Hendrik, his accounts in Amsterdam and a wife who did not apply for the regime
Hendrik de Vries is Dutch, works as director of engineering at a company in Madrid and has been in the regime of article 93, commonly called the Beckham regime, since 2025. In the Netherlands he keeps a current account with 180,000 €, a share portfolio worth 300,000 € and holdings in investment funds worth 70,000 €. His wife, Femke, came with him, but she works part-time for a Spanish NGO and decided not to file Modelo 149, the form used to opt into the regime, because on her salary it did not pay. The current account and the portfolio are in both their names.
A friend told Hendrik that "with the Beckham there's no 720". That is true for him. It is not true for Femke.
The rule: whoever is in the regime does not file the 720
The information return on assets and rights held abroad, Modelo 720, is filed by Spanish tax residents who exceed the thresholds. Anyone who has opted for the regime in article 93 is not obliged to file it while the regime lasts. The logic is consistent with the rest of the system: article 93.2 taxes the taxpayer under the rules for non-residents, so their assets abroad do not generate income taxable in Spain, with some exceptions, and article 93.1 makes them subject to Spanish wealth tax on a territorial basis only.
The exemption is personal. It applies to the person in the regime, not to their family or to the assets they share.
Femke's case: the obligation follows the person
Femke is tax resident in Spain and is taxed under ordinary IRPF (Spanish personal income tax). For her, the Modelo 720 rules apply in full. The form is organised by codes: C for accounts, V for securities, I for collective investment schemes, S for insurance and annuities and B for property. The 50,000 € threshold is looked at by block: the accounts block; the block for securities, funds, insurance and annuities; and the property block.
Applied to the assets in her name:
| Block | Assets | Amount | Over 50,000 €? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounts (C) | Joint current account | 180,000 € | Yes |
| Securities and funds (V and I) | Joint portfolio; the funds are Hendrik's alone | 300,000 € in the portfolio | Yes |
| Property (B) | None | 0 € | No |
The fact that the account and the portfolio are joint does not remove her obligation. Exactly how joint ownership is declared is set out in the instructions for the form, and they have to be followed carefully, because this is one of the most frequent sources of mistakes. The funds in Hendrik's name alone do not go into Femke's return.
Modelo 720 is an obligation of each individual. If your spouse or your adult children are resident, are not in the article 93 regime and are holders, authorised signatories or beneficiaries of assets abroad above the thresholds, they may be obliged to file even though the main person in the regime is not. Check this before the first deadline, not after a request from the tax office.
What Hendrik still has to do
Being exempt from Modelo 720 does not mean having no obligations:
| Obligation | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Modelo 151 every year | Worldwide employment income and Spanish-source income |
| Wealth tax on a territorial basis, where applicable | Only assets and rights located or exercisable in Spain |
| Notices under the regime using Modelo 149 | Waiver, exclusion or the end of the posting, when they happen |
| Keeping the documents for his assets abroad | Needed when the regime ends |
Modelo 151 is the regime's annual return. If Hendrik held crypto-assets in custody outside Spain, the obligation to file Modelo 721 would have to be reviewed separately, under its own rules; we do not treat it as settled by the answer on the 720.
The year the regime ends
The part that surprises people most comes at the end. Hendrik entered the regime in 2025, so, if nothing changes, he will apply it until 2030: the year of the move and five more. In 2031 he will move to ordinary IRPF, and his position at 31 December 2031 will be the first he has to examine for Modelo 720 purposes.
Let us see in figures how it would look, assuming these balances on that date:
- Accounts: 62,000 € in the Amsterdam account. It exceeds 50,000 €: the accounts block has to be declared.
- Securities and funds: 45,000 € in shares (V) and 30,000 € in funds (I). Separately neither exceeds 50,000 €, but they belong to the same block: 45,000 + 30,000 = 75,000 €. It has to be declared.
- Property: a flat in Utrecht bought for 40,000 € with his brother. It does not exceed 50,000 €: that block is not declared.
A year later, whether he has to file again depends on how things have moved. If a block already declared rises by more than 20,000 € compared with the last return filed, it has to be declared again. If in 2032 the account goes from 62,000 € to 85,000 €, the rise is 23,000 € and a new return is required for that block. If it only rises to 75,000 €, it is not. The guide when Modelo 720 has to be filed again works through the cases.
The penalty regime as it stands today
For years Modelo 720 was feared for its special penalty regime. Those specific penalties were struck down following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 27 January 2022, case C-788/19. That does not make the form voluntary: filing it late or incorrectly still has consequences under the general rules of the Ley General Tributaria, the Spanish General Tax Law. We explain this in Modelo 720 penalties after the CJEU judgment.
What to do now, with years to spare
While you are in the regime is the best time to prepare for the day you leave it:
| Task | Why now |
|---|---|
| List every account, portfolio, insurance policy and property outside Spain | It avoids omissions in the first ordinary year |
| Keep acquisition dates and values | Modelo 720 asks for information that is hard to rebuild later |
| Review the position of each resident family member who is not in the regime | They may be obliged already, not in six years' time |
| Note the last year of the regime | It marks the first 31 December that will have to be reviewed |
If you would like us to review your family's obligations, including those who are not in the regime, you can tell us about your situation on the Beckham form. To see how everything changes when it ends, read the year after the regime ends, and if your family is thinking of joining too, extending the regime to your spouse and children.
As for the assets Hendrik holds in the Netherlands, how that country taxes them must be confirmed by his adviser there; we deal with the Spanish side and coordinate with whoever he appoints.
The reporting obligations of someone in the regime, and those of their family, are reviewed within the service explained on the Salama Tax page on workers moving to Spain.