the non-resident income tax return), not an IRPF return. This return is filed on Modelo 151, which is the return specifically designed for Beckham Law taxpayers. Modelo 151 is filed between 1 April and 30 June of the year following the tax year — the same filing window as the ordinary IRPF declaration.

Each family member files their own separate Modelo 151. There is no joint declaration available under the IRNR framework (unlike ordinary IRPF, which offers the option of a joint household return — declaración conjunta — in certain circumstances). The family member's Beckham Law return covers only their own income.

Children's Income: Internships, Spanish Employment, and the 24% Rate

Children who are enrolled in the Beckham Law under Art. 93.2 and who earn Spanish-source income are taxed at the same 24% flat rate (up to €600,000) as any other Beckham Law taxpayer. A child who takes a paid internship with a Spanish company, accepts part-time employment in Spain during university, or receives a Spanish scholarship that is treated as taxable income will have that income taxed at 24% under the IRNR framework — rather than at the progressive IRPF rates that would apply if the child were an ordinary Spanish tax resident.

This is generally advantageous. A child earning €15,000 per year in Spain pays €3,600 in tax under the Beckham Law (24% flat), compared with approximately €2,225 under ordinary IRPF (applying the general scale and the personal minimum). However, the flat rate becomes increasingly advantageous as income rises, and the absence of personal deductions means the break-even point for the 24% rate versus progressive IRPF depends on the child's specific income profile and any available deductions.

The more important concern for children with Spanish income is the income cap, which is addressed in the next section.

The Income Cap Trap: The Most Dangerous Condition

Art. 93.2 LIRPF imposes a specific condition on family members who develop their own economic activity in Spain: their Spanish-source income from that activity must not exceed the qualifying income that justified the principal taxpayer's access to the regime. This is the income cap rule, and it is the single most dangerous ongoing risk for families operating under the Beckham Law extension.

How the Income Cap Works

The "qualifying income" of the principal taxpayer is the income that formed the basis of their Beckham Law application. For an executive employed by a Spanish company under an ordinary employment contract (the classic principal route), this is the total employment income earned in Spain under that contract. For a digital nomad, it is the income earned from the foreign employer. For an investor or entrepreneur, it is the income from the qualifying investment activity.

If a family member's Spanish income from their own economic activity exceeds this reference figure, the income cap is breached, and the family member loses the Beckham Law regime from that tax year onwards. The loss is automatic and mandatory — it is not a discretionary penalty applied by AEAT after an audit. The family member must self-assess the loss of the regime and file accordingly, reverting to ordinary IRPF treatment from the year of the breach.

When the Income Cap Bites

The income cap creates a structural asymmetry that surprises many families. Consider a household where the principal taxpayer is a mid-level manager at a Spanish subsidiary of a US corporation, earning €80,000 per year. Their spouse, who also has a professional background, finds employment in Spain after arrival and within two years is earning €95,000 per year. The spouse's Spanish employment income (€95,000) exceeds the principal's qualifying income (€80,000). The income cap is breached. The spouse loses the Beckham Law regime and is taxed as an ordinary IRPF resident from the year of the breach onwards — on worldwide income at progressive rates.

The same trap can affect children. A child who completes a university degree in Spain and takes a well-paid first job at a Spanish company — earning, say, €50,000 in their first year of full employment — may well exceed the qualifying income of a parent who is a passive investor or who works in an activity with modest Spanish-source income. The income cap must be checked at every annual filing.

What Counts as "Economic Activity" for the Income Cap

The income cap applies to income from economic activities (rendimientos de actividades económicas) and employment income (rendimientos del trabajo) derived from Spanish sources. It does not apply to savings income (dividends, interest, capital gains) or to foreign-source income (which is excluded from the Spanish tax base altogether under the territorial approach). A family member who has significant Spanish investments — Spanish listed shares, a Spanish rental property, a Spanish bank account — but no Spanish employment or business activity is not at risk from the income cap, regardless of how much passive income those Spanish assets generate.

Wealth Tax for Family Members Under the Beckham Law

The Beckham Law's territorial approach extends to the Spanish Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio (wealth tax). Ordinary Spanish IRPF residents pay wealth tax on their worldwide net assets — every bank account, investment portfolio, property, and business interest anywhere in the world is included in the wealth tax base. This can generate very significant wealth tax liabilities for high-net-worth individuals who relocate to Spain and bring their global wealth within the Spanish tax net.

Family members enrolled in the Beckham Law benefit from the same territorial limitation as the principal: they pay Spanish wealth tax only on Spanish-situs assets. Foreign bank accounts, foreign investment portfolios, foreign real estate, and foreign business interests are excluded from the Spanish wealth tax base for Beckham Law taxpayers. Only Spanish real estate, Spanish-listed shares, Spanish bank accounts, and other Spanish-situs assets are included.

This territorial wealth tax treatment is one of the most significant financial advantages of the Beckham Law for wealthy relocating families. A family with a €5 million investment portfolio held through a foreign broker, a €2 million property in the UK, and a €1 million apartment in Spain has a Spanish wealth tax base of only €1 million under the Beckham Law — compared with €8 million under ordinary residency. Given that Spanish wealth tax rates reach up to 3.5% in some autonomías (or effectively higher after the solidarity tax adjustments), the difference in annual wealth tax liability can be in the hundreds of thousands of euros per year per family member.

Loss of the Regime for Family Members

Grounds for Loss Mirroring the Principal

Family members enrolled under Art. 93.2 are subject to the same general grounds for loss of the regime as the principal taxpayer. These include:

• Spending more than 183 days outside Spain in a calendar year, thereby ceasing to meet the Spanish tax residence conditions;
• Establishing tax residence in another country;
• Registering on the tax rolls of another country as a tax resident;
• The expiry of the six-year maximum period (the regime ends automatically after the maximum period);
• Opting voluntarily to renounce the regime (the taxpayer can opt out, though this is rarely advantageous).

In addition, family members face their own specific ground for loss that does not apply to the principal: the income cap breach described above.

What Happens to Family Members If the Principal Loses the Regime?

This is a question that the statute does not address with full clarity, and it has been the subject of debate among Spanish tax practitioners. The dominant position, consistent with the DGT's general approach and the structure of Art. 93.2, is the following:

The family member's regime under Art. 93.2 is legally contingent on the principal's continued enrollment in the Beckham Law. The extension provision is derivative: it applies to persons who "move to Spain with or after" the principal and whose qualifying connection to Spain is the principal's own qualifying relocation. If the principal taxpayer ceases to be enrolled in the Beckham Law — whether by voluntary renunciation, by loss on the grounds of ceasing Spanish residence, or for any other reason — the statutory foundation of the family member's derivative right is removed.

The practical consequence is that if the principal loses the Beckham Law regime, the family member's Art. 93.2 regime is also at risk, and in most cases should be treated as lost from the same date. Both the principal and the family member would then revert to ordinary IRPF treatment on a worldwide basis from the relevant date. Given the potential for sudden changes in the principal's employment situation — redundancy, secondment back to the home country, career change — the family's overall Beckham Law planning should include a clear understanding of what triggers the principal's loss and how that flows through to the family members.

Practical Examples

Example 1: Remote Worker with Non-Working Spouse

Marcus, a German software engineer, moves to Barcelona in March 2024 under a Digital Nomad Visa, working entirely remotely for his Frankfurt-based employer. His wife, Laura, moves with him. Neither has been resident in Spain in the previous five fiscal years. Marcus earns €110,000 per year from his German employer.

Both Marcus and Laura register on the Barcelona padrón in March 2024. Marcus files Modelo 149 in August 2024 (within the 6-month window). Laura files her own Modelo 149 in August 2024 as well. Laura is a full-time homemaker with no Spanish income.

Under the Beckham Law: Marcus is taxed at 24% on his €110,000 Spanish employment income (effectively the German salary, now taxable in Spain as he is Spanish-resident). Wait — under the Beckham Law's territorial approach, the German salary would not normally be taxed in Spain as it is foreign-source income. However, the digital nomad route's tax treatment is nuanced: the salary paid by the German employer for services performed physically in Spain is Spanish-source income. The full €110,000 is taxed at 24% flat in Spain. Laura has no Spanish income, files a nil Modelo 151 return, and benefits from the territorial exclusion — any German assets, German interest, or German dividends she holds remain outside the Spanish tax base. Both pay Spanish wealth tax only on their Spanish assets (their rented apartment, Spanish bank accounts with minimal balances). The income cap does not apply to Laura because she has no Spanish economic activity.

Example 2: Investor Route with Children at Spanish University

Sophia is a British national who moves to Marbella in September 2023, qualifying for the Beckham Law as an investor/passive income earner under Art. 93.1 LIRPF. Her Spanish-source qualifying income — rental income from two Spanish properties and dividends from a Spanish-listed company — totals €60,000 per year. She moves with her two children: Emma, aged 19, and Oliver, aged 22, both of whom begin Spanish university studies in September 2023.

All three file Modelo 149 by March 2024 (within 6 months of their September 2023 Spanish tax residence establishment date). The children's six-year regime periods both run from fiscal year 2023.

In 2025, Emma takes a paid internship at a Marbella-based company earning €18,000. Oliver accepts a part-time role at a Spanish retailer earning €12,000. Both amounts are well below Sophia's qualifying income of €60,000, so the income cap is comfortably satisfied. Emma and Oliver pay 24% flat on their Spanish internship/employment income.

In 2027, Oliver graduates and takes a full-time job at a Spanish law firm earning €75,000. This exceeds Sophia's qualifying income of €60,000. The income cap is breached. Oliver loses the Beckham Law regime from fiscal year 2027 onwards and becomes an ordinary IRPF resident on worldwide income. Emma, whose income has not exceeded €60,000, remains enrolled in the Beckham Law until 2028 (the end of her six-year period).

Example 3: Spouse Who Starts Working in Spain Two Years After Arrival

David, a US citizen, moves to Madrid in January 2022 under a Spanish employment contract with the Madrid subsidiary of a US company. He earns €150,000 per year in Spain. His wife, Christine, moves to Madrid with him in January 2022 and files her own Modelo 149 in June 2022. Christine has no income of any kind in 2022 or 2023.

In January 2024, Christine accepts a senior marketing position at a Spanish company. Her salary is €90,000 per year. This is below David's qualifying income of €150,000, so the income cap is satisfied. Christine is taxed at 24% on her €90,000 salary in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

In 2025, Christine is promoted to Chief Marketing Officer. Her total compensation — base salary plus bonus — reaches €160,000. This exceeds David's qualifying income of €150,000. The income cap is breached in 2025. Christine loses the Beckham Law regime from 2025 onwards and reverts to ordinary IRPF. Her foreign income (US rental income, US investment account) is now included in the Spanish IRPF base at progressive rates. She files an ordinary IRPF Modelo 100 return for 2025, declaring worldwide income.

David's own regime is unaffected — he remains in the Beckham Law until the end of 2027 (his sixth year), when his regime expires by operation of time.

Procedural Steps: Applying Under Art. 93.2

1. Confirm family relationship eligibility Verify that the family member is a spouse (married, not merely a cohabiting partner unless in a recognised pareja de hecho autonomía) or a child under 25 at the time of the intended Beckham Law start date, or a child of any age with a recognised disability. Prepare documentary proof: apostilled marriage certificate or birth certificate.
2. Establish the family member's Spanish tax residence date The six-month Modelo 149 clock starts on this date. Register the family member on the padrón municipal as soon as possible after arrival. For EU nationals, register with the Registro Central de Extranjeros. Obtain the relevant certificate evidencing the registration date — this document is the foundation of the Modelo 149 filing.
3. Obtain the family member's NIE Every Modelo 149 filing requires a Spanish Número de Identificación de Extranjero (NIE). Apply for the NIE simultaneously with or immediately after the empadronamiento. NIE applications can be made at Spanish consulates abroad (before arrival) or at Comisarías de Policía in Spain (after arrival). Processing times vary; in Málaga and Madrid, in-person appointments are typically available within a few weeks.
4. Gather the Modelo 149 documentary package Assemble: NIE, passport, proof of family relationship (apostilled), evidence that the principal taxpayer has been admitted to the Beckham Law (copy of their Modelo 149 confirmation), evidence of the family member's five-year non-residence in Spain (foreign tax returns, foreign residency certificates, absence of Spanish address registrations), and a brief cover letter explaining the relocation chronology and the family relationship.
5. File Modelo 149 before the six-month deadline File at the AEAT office with territorial jurisdiction over the family member's Spanish address, or via the AEAT electronic portal (with a digital certificate). The six-month window is absolute. File early — do not wait for the final week of the deadline.
6. Diarise the income cap monitoring obligation If the family member has any Spanish income from employment or economic activity, create an annual compliance check to compare the family member's gross Spanish income against the principal's qualifying income. This check must be performed at the time of filing the annual Modelo 151 return, and ideally in advance of the year-end so that any remedial action (such as deferring a bonus to the following tax year, or restructuring the income) can be considered.
7. Annual Modelo 151 filings File Modelo 151 for each family member each year during the regime period (April 1 to June 30 of the following year). Each family member files their own return. Even a family member with nil Spanish income should file a nil return while enrolled in the regime.

Frequently Asked Questions