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SettleMetric

ESOfficial rules, modeled

Freelancer taxes in Spain (2026).

A freelancer earning €60,000 a year in Spain keeps between 40,767 EUR and 45,600 EUR depending on the scheme — the best option is "Beckham regime — special impatriate tax (flat 24%)" at an effective burden of 24.0%. 2 schemes below, each computed from official rules.

VerifiedUpdated

2 schemes · 5 source records · every result follows the published scheme rules

ES · 2026

01

At €60,000 a year

A like-for-like view of every eligible scheme before the full rules below.

  1. 01Beckham regime — special impatriate tax (flat 24%)Best result at this incomeNet income45,600 EUREffective burden24.0%
  2. 02Autónomo — estimación directa simplificada (RETA + IRPF)Net income40,767 EUREffective burden32.1%

Reference profile: self-employed · €60,000 annual gross income · no deductible expenses · full-year tax residency.

Full rules

Inside each tax scheme

01activeEmployee

Beckham regime — special impatriate tax (flat 24%)

Effective burden at €60k

24.0%

What you pay

  • 01
    IRNR impatriate rate on employment income (24% to 600k, 47% above)

    Progressive scale · base: annual revenue

    Annual revenue · EURRate
    ≤ 600,00024%
    Annual revenue · EURRate
    > 600,00047%

Eligibility

  • Requires tax residency
  • Limited to first 6 years
  • Régimen especial de impatriados (art. 93 Ley 35/2006, expanded by Ley 28/2022). NOT available to an ordinary self-employed freelancer with generic foreign clients. Eligible profiles: (1) employees relocating on a Spanish or foreign employment contract — including remote workers on the digital-nomad authorization employed by a foreign company; (2) company administrators; (3) entrepreneurs whose activity carries a favourable ENISA report; (4) highly-qualified professionals serving start-ups / R&D with >40% of income from those. Requires no Spanish tax residency in the 5 tax years before relocation. Duration = year of arrival + 5 following years (6 total).

Net income examples

Gross/yearNet/yearBurden
30,000 EUR22,800 EUR24.0%
60,000 EUR45,600 EUR24.0%
120,000 EUR91,200 EUR24.0%

Computed by our open tax engine — assumes no deductible expenses, full-year tax residency. Rules as of Jan 1, 2026.

Important context

Income-tax-only model: 24% flat on employment/professional income treated as Spanish-source up to 600,000 EUR, 47% above (art. 93 LIRPF / IRNR rules). Foreign-source investment income is outside Spanish tax during the regime; Spanish-source savings income is taxed at IRNR savings rates (19–28%) — neither modeled here as the scheme targets earned income. Social security is separate and situation-dependent (foreign payroll + A1, or Spanish employee contributions) and is deliberately not included, so the figure is the income-tax burden only. This scheme is included for eligible employed impatriates/nomad-visa employees; a plain freelancer should use es-autonomo-estimacion-directa.

02activeSole proprietor

Autónomo — estimación directa simplificada (RETA + IRPF)

Effective burden at €60k

32.1%

What you pay

  • 01
    Social security (RETA cuota, min. base per tramo × 31.5%)

    Fixed payment by band · base: annual profit · cadence: Monthly

    Annual profit · EURPayment · EUR
    ≤ 8,040205.88
    8,040–10,800226.47
    10,800–14,000.4267.65
    14,000.4–15,600299.56
    15,600–18,000302.65
    18,000–20,400302.65
    20,400–22,200360.29
    22,200–24,360380.88
    Annual profit · EURPayment · EUR
    24,360–27,960401.47
    27,960–33,120427.21
    33,120–38,280452.94
    38,280–43,440478.68
    43,440–48,600504.41
    48,600–72,000545.59
    > 72,000607.35
  • Difícil justificación (5% of net, cap EUR 2,000; notional IRPF deduction) — 5% of profit (deductible from profit) (a deduction that lowers the tax base, not a payment)
  • 03
    IRPF (combined state+regional general scale, mínimo personal as allowance)

    Progressive scale · base: annual profit · allowance 5,550 EUR

    Annual profit · EURRate
    ≤ 12,45019%
    12,450–20,20024%
    20,200–35,20030%
    Annual profit · EURRate
    35,200–60,00037%
    60,000–300,00045%
    > 300,00047%

Eligibility

  • Revenue cap 600,000 EUR/year
  • Activities: it-services, professional-services, freelance
  • Requires tax residency
  • Default regime for a self-employed professional (profesional autónomo) with foreign or domestic clients. Estimación directa simplificada applies when prior-year turnover ≤ EUR 600,000; above that, estimación directa normal (same rates, no 5% difícil-justificación deduction). This is the realistic scheme for a solo IT freelancer — the Beckham impatriate regime is NOT open to ordinary freelancers (see es-beckham-impatriate).

Net income examples

Gross/yearNet/yearBurden
30,000 EUR21,157 EUR29.5%
60,000 EUR40,767 EUR32.1%
120,000 EUR74,487 EUR37.9%

Computed by our open tax engine — assumes no deductible expenses, full-year tax residency. Rules as of Jan 1, 2026.

Important context

IRPF is jointly levied by the State and the autonomous community; the general scale here is the standard combined reference (state scale + the equivalent regional half, ≈19/24/30/37/45/47%). Actual regional scales differ (e.g. Madrid lower, Cataluña/Comunitat Valenciana higher at the top), so effective IRPF varies a few points by region — not modeled per region. The mínimo personal (5,550) is modeled as a base allowance; the statutory mechanism instead subtracts it from the gross quota at the first-bracket rate, which slightly understates tax at higher marginal rates (minor draft simplification). RETA tramo is set by rendimiento neto and the freelancer is assumed to choose the minimum base in the tramo (cuota = base × 31.5%: 28.30% comunes + 1.30% profesionales + 0.90% cese + 0.10% FP + 0.90% MEI). Start-up 'tarifa plana' (reduced ~80 EUR/mo cuota, first 12–24 months) and IRPF regional deductions are not modeled. VAT/IVA is out of scope (it is collected from clients, not a tax on the freelancer's income).

02

Try your own numbers

Change income, currency and expenses to recalculate every active scheme for Spain.

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  1. 1 Beckham regime — special impatriate tax (flat 24%)
    45,600 EURnet/year
    24.0% burden
  2. 2 Autónomo — estimación directa simplificada (RETA + IRPF)
    40,767 EURnet/year
    32.1% burden