Spain: Golden Visa Gone, the Beckham Law and Wealth Tax

The end of the golden visa: what actually happened

The Spanish investor visa sat in articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013 on support for entrepreneurs. The best known route was buying real estate for at least 500,000 euros. There were also routes through government bonds, company shares, bank deposits and business projects.

Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January 2025, formally a law on the efficiency of the justice system, removed those articles. In the consolidated text on the BOE, articles 63 to 67 now read "sin contenido", without content, with effect from 3 April 2025. The government's stated reason was the effect on housing in the big cities.

For existing cases there is a transitional rule:

• Applications filed before the cut-off. Complete applications submitted by 3 April 2025 are decided under the rules in force at the time of filing.
• Visas and permits already granted. They stay valid for the period for which they were issued.
• Renewals. This is where it gets murky. Law firms read the transitional rule differently, and the administration issued its own interpretive criteria in June 2025. The common reading is that holders whose permit predates the cut-off and who keep the investment can continue to renew. There is no guarantee, and anyone who has sold the property should not count on a renewal.

New investment-based applications are no longer possible. Buying a 500,000 euro apartment in Spain today does not come with a residence permit.

If you hold an EU passport

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens have the right to live and work in Spain. Anyone staying longer than three months registers as an EU citizen and receives the "Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión", commonly called the green NIE. The core requirements are a passport or ID card and proof of the purpose of stay: an employment contract, self-employment, or, for those not working, sufficient funds plus health insurance. Then comes registration with the town hall, the "empadronamiento".

There is no minimum investment and no minimum stay for the status itself. After five years of lawful residence you get permanent residence. The same logic applies elsewhere in the EU, for example in Cyprus.

Non-EU spouses and registered partners of an EU citizen living in Spain can get a residence card for family members of EU citizens. It derives from the EU citizen's right and requires no investment. Parents are harder, because they usually have to show they are dependent on the EU citizen.

If you don't: the visas that remain

For a non-EU national without an EU family member, two routes matter most now that the golden visa is gone.

Non-lucrative residence visa. Residence without work, designed for retirees and people living off savings or passive income. You need income or assets of 400 percent of the IPREM, a public reference index that is still 600 euros a month in 2026. That is 2,400 euros a month or 28,800 euros a year for the main applicant, plus 100 percent of the IPREM, 7,200 euros a year, for each dependant. On top come private health insurance without co-payments, a criminal record certificate and a medical certificate. The first permit runs for one year, renewals for longer periods as long as the financial requirements are still met. You may not work on this visa, and that includes remote work, which surprises many applicants.

International telework visa. The digital nomad visa, for people working remotely for companies outside Spain. You need 200 percent of the monthly minimum wage. The 2026 minimum wage is 1,221 euros paid 14 times a year, which is 1,424.50 euros a month when spread over twelve, so the threshold is about 2,849 euros a month. The first family member adds 75 percent of the minimum wage, each further one 25 percent. You need a degree or at least three years of relevant experience, and a working relationship with the foreign employer or clients of at least three months. Employees may only work for companies outside Spain, the self-employed may do up to 20 percent of their work for Spanish clients. The consular visa runs for one year, a residence permit applied for inside Spain for up to three years.

Both routes share a consequence that many applicants overlook: spend more than 183 days a year in Spain and you are Spanish tax resident, with worldwide income and wealth tax. The visa governs your stay, not your tax.

For US citizens there is an extra layer: the US taxes its citizens wherever they live, so Spanish residence adds a second tax system rather than replacing one. The US-Spain tax treaty and foreign tax credits prevent most double taxation, but the filing burden doubles.

Tax residence in Spain

Spain treats you as tax resident if any of these applies:

• more than 183 days in Spain in the calendar year, where short absences count as days in Spain unless you prove tax residence in another country,
• your main centre of economic interests is in Spain,
• your spouse and minor children live in Spain, in which case residence is presumed, though you can rebut it.

A resident normally pays income tax on worldwide income. Investment income has its own 2026 scale: 19 percent up to 6,000 euros, then 21, 23 and 27 percent, rising to 30 percent above 300,000 euros. Employment and business income is taxed on a progressive scale made up of a state and a regional part. The guideline top rate is 47 percent above 300,000 euros, and regions deviate up and down. Residents also have to report foreign assets on form 720 once any asset class abroad exceeds 50,000 euros.

The Beckham regime: who qualifies

The special regime sits in article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Act and is named after the footballer who was one of its first prominent users in 2003. The Startup Law 28/2022 widened it considerably. The conditions, as set out in the tax agency's manual:

• No Spanish tax residence in the five tax years before the move. Until 2022 it was ten.
• A qualifying reason for the move, in the year you become resident or the year before:
  • a new employment contract with a Spanish employer, or a posting by your existing employer,
  • remote work as an employee, for example on the telework visa,
  • becoming a director of a company, regardless of shareholding, except for a passive asset-holding company, where the stake must be below 25 percent,
  • an entrepreneurial activity rated innovative by the state agency ENISA,
  • work as a highly qualified professional for a startup or in research and development.
• No income through a Spanish permanent establishment, except from the entrepreneurial or highly qualified activities just listed.

You opt in with form 149, no later than six months after the start of your activity as registered with Spanish social security. Miss that deadline and the door is closed. The regime covers the year you become resident plus the following five, so up to six years. A spouse and children under 25 can join if they move with you or later in the first year, were not resident in Spain in the previous five years, and together earn less than you.

What it does not cover: the classic freelancer or self-employed consultant who moves to Spain and keeps serving the same clients. For them the only route is an ENISA rating, which requires a genuinely innovative business. Retirees on the non-lucrative visa have no qualifying reason for the move either.

The Beckham regime: what it saves

Under the regime you are taxed largely like a non-resident, with some specific rules:

• Employment income: 24 percent up to 600,000 euros, 47 percent above. All employment income during the regime counts as Spanish-source, even if some work happens abroad.
• Dividends, interest and capital gains: 19 percent up to 6,000 euros, 21 up to 50,000, 23 up to 200,000, 27 up to 300,000 and 28 percent above, according to the 2025 manual. This applies to Spanish-source investment income.
• Foreign investment income: generally not taxed in Spain, because you are treated as a non-resident for it. For anyone with a portfolio held abroad, this is the real benefit.
• No allowances, no offsetting. The personal and family allowances of ordinary income tax do not apply, and losses cannot be set against gains.

One detail with consequences: according to a July 2025 decision of the central tax tribunal TEAC, Beckham taxpayers must pay tax on deemed rental income from Spanish property they own, including the home they live in.

After six years the regime ends, with no extension. From then on, normal worldwide taxation applies. Anyone who plans only for the Beckham years should know what they will do in year seven.

Wealth tax and the solidarity tax

Spain is one of the few EU countries with a wealth tax, and since 2022 it has had a second one.

Wealth tax is devolved to the regions. Where a region sets no rules of its own, the state allowance of 700,000 euros applies, plus up to 300,000 euros for the main home. The state scale runs from 0.2 percent to 3.5 percent on wealth above roughly 10.7 million euros. Several regions grant a full relief, Madrid among them, others tax in full.

The solidarity tax on large fortunes was introduced by Law 38/2022 as a temporary measure but is still in force. It applies to residents with net wealth of 3 million euros or more, at 1.7 percent between 3 and about 5.3 million, 2.1 percent up to about 10.7 million and 3.5 percent above. Regional wealth tax paid is credited. The stated purpose is to neutralise the relief granted by regions like Madrid for very large fortunes.

And under the Beckham regime? You are subject to wealth tax and the solidarity tax only on assets located in Spain, not worldwide. The Directorate General of Taxes has confirmed this for the solidarity tax as well. A securities account in Luxembourg, Switzerland or New York stays outside, a villa on the Costa del Sol does not. When the regime ends, that flips and worldwide wealth counts.

The home country side

Spain's rules are only half of the picture. Your current country may keep taxing you. For Germans that means rules on retained homes, exit tax on company shareholdings and extended limited tax liability, covered in the Plan B residency overview. The UK has its statutory residence test, and the US taxes its citizens regardless of residence. Where two countries both treat you as resident, the tax treaty tie-breaker decides: permanent home first, then centre of vital interests, then habitual abode. 183 days is not the only test anywhere. The outcome always depends on the individual case, and you need advisers on both sides.