Start-up law and freelancer visa

In July, the Spanish authorities announced the "Startups Bill" (Ley de Startups), which Pedro Sánchez's government has been developing for over three years. With it, the authorities seek to attract young companies and "digital talents" to Spain, as reported in major Spanish media.

By "startup" the Spanish government means young (up to 7 years old) innovative companies with a turnover of up to €5,000,000 that are not publicly traded. More than half of the company's staff must be Spanish nationals. Privileges for such companies include: reduction of income tax from 25% to 15% in the first 4 years of operation, deferral of income tax and others. With these measures, the government wants to "catch up" with Italy and Portugal, which have already launched similar initiatives. Spain is placing a special bet on the Canary Islands: it is believed that the archipelago's digital companies are actively recruiting specialists from all over the world for relocation or remote work. A non-resident tax regime of up to 10 years will be introduced for remote workers.

It is also planned to issue a "freelancer's visa" for remote workers, in the future it could become one of the ways to get a Spanish residence permit. So far the most popular ways for obtaining a residence permit in Spain are the Golden Visa for investors (Golden Visa) and residence permits for financially independent persons (No lucrativa).

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