Improvements to ‘Beckham regime’ to attract talent | Legal

As expected from this forum, one of the most anticipated measures from the package of financial measures brought by the Startup Act, which has passed the Congress and is awaiting final approval in the Senate, is reform. The law, commonly known as Beckham’s Law, introduced in the Spanish regime for expatriates.

The nearly two decades that the regime has been in force since its emergence in the context of an incipient globalization aimed at improving Spain’s competitive position in the international arena allows us to make a positive assessment of its implementation. had time to highlight the urgent need for reform and optimization. This is for reasons of a different nature, from the need for legislation to suit the new economic and social reality (for example, the rise of teleworking and global interconnection) to the need to address some of the appreciated shortcomings in practice. The regime that went through the comfort of strengthening tax advantages, given the increasing attractiveness of other regimes such as Portugal or Italy. New legislation in this area is therefore welcomed.

In that sense, the new wording of the rule is a clear nod to taxpayers who moved their residence to Spain after maintaining their resident status 5 years ago, for the return of Spanish talent, even though the measure is years behind schedule. Likewise, and in terms of circumstances, we should regret that the validity period of the regime remained unchanged, although at the draft stage it was planned to extend the regime for another 5 years, which would significantly increase the attractiveness of the regime. your regime.

However, the legislator is right by extending the special tax regime to include spouses and children under the age of 25 who accompany the taxpayer on their travels, provided they have not resided in Spain for the required period. engage in professional activity and do not have a higher tax base than the accompanying taxpayer. In addition, it ensures that the exemption application is applied to a certain income, thus preventing situations that are undesirable in the regulation and in some cases lead to waiver from the regime or to file a lawsuit against the Tax Office.

However, perhaps the most relevant aspect of the reform is the inclusion of new cases of displacement, which undoubtedly presupposes a first-degree legal change: so far, the implementation of the regime has only been displacement, a new employment relationship or dismissal from the employer, with no more than 25% common by decision, as well as by the acquisition of managerial status in a company.

However, from now on the implementation of the regime will also be designed in the case of remote work, which is ideally adapted to a very frequent reality and goes hand in hand with the new visa for international remote work. The regime is also made more flexible for taxpayers who apply to Beckham when moving their domicile when appointed as directors in a Spanish company, while retaining the limitation of participating as a shareholder in holding companies only. These changes are properly adapted to the economic reality, encouraging entrepreneurship and adapting the Regime to the new needs already appreciated by the General Directorate of Taxes.

Likewise, the development of economic activities under the Regime is foreseen for the first time, if it is classified as an entrepreneurial activity in accordance with the provisions of the Entrepreneurs Support and Internationalization Law or if the taxpayer is a highly qualified professional. The accreditation of such cases awaits regulatory development, providing services to emerging companies or conducting research, development and innovation activities.

Therefore, it seems appropriate to celebrate the achievement of the highly desired reform of the Regime, and we appreciate that although we cannot avoid feeling a certain bittersweet feeling when the legislator considers this reform, the practical effects it will reflect will be positive. has lost the opportunity to act with greater ambition to offer a more competitive regime.

Marcos Gonzalez Villareal Partner of Cremades and Calvo-Sotelo.