24 January 2023, Alberto Perez Cedillo

Spanish Digital Nomad Visa

On the 22 December 2022, Spain approved Law 28/2022, of 21 December, on the promotion of the ecosystem of emerging companies, also known as the Startups Law, which was created with the aim of enabling the operation of digital companies and remote work, due to the increased use of technological means in the labour ecosystem and digital-based companies. For this purpose, the Start-ups Law established the Spanish Digital Nomad Visa.

The Spanish Digital Nomad Visa is designed for highly skilled workers, granting them the right to reside in Spain for up to 5 years.

The main advantages of the Spanish Digital Nomad Visa include tax benefits and flexibility in company management. More specifically, the new Spanish Digital Nomad Visa may allow “Digital Nomads” to benefit from the Special Tax Regime for Non-Residents’ Income Tax with similar conditions to the existing Beckham Rule, a flat 24% up to 600.000 euros a year and 47% above that. The period during which a taxpayer must have been a non-resident in Spain to qualify for the Special Non-Resident Income Tax Regime is 5 years. This favourable tax regime will also be extended to include the spouse, civil partners, and children of the main applicant. The Non-Resident Income Tax Act will be amended to exempt stock options – as well as other income from work in kind – under the same conditions as personal income taxpayers. There is also a 15% Corporation Tax rate to be applied to new companies.

With regards to the applicability of the visa, access to the support measures envisaged is open to start-up and innovative companies, workers displaced to Spanish territory who carry out intra-company movements and displaced teleworkers belonging to a foreign company located in Spain.

The main requirements to access the visa are that the company or group of companies the applicant works for must have been in continuous activity for at least one year, that the activity can be carried out remotely and that the worker and company must have had an employment or professional relationship for at least three months. Additionally, if the applicant is a freelance professional, at least 80% of the work performed must be done for companies located overseas.

Thus, the Nomad Visa is born, defined by the Law as a visa for teleworking of an international nature, which will make it possible to reside and work in Spain during its validity.