The Congress of Deputies has definitively approved the Law on Startups that includes a visa for digital nomads, among other measures to promote entrepreneurship, attract talent and work remotely from Spain.
Some of these measures are the creation of a one-stop-shop for the certification of startups; fiscal benefits; and the reduction of bureaucracy and costs for the creation and investment in emerging technology-based companies.
Main advantages of the new Law
- Create a special Digital Nomad visa for people who work for themselves or for employers anywhere in the world in Spanish territory. It grants residence and work authorization to live and work in Spain for companies that are located outside the country.
- Facilitates procedures for newly created companies
- Reduces the tax burden of companies and entrepreneurs
- Streamlines the business creation process
- Establishes the bonus of 100% of the quota of the Special Self-Employment Regime for self-employed entities who simultaneously continue to be employed by others.
- Introduces modifications to the tax system for impatriates: independent professionals and investors will be able to pay 24% of their personal income tax for 5 years and declare their assets in Spain and not globally. This is intended to attract foreign talent and encourage the return of talent. Couples and family members can benefit from this scheme.
Latest measures incorporated
The Congress of Deputies has ratified this law called -officially called the Law for the Promotion of the Ecosystem of Emerging Companies - after incorporating the amendments from the Senate. The incorporated amendments are:
- Greater incentives for serial entrepreneurship (founding partners of startups that have created more than one) by not limiting the maximum number of startups that a person can create in order to benefit from the measures offered by the new law.
- Rural entrepreneurship is promoted by launching pilot projects in rural areas and aligning the initiatives provided for in the law with the Intelligent Rural Territory project.
- The requirements are made more flexible and the possibility of retaining talent that completes their studies in Spain to seek employment is incorporated. Non-EU students with a study visa may remain for 2 years to work in the country once they finish their studies.
- As mentioned at the beginning of the article, a special Digital Nomad visa is created for holders who work for themselves or for employers from anywhere in the world in national territory.
Tax advantages
It should be remembered that the Startup Law incorporates tax advantages in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and in the new digital-based economy:
- Reforms the tax system by reducing corporate tax to 15% for four years for companies that acquire the status of 'startup', which must be accredited by the National Innovation Company (Enisa) for five years or seven in the case of biotechnological companies.
- Modifies the 'stock options' regime, which from now on will be taxed only at the time of sale of the securities.
- Raises the tax-exempt investment threshold, and the commissions ('carried interest') of directors are considered income from work.
In the coming days it will be published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and will enter into force the day after its publication, a date that the government estimates to be January 2023.
If Spain was one of the best places in the world to live, now with the approved Startup Law it will also be one of the best places to work remotely from.
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