Beckham Law vs the 30% ruling: Spain or the Netherlands for expats?

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

Two of Europe's best-known expat tax breaks, one flat and one a percentage exemption. Spain's Beckham Law taxes your salary at a flat 24%. The Netherlands 30% ruling pays up to 30% of your salary tax-free. People assume the flat rate is the bigger deal. Run the same salary through both and the answer flips depending on how much you earn, and it is closer than either country's recruiters let on.

Here is the head-to-head, single filer, income tax plus employee social security, straight from cityparity's Dutch and Spanish engines.

The head-to-head

Same gross, both regimes, take-home after income tax and employee social security, before living costs.

Percentages are the effective rate on gross. Both figures are for someone who fully qualifies and files on time. The Spanish ordinary-scale deductions the engine omits would nudge Beckham's edge down a touch, which only reinforces how close €150k is.

Why the ruling wins low and they tie high

The shape of each break explains the crossover. The 30% ruling is a percentage exemption: a slice of your salary comes off before Dutch tax, and it quietly does a second favour by un-phasing-out Dutch tax credits as your taxed income falls. That proportional help is strongest at lower salaries, which is why Amsterdam pulls clear at €100k.

Beckham is a flat rate. A flat 24% is unremarkable against a low progressive bill but excellent against a high one, so its advantage grows with salary. The two lines cross right around €150k, where the Dutch percentage break and the Spanish flat rate land within a couple hundred euros of each other. Below that, the Netherlands. Well above it, Spain starts to win outright.

The 2027 Dutch change tips the high end

One dated wrinkle matters here. From 2027 the 30% ruling becomes a flat 27% for anyone who started from 2024 onward. At €150k that trims the Amsterdam take-home from €109,910 to about €107,390, so Madrid's €110,113 goes from a dead heat to a clear win of roughly €2,700 a year. At €100k the Netherlands still comes out ahead even at 27% (about €77,533 versus Madrid's €72,113). So the change sharpens the same pattern rather than overturning it: Spain for the high earners, the Netherlands for the merely well-paid.

Duration, and the cliff on both sides

Beckham runs six years, the 30% ruling five. That extra Spanish year is worth roughly a sixth more total value when the annual saving is similar, a real if unglamorous edge.

Both breaks end the same way: you drop onto the country's ordinary progressive tax in the same job, and take-home steps down. The Dutch fall is the bigger one, about €16,336 a year at €100k and €24,093 at €150k, quantified in when the 30% ruling ends. Spain's Beckham cliff is smaller but still five figures at these salaries, roughly €10,600 at €100k and €20,100 at €150k. Whichever country you pick, budget on the post-regime number, because that is the salary you live on for most of your stay.

The honest verdict: the tax break rarely decides it

Here is the part the head-to-head table can't show. The gap between Beckham and the 30% ruling is often a few thousand euros a year. Housing, childcare, and healthcare routinely swing the same decision by far more. Amsterdam's rent and Dutch childcare price out very differently from Madrid's, and both spare you the US healthcare premium entirely. On a regime salary the two countries tax you within a whisker of each other, so the deciding lines are the ones neither regime touches.

Which is the honest way to use this comparison: settle the tax question quickly (roughly a tie on a good salary), then let the rest of the package pick the city. Run your real numbers both ways:

• Compare your own salary in both cities →
• NYC vs Madrid and NYC vs Amsterdam: the same US salary against each, whole package counted
• A $150k salary in Madrid under Beckham: the Spanish side worked line by line
• Who qualifies for Beckham and who qualifies for the 30% ruling: check you can actually elect each one
• Expat tax breaks, decoded: both regimes set against Portugal, Sweden, and Italy

FAQ

Is Spain's Beckham Law or the Netherlands 30% ruling better?

It depends on salary. By cityparity's engines, at €100,000 the 30% ruling wins clearly: a single filer keeps about €79,047 in Amsterdam versus €72,113 in Madrid under Beckham. At €150,000 they nearly tie, with Madrid a hair ahead at €110,113 to €109,910. So the Dutch ruling is the stronger deal at lower salaries and the two converge as pay rises.

Spain vs the Netherlands: which taxes expats less?

On a regime salary they are close. The 30% ruling is a percentage exemption, so it helps most in proportional terms at lower incomes; Beckham is a flat 24%, so it helps most at high incomes. At €100k the Netherlands keeps more; at €150k it is a tie today, and from 2027 Spain edges ahead once the Dutch rate drops to 27%. Without a regime, ordinary Dutch and Spanish tax are both high.

How long does each regime last?

The Beckham Law runs six years: the year you become a Spanish tax resident plus five more. The Dutch 30% ruling runs five years. Spain gives you one extra year of the break, which is worth roughly a sixth more total value if the annual saving is similar.

Does the 2027 Dutch change affect the comparison?

Yes, at the margin. From 2027 the 30% ruling becomes a flat 27% for people who started from 2024 onward. At €150k that trims the Dutch take-home to about €107,390, so Madrid's Beckham figure of €110,113 pulls clearly ahead. At €100k the Netherlands still wins even at 27%. The shift is a couple of thousand euros a year, not a reversal of the whole picture.

What happens when the Beckham Law or 30% ruling ends?

Both drop you onto the country's ordinary progressive tax in the same job, a step down in take-home known as the expiry cliff. In the Netherlands the year-six drop is about €16,336 a year at €100k and €24,093 at €150k. Spain's Beckham cliff is smaller but real, roughly €10,600 at €100k and €20,100 at €150k. Budget on the post-regime number, not the discounted one.

Beyond the tax break, what decides Spain vs the Netherlands?

Usually the lines the regime never touches. The take-home gap between Beckham and the 30% ruling is often a few thousand euros; housing, childcare, and healthcare can swing the answer by far more. Amsterdam rents and Dutch childcare cost differently than Madrid's, and both beat the US on family healthcare. Run the whole package before you let the tax rate cast the deciding vote.

Take-home figures come from cityparity's per-city engines (Amsterdam and Madrid, single filer, income tax plus employee social security, before living costs) and are rounded. The Dutch figures apply the 30% (or, where noted, 27%) allowance; the Spanish figures apply the flat 24% and omit some resident deductions, so real ordinary-scale tax can run slightly lower. Rates, durations, and the 2027 Dutch change are current at publication and depend on your circumstances, so confirm with an adviser. See the methodology.