After Beckham's 6 years end: the tax jump, quantified

By Skyler Bissell · July 17, 2026 · 6 min read

The Beckham Law is a six-year clock. While it runs, your Spanish salary is taxed at a flat 24% and your foreign income and net worth largely sit outside Spanish tax. When the clock stops, all of that changes at once, and the change is a step down, not a slope. This is the number to budget on, because it is the tax you pay for most of a long stay in Spain.

Here is the drop, quantified through cityparity's Madrid engine, plus the second shock that the salary math alone doesn't show.

The salary cliff, quantified

Same job, same salary, the year Beckham ends. The flat 24% gives way to Spain's ordinary state and Madrid regional bands.

Percentages are the effective rate on gross, single filer, income tax plus employee social security, before living costs. The ordinary column omits some resident deductions the engine doesn't model, so real ordinary tax can run slightly lower and the true drop a little smaller. The direction and the order of magnitude hold.

Why it's a cliff, not a slope

Beckham does not fade over its final year. It is on, then it is off. Your effective rate on a €150k salary sits near 26.6% right up to the last qualifying year, then jumps to about 40.0% the year after. The whole value of the regime, roughly €20,000 a year at that salary, lands as a single step down. That is what the expiry cliff means: the drop is the entire break, arriving in one tax year rather than easing off.

The Netherlands has the same shape when its 30% ruling ends, a bit steeper in fact. If you are weighing the two countries, the Dutch cliff is quantified here; both reward the same discipline of budgeting on the post-regime number.

The second shock: worldwide income and wealth tax arrive

The salary jump is the visible half. The quieter half is the base expanding. Under Beckham you are taxed as a non-resident, so most foreign income (foreign dividends, interest, rent, and capital gains) stays outside Spanish tax, and Spanish wealth tax and the solidarity tax on large fortunes reach only your Spanish-located assets.

The year the regime ends you become an ordinary resident, taxed on worldwide income and assessed on worldwide net worth. Foreign investment income that was invisible to Spain becomes taxable. Property, portfolios, and pensions held abroad come into the wealth-tax and solidarity-tax base. For someone who arrived with meaningful assets outside Spain, this can matter more than the rate change on the salary, and it is the part a take-home table never captures. If that describes you, it is a conversation for a Spanish adviser well before year six, not after.

There is no renewal

Six years is the whole window: the year you became a Spanish tax resident plus five more. You cannot extend it for the same stay. The only way back in is to leave, spend the required years as a non-resident, and re-qualify on a fresh work-linked move, which is not a plan most people build a life around. Treat the regime as a fixed, one-time discount and the year-seven jump stops being a surprise.

What to do about it

• Budget on the ordinary number from day one. Set your rent and lifestyle against the €61,482 or €89,982 figure, not the Beckham one, so year seven is a non-event rather than a shock.
• Map your foreign assets before the clock runs out. Know what comes into the worldwide income and wealth-tax base the year the regime ends, and get advice on timing while you still have options.
• Decide about staying deliberately. If you are mobile and hold significant assets abroad, some people time a change around the end of the six years. For most it is not worth uprooting a life; the point is to choose on the post-Beckham math, not drift into it.
• Re-run the whole package near the end. The regime was only ever one line. Healthcare, childcare, and the rest of the Spanish math keep working after Beckham stops, and often carry the decision on their own.

Put your real salary and family in and see both sides of the clock:

• Run your own numbers in the calculator →
• Spain's Beckham Law, explained: the flat 24%, the six-year term, and the family catch
• A $150k salary in Madrid under Beckham: the discounted side worked line by line
• Beckham vs the 30% ruling: Spain against the Netherlands, cliffs on both sides
• NYC vs Madrid: the whole package from a US salary, before and beyond the tax break

FAQ

What happens after the Beckham Law ends?

You become an ordinary Spanish tax resident. Your salary moves from the flat 24% onto Spain's progressive scale that climbs toward 47%, and your worldwide income and net worth come into scope for the first time. It is a single-step change, not a gradual taper: the last Beckham year is taxed at the flat rate, the next year is fully ordinary.

How much does take-home drop when the Beckham Law ends?

By cityparity's Madrid engine, a single filer's take-home falls about €10,631 a year on a €100,000 salary (from €72,113 to €61,482) and about €20,131 on €150,000 (from €110,113 to €89,982). That is roughly €886 to €1,678 a month less in the same job, on the salary side alone.

Can you renew or extend the Beckham Law after six years?

No. The regime is a fixed term, the year you became resident plus five more, and there is no renewal for that stay. You could only use it again by leaving, spending the required years as a non-resident, and re-qualifying on a fresh work-linked move. For the vast majority it is a one-time, six-year window.

Does foreign income get taxed after the Beckham Law ends?

Yes, and this is the part people underestimate. Under Beckham most foreign income (foreign dividends, interest, rent, and gains) sits outside Spanish tax. As an ordinary resident you are taxed on worldwide income, so those foreign sources become taxable in Spain. For someone with investments abroad, that can matter more than the salary-rate jump.

Does wealth tax change after the Beckham Law?

Yes. Beckham holders owe Spanish wealth tax and the solidarity tax on large fortunes only on assets located in Spain. As an ordinary resident you are assessed on your worldwide net worth, so property, portfolios, and pensions held abroad come into the base. Depending on the region and your wealth, that can be a meaningful new annual cost.

Should you leave Spain before the Beckham Law ends?

It is a real question for anyone mobile. Some people time a move or a change in circumstances around the end of the six years to avoid stepping onto full ordinary residency, especially if they hold significant foreign assets. For most it is not worth uprooting a life over a tax step; the point is to decide deliberately, on the post-Beckham numbers, rather than be surprised by them.

Take-home figures come from cityparity's per-city engine (Madrid, single filer, income tax plus employee social security, before living costs) and are rounded; the ordinary-scale column uses Spain's 2026 state and Madrid regional bands and omits some resident deductions, so real ordinary tax can run slightly lower. The worldwide-income and wealth-tax treatment on and after the regime depends on your assets and region, so confirm your own position with a Spanish adviser before year six. General information, not tax advice. See the methodology.