Spain has become one of the preferred European destinations for international remote workers. The teleworker visa born of Law 28/2022 opened a specific immigration route, yet the visa does not solve the tax problem: the digital nomad who settles in Spain falls squarely into the Spanish IRPF system unless the plan is built before arrival. Four pieces move in parallel —immigration, tax residence, Social Security, VAT— and none of them activates on its own.

Statutory basis

The legal skeleton rests on five norms stitched together. Law 28/2022 on emerging companies (Startups Act), in its Fifth Final Provision, created the teleworker visa and amended article 93 LIRPF to let nomads access the Beckham Regime. Article 9 LIRPF sets the tax residence criteria. Articles 80 and 82 LIRPF govern the international double taxation credit. Regulation (EC) 883/2004 coordinates Social Security for EU/EEA/Swiss mobile workers. And Law 37/1992 (LIVA) with article 69 locate digital transactions for VAT purposes.

The teleworker visa (Law 28/2022)

The Startups Act created a dedicated immigration authorisation for workers and professionals rendering services remotely to companies not established in Spain. The operational requirements are five: certified remote work or professional activity for non-Spanish companies; at least three months of prior relationship —or a continuous professional history with non-residents—; a 20 % cap on activity for Spanish companies; income equivalent to 200 % of the minimum wage; and private health insurance with full coverage in Spain. The initial authorisation runs for three years, renewable for two more, and opens a path to long-term residence.

Tax residence: three routes, not one

Article 9 LIRPF opens three doors to tax residence, and crossing any one is enough. The first is stay above 183 days in the calendar year, counting sporadic absences as presence unless residence in another state is proven. The second is the location in Spain of the main core or base of activities or economic interests. The third is the habitual residence in Spain of the non-separated spouse and dependent minor children, a rebuttable presumption. That said, a nomad spending 170 days but holding a bank account, operational address and main contracts in Spain may qualify as a resident under the second route, even when the day calendar falls short.

Compatibility with the Beckham Regime

The amendment of article 93 LIRPF enacted by Law 28/2022 itself opened the impatriate regime to digital nomads. The basic operational requirement remains not having been a Spanish tax resident during the five years prior to relocation, and registration must be filed within six months of the start of the activity in Spain. It follows that, properly applied, the nomad pays a flat 24 % on employment income up to €600,000 —47 % on the excess— and keeps foreign-source income exempt for six tax periods. The regime is not automatic: it requires the Form 149 filed on time and documentary evidence of compliance.

Taxation without Beckham

If the nomad does not meet the requirements or fails to file Form 149 on time, the general IRPF applies with three practical consequences. First, a progressive scale, state plus regional, from roughly 19 % to 47 % depending on the autonomous community. Second, worldwide-income taxation: every income obtained during the year enters the Spanish base. Third, the article 80 LIRPF credit capped at the Spanish average effective rate, which leaves unrecovered any excess withholding in the source country without an activated treaty. Which is why a nomad paying 37 % in the source country who faces a 45 % marginal rate in Spain does not save anything with the credit: the 8-point gap sits on the invoice.

Social Security: the parallel battle

The classification determines where the nomad pays and how much. Three recurring scenarios. First, an employee of a non-Spanish EU/EEA/Swiss company: Regulation 883/2004 allows home-country contribution via A1 certificate, for an initial 24-month period renewable exceptionally. Second, a non-EU employee under a bilateral Social Security convention: the convention applies (US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, among others). Third, a freelancer invoicing directly: registration in the RETA with a contribution base adjusted to real earnings under the system in force since 2023, monthly fees between €230 and €530 in 2026 depending on the bracket. An employee without A1 or bilateral convention pays in Spain from day one.

VAT on digital services

The nomad invoicing digital services from Spain is governed by the localisation rule of article 69 LIVA. In B2B transactions with a recipient outside Spain, the transaction is not subject to Spanish VAT: the nomad invoices without VAT and mentions art. 69.Uno.1º, and the recipient applies reverse charge in its jurisdiction. In B2C transactions with individual EU clients, the OSS one-stop-shop applies: the consumer-country VAT, paid through a centralised quarterly return. Against that backdrop, a nomad with a mixed portfolio —businesses and individuals— must run two parallel accounting circuits from the first invoice.

Recurring errors in the file

Five errors account for 90 % of the cases that reach the firm. First, assuming that "working for a foreign company" exempts from Spanish IRPF. Second, failing to file Form 149 for Beckham within the six months, a non-extendable deadline. Third, omitting Form 720 on foreign accounts and securities above €50,000, including crypto-exchange portfolios. Fourth, not registering as autónomo when invoicing directly as a freelancer. Fifth, not checking whether a DTT exists with the employer's country and applying domestic withholding. Setting aside the immigration paperwork, which the authorities require as a precondition, none of the five errors is corrected without a retroactive assessment.

The firm's position

Our reading is that useful planning starts three to six months before arrival in Spain. The nomad's standard engagement opens with the Beckham eligibility assessment, continues with the teleworker visa design, moves to the A1 or RETA registration depending on the scenario, simulates the IRPF payable with and without Beckham, and closes with the VAT architecture if direct invoicing is involved. If the nomad has already been in Spain for more than six months without Beckham, we evaluate the ordinary route and rescue the Form 720. If an audit is already open, we build the documentary defence and, depending on the procedure, file allegations or an economic-administrative appeal.