Spain's international telework visa — the "digital nomad visa" — arrived in 2023 with Law 28/2022. The same law opened the impatriate regime (art. 93 LIRPF) to employees who move to Spain and keep working remotely for their employer. They are two separate pieces: one about immigration, the other about tax.
What the Digital Nomad Visa requires
- Lets non-EU nationals live in Spain while working remotely for a foreign employer or clients
- Initial duration: 1 year (renewable)
- Minimum income requirement: typically 200% of Spain's minimum wage
- Work for Spanish companies is limited to 20% of the activity — an immigration condition, not a tax one
What the regime gives a remote employee
- Your salary is taxed in Spain at 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above, even when a foreign company pays it: during the regime, all employment income is deemed obtained in Spain (art. 93.2.b LIRPF).
- Foreign-source income that is not employment income (dividends, interest or rent earned abroad) is not taxed in Spain while the regime lasts.
- You are not required to file Form 720, and Wealth Tax only reaches your Spanish assets.
Illustrative example
| Case | Under the impatriate regime |
|---|
| €80,000 salary paid by a foreign company | 80,000 × 24% = €19,200 of tax |
| Plus €5,000 of dividends from a foreign company | Not taxed in Spain during the regime |
Our own simplified calculation, before withholdings, foreign tax credit and other adjustments. Under standard rules, the same salary would be taxed on the progressive state and regional scale.
Who qualifies and who does not
- Yes: an employee who moves to Spain and works remotely by telematic means, with five prior years without Spanish tax residence.
- Not through this route: a freelancer with foreign clients, even with the visa. They need another cause: entrepreneurial activity with an ENISA report, or highly qualified professional serving startups.
How to apply: step by step
- Obtain the telework visa (non-EU nationals) and your NIE
- Register with Spanish Social Security, or evidence that you keep your home-country cover
- File Form 149 within six months of the start of activity shown in that registration or document (art. 116 PIT Regulations) — not from the visa issue date
- File Form 151 every year
The visa lets you live in Spain; Form 149 decides how you are taxed. Miss the six-month window and the regime is off the table for that move.