Julien is French and has lived in Barcelona since 2025. He works remotely for a software company in Lyon that has no presence at all in Spain, and he opted into the article 93 regime (the special regime for workers who move to Spain, known as the Beckham regime) through the international remote working route. He earns 110,000 euros a year. His company, having no establishment in Spain, does not apply Spanish withholding to him. In the spring of 2026 he prepares his first Modelo 151, the annual return under that regime, and discovers that it shows a whole year's tax to pay: 26,400 euros.
It is not a mistake. It is the logical consequence of being paid by a payer that does not withhold. Julien's question is no longer how much, but how a figure like that is paid, and the answer has more options than it seems.
The ways of paying the 151
Modelo 151 can only be filed online, during the income tax campaign, which ends on 30 June. For the payment there are four routes:
| Route | How | When it is charged | Point to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct debit | The account is given when filing | On the last day of the deadline | It closes a few days before 30 June; the exact date is set each year by the order governing the campaign |
| NRC | The bank or the electronic office's payment gateway generates the reference (the NRC) before filing | When the NRC is obtained | It works until the last day |
| Split into two instalments | 60% on filing and 40% by direct debit for the autumn | June and early November | No interest and no surcharge; the second instalment has to be by direct debit |
| Ordinary deferral or instalment plan | Filed with an acknowledgement of debt and requested at the same time | According to the schedule granted | It accrues late-payment interest |
The 60% and 40% split exists in the 151 just as in the ordinary income tax return, and it is the option that costs least: nothing. The only practical requirement is that the return is filed within the deadline and that the second payment is by direct debit from a collaborating bank.
Julien's calendar
Julien chooses to split the payment into two instalments. This is what he pays and when:
- Employment income: 110,000 euros. The regime's flat rate up to 600,000 euros: 24%. Tax: 26,400 euros.
- Withholdings: 0 euros, because his French payer has no obligation to withhold in Spain.
- First instalment, 60%, in June: 15,840 euros.
- Second instalment, 40%, in early November: 10,560 euros.
If Julien did not have that money in June, he could file with an acknowledgement of debt and ask for a twelve-month instalment plan. At 26,400 euros he is below the 50,000 euros that Order HFP/311/2023 allows to be deferred without a guarantee. The cost would be the late-payment interest: with a rate of around 4% and twelve monthly instalments of 2,200 euros, about 570 euros over the year.
If you are already in the regime and want us to review how your next return will come out, the Beckham regime form collects your situation regarding payers and income.
Why Julien's whole tax comes out to pay, and how to soften the blow
The article 93 regime applies 24% withholding to employment income, but only when there is a payer obliged to withhold in Spain. A foreign company with no permanent establishment here is not. That does not change the tax; it changes when it is paid. Instead of paying it month by month through the payroll, it is paid in one go in June of the following year.
The practical solution is simple and almost nobody applies it from the first month: set aside 24% of what you are paid each month, in a separate account. For Julien, 2,200 euros a month. When June comes, the money is there. People who do not do this usually find that the first year of the regime is also the year of the first squeeze.
There is another reason not to leave it: the Seguridad Social (Spanish social security). If his company does not pay contributions in Spain and there is no certificate keeping him in the French system, Julien also has a contributions problem that the 151 does not solve and that has to be looked at separately.
The 40% is charged in November to the account you gave in June. Anyone who changes bank over the summer, or closes their Spanish account because they are leaving the country, ends up with a returned charge and that part of the debt in the enforcement period, with a surcharge. If you are going to change account, pay the second instalment earlier or notify the change in good time.
What happens if 30 June slips past
If Julien does not file on time, the 60% and 40% split is no longer available: it is a facility of the campaign, not of late returns. A return filed afterwards carries the recargo in article 27 (the surcharge for filing late unprompted), of 1% plus one point per full month, and payment has to be in full to keep the 25% reduction of that surcharge. With 26,400 euros of tax, each month of delay adds 264 euros before the reduction. That is why, if the problem is one of cash, the reasonable thing is to file on time with a deferral application, not to file late.
Other income that changes what you pay
Julien only has his salary, but many people in the regime have something more, and it affects the tax:
- Spanish-source dividends and interest. They are taxed in the 151 on the savings scale, not at 24%. They usually carry 19% withholding, and if they go beyond the first bands of the scale something comes out to pay.
- Gains from selling assets located in Spain, such as shares in a Spanish company or a property. They are taxed on the savings scale and often without prior withholding: it is one of the most frequent causes of large amounts to pay.
- Foreign-source income other than employment income. Dividends from French shares, interest on an account in Lyon or the sale of a flat in France are not taxed in Spain while the regime lasts. They are not included in the 151 and there is nothing to pay on them here.
Which income goes in and which does not is the most delicate part of the regime, and it is explained in which income goes in Modelo 151. And if as well as working for an employer you have some activity of your own, there are specific nuances in autónomos (the self-employed) and the Beckham regime.
What is worth knowing before paying for the first time
Each taxpayer files and pays their own 151. There is no joint return. If your spouse also opted into the regime, they file theirs; if they did not and are resident, they file the ordinary Modelo 100 with their income.
Payment has to be made from an account with a Spanish collaborating bank, both for the NRC and for direct debit. If you are still paid into a foreign account, it is worth opening the Spanish one before April and leaving the amount of the return in it.
And paying on time does not close the matter for good: the tax authority can review the 151 for four years. Keeping the withholding certificates, the documents for each sale and the proof of which income was treated as foreign is part of paying properly.
In Julien's case, it is also worth keeping the contract with the Lyon company and the remote working documents with which he opted into the regime. If one year the Agencia Tributaria reviews his 151, the first thing it will look at is whether he still met the conditions on which he entered, and that proof is the same he used for Modelo 149.
Common doubts about paying Modelo 151
Can I set up a direct debit for Modelo 151 on the last day of the deadline?
No. With Modelo 151, as with the rest, direct debit closes several days before the deadline ends, and that margin is not negotiable. Anyone who finds out on the last day can only pay another way, and if there is no time left the debt enters the enforcement period with its surcharge. It is one of the most avoidable mistakes we see.
Does the 24% apply to everything I earn?
No. It applies to employment income up to 600,000 euros; above that, the rate goes up. And capital gains and investment income follow their own scale.