Kenji arrived in Madrid from Tokyo in March 2022, hired by an investment bank. He filed Modelo 149 on time and was admitted to the article 93 regime (the special regime for workers who move to Spain, known as the Beckham regime). His wife, Aiko, does not work in Spain. In 2025 Kenji changed bank and he is now thinking of going back to Japan in mid-2027. His questions are those of everyone in the regime who looks at the calendar: which years do I file the 151 for? What about my wife? And the year I leave?
The obligation to file Modelo 151, the annual return under the regime, does not depend on what you earn or on whether there is tax to pay: it depends on whether you are inside the regime that year. And knowing whether you are means looking at four things.
The four conditions that oblige you to file the 151
- Having opted into the regime with Modelo 149, within six months of registering with the Spanish Seguridad Social (social security) or with the corresponding system.
- Being tax resident in Spain in that tax year. The regime lets you be taxed under non-resident rules, but only if you are resident.
- Being within the six tax years: the year in which you become resident and the following five.
- Not having given it up or been excluded in that tax year or an earlier one.
If all four are met, the 151 is filed. Always. There is no minimum amount that exempts you, and the Agencia Tributaria's instructions provide no exceptions by level of income.
Kenji's calendar, year by year
| Tax year | Situation | What he files |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Arrives in March; resident that year; first tax year of the regime | 151 |
| 2023 | Second tax year | 151 |
| 2024 | Third tax year | 151 |
| 2025 | Changes employer; still meets the requirements | 151 |
| 2026 | Fifth tax year | 151 |
| 2027 | Sixth and last tax year, but he leaves in June | Depends on whether he is resident that year |
Kenji arrived in March and spent more than 183 days of 2022 in Spain, so he was resident from the first year and the regime began that same tax year. Someone who arrives in November is usually not resident that year; in that case, the first tax year of the regime is the following one, and the five years are counted from there. It is a question of dates that is reviewed case by case, because the centre of interests and the family also play a part.
The change of employer and the year of departure
2025: another bank, the same regime
Changing company does not in itself mean losing the regime, but it does oblige you to check that the requirements are still met under the new contract: that the work is still performed for a company in the conditions the rules require and that no ground for exclusion appears. If everything fits, Kenji stays on the 151 and his new employer has to know about the regime in order to withhold at 24%. For that it needs the document proving the option.
2027: the last year, cut short
If Kenji leaves in June 2027 and that year spends fewer than 183 days in Spain, without having the centre of his interests or his family here, he stops being resident. A non-resident does not file the 151. He would be taxed in Spain as a non-resident, only on income obtained here, through Modelo 210 or by withholding. If instead he stays until October, he will be resident for the whole year, and his 151 for 2027 will be the last.
The departure date, therefore, decides which return is filed. It is planned before buying the ticket, not afterwards. If you are at that point, the Beckham regime form asks you for the dates and we tell you what applies to you.
And the family?
Aiko, Kenji's wife, does not work and has no income in Spain. As a resident with no income, she has no obligation to file anything. But if she had income of her own, she would file her own return: the ordinary Modelo 100 if she is not in the regime, or her own 151 if she had opted into it.
Since the 2023 reform, the spouse and children under twenty-five can opt into the regime if they move with the main holder and meet the conditions set by the rules, including that the sum of their net taxable bases is lower than the holder's. Each of them then files their own 151, separately, because there is no joint return under this regime. The details are in extending the regime to the spouse and children.
The regime concerns IRPF (personal income tax) and only IRPF. While you are in it you do not file Modelo 720 on assets abroad, and for the wealth tax you are taxed only on assets located in Spain. But if you have a business activity you still file VAT returns, and if you let out a property of yours in Spain that income goes in the 151, not outside it.
What Kenji includes in his 151 each year
Being obliged to file does not mean declaring everything you are paid anywhere in the world. Kenji's 151 includes his salary from the bank, any bonus or shares he receives for his work, wherever they come from, and the income he obtains in Spain other than from work: the interest on his Spanish account, dividends from Spanish shares or the rent from a flat in Madrid if he had one. What it does not include is the dividends from his Japanese shares or the interest on his account in Tokyo. That explains why two people in the regime with the same salary can have very different returns, and why the 151 shows tax to pay more often than people expect.
Three quick checks before each campaign
- Am I still resident? Count the days and check whether your family and your interests are still in Spain. Without residence, there is no 151.
- Which year of the regime am I in? From the first to the sixth, 151; from the seventh on, the ordinary Modelo 100 if you are still resident.
- Has anything changed that excludes me? A new activity, a change in the way the work is performed or income obtained through a permanent establishment can have an effect. If in doubt, it is reviewed before filing, not afterwards.
What many discover when they ask for a residence certificate
Being in the article 93 regime has an effect almost nobody expects: when proving residence to another country in order to apply a double taxation treaty, the position of someone in the regime is not that of an ordinary resident, and the certificate obtained does not always have the same effects. If you are going to need one, for example to receive Japanese dividends with reduced withholding, it is worth reading why two residence certificates are sometimes needed first.
One last detail about the year of arrival: the regime counts tax years, not years of stay. Someone who arrives in March uses almost the whole of their first tax year; someone who arrives in December and is already resident that year because of their family can use up one of the six with barely a month of Spanish salary. The arrival date is also something to plan.
Once the sums are done, Kenji will certainly file the 151 for 2022 to 2026, and the one for 2027 only if he is still resident that year. What he cannot do is skip it in some year thinking that his bank's withholding was enough: the 151 is filed even if it comes out at zero.
What people ask us about the obligation to file Modelo 151
What if I file Modelo 151 without being obliged to?
Filing more than you have to is not an offence, but it is not free either: it binds you to what you reported and, if there is a mistake, it has to be corrected. With Modelo 151 the sensible thing is to check the obligation first, and not to file just in case. The thresholds on this page are there precisely for that.
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.