Beckham Law Employees: Report Them on Modelo 296, Not Modelo 190 (DGT V0455-26)

Hired a foreign employee on the Beckham Law? You report them on Modelo 296, not Modelo 190

If your company has taken on an impatriate who opted into Spain’s Beckham Law, your payroll team faces a deceptively simple year-end question: which annual withholding return covers this person? A binding ruling from the Spanish tax authority (DGT consultation V0455-26, 27 February 2026) gives the definitive answer. The employer must file Modelo 296, the Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR) informative return, not the ordinary Modelo 190.

Why this happens

A worker under Article 93 LIRPF keeps the status of an IRPF taxpayer but is taxed under the IRNR rules for income obtained without a permanent establishment. Withholdings follow those same IRNR rules: a flat 24% on employment income, rising to 47% on the portion of pay from a single payer that exceeds 600,000 euros in the calendar year. Because the withholding follows the IRNR machinery (Art. 93.2.f LIRPF and Art. 114.3 RIRPF), the formal annual return follows it too. That return is Modelo 296.

Who this affects

  • Spanish companies and permanent establishments that employ one or more impatriates under the Beckham Law.
  • HR and payroll teams running mixed workforces, where ordinary staff go on Modelo 190 and Beckham Law staff go on Modelo 296.
  • Finance directors who need their withholding declarations to match what each employee files individually.

Why it matters

Filing the wrong form, or applying the progressive IRPF withholding tables instead of the flat 24% and 47% IRNR rates, creates mismatches between what your company declares and what your employee reports. Those mismatches are exactly what triggers AEAT queries and corrections. Getting the classification right from the first payroll run protects both the company and the worker.

How DPLL helps

We are Beckham Law specialists. We confirm whether each employee’s regime is validly in force, set the correct withholding rate and per-payer threshold, prepare and reconcile your Modelo 296 against each worker’s own annual filing, and keep your impatriate payroll clean across the full duration of the regime. If you have just hired, or are about to hire, a foreign professional who has elected the Beckham Law, we will review your set-up before the next reporting cycle.

Book a consultation with our team at dpll.eu and we will tell you exactly which forms your company must file for each employee, and at what rate.

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