Lawyer Raymond Nesbitt explains Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa

Featured: James, busy at work from his Spanish ‘office’ (tie is optional)

Introduction

Spain’s new Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) has taken the visa market by storm! Fancy working remotely from a beach in Spain, sipping a mojito with 21 degrees in good company paying almost no tax (*)? The DNV has you covered!

The DNV offers unique tax advantages that no other Spanish visa can hope to match, not even a coveted Golden Visa. Its main outlier, and what distinguishes it from other available visas, is precisely the wide array of tax benefits it offers. The DNV has been purposely devised so successful applicants pay few taxes in Spain; the purpose is to incentivize overachievers to relocate and work (remotely) in Spain.

The DNV is modelled after Beckham’s Law, enacted in 2015, and which applies to EU nationals which in turn was inspired by the UK’s wildly popular Non-Domiciled taxpayer scheme. The DNV applies to non-EU nationals and offers basically the same tax advantages as Beckham’s Law.

It’s a legal fiction whereby a non-EU taxpayer is treated as a non-fiscal resident in Spain, but for administrative purposes, they are regarded as fully resident in Spain. The tax significance of this nuance simply cannot be understated enough and opens the door to a slew of tax benefits I collate below.

(*) Precisely because of its huge tax advantages, the law time-gates them to a maximum of five years plus one.

Needless to say, a DNV makes you tax resident in Spain (that’s precisely the whole point!).

Because of its nature (to attract talented individuals), and similar to Golden Visas, all DNV applications are fast-tracked. In under 3 weeks you know if your application has been successful.

In a nutshell, the DNV is all about paying (very) low income tax, or none at all (as assets & interests held abroad Spain go untaxed!).

DNV tax benefits

• All income & assets held abroad go untaxed. In other words, any source of worldwide income is tax-exempt (just like with the popular UKs non-dom tax scheme). The only exception is any income derived abroad from working.
• DNV holders only pay tax strictly on the income they derive working remotely in Spain for a foreign employer. They will pay a flat tax rate of 24% on the first €600,000 of gross annual earnings over a five-year period.
• They are not required to file a 720 tax return (unlike Spanish tax residents)
• They are not required to file Wealth Tax (unlike Spanish tax residents)
• You can request to defer the payment of tax on the first and second year without penalties or delay interests being rolled on top (as is standard)
• For the purposes of other tax agencies, you are considered tax resident in Spain.

General staple requirements

• Non-EU national.
• Hire private health insurance from an approved health provider in Spain (you need to be under 75 years old), or
• Enrol in the Social Security
• Clean criminal record (previous 5 years).
• Be self-supporting (you will not claim benefits from the state): you need to show a minimum bank balance of €30,000 for the main applicant (recommended amount is €34,000). A further €7,200 for every dependent (recommended amount is €8,400).
• Not be already in Spain illegally at the time of making a visa application.

 DNV specific requirements

• If employed, you need to prove you are hired by a foreign company. You need to have been working for this employer for at least 3 months prior to making a DNV application. A work contract is the core requirement (12 months, or more). A copy of your job contract will be required. Alternatively, if self-employed freelancer), a letter from the company stating you are self-employed, and company records proving it has been operational for over 12 months.
• You need to supply a copy of holding formal academic qualifications i.e. a university degree, business school, or professional qualification, or,
• alternatively, you need to prove you have at least 3 years of work experience in the job position you are being hired for.
• Not to have resided in Spain during the previous 5 years of making an application.
• Not to obtain income from a permanent establishment in Spain.

 

LNA has a 100% track record attaining Spanish residency

At Larrain Nesbitt Abogados, we have assisted hundreds of non-EU nationals, and their families, to successfully attain a Spanish residency permit since 2013.

Interested? Come and speak to Larraín Nesbitt Abogados’ friendly staff who will be pleased to guide you through the different residency options, choosing the one that appeals to you most.

You can contact us by e-mail at info@larrainnesbitt.com, by telephone on our UK line (+44) 07543 838 218, Spanish line (+34) 952 19 22 88, or by completing our contact form to book an appointment.

Larraín Nesbitt Abogados, small on fees, BIG on service.

Residency services available from LNA:

• Golden Visa Service (Investor Visa)
• Non-Lucrative Visa (Pensioner’s Visa)
• Lucrative Visa (Business Visa)
• EU-Family Regroupment (Marriage Visa)
• Digital Nomad Visa (Tax-free visa)
• Non-Domiciled Tax Scheme (Beckham’s Law)
• Spanish Residency permit for EU nationals

Marbella-based Larraín Nesbitt Abogados (LNA) has over 21 years’ taxation & conveyancing experience at your service. We offer a wide range of 50 legal and corporate services. Our team of native English-speaking lawyers and economists have a long track record successfully assisting expats all over Spain.

You can review here our client’s testimonials.

Please note the information provided in this article is of general interest only and is not to be construed or intended as substitute for professional legal advice. This article may be posted freely in websites or other social media so long as the author is duly credited. Plagiarizing, whether in whole or in part, this article without crediting the author may result in criminal prosecution. Ní neart go cur le chéile. VOV.

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