Tax
Bizkaia Displaced Workers Regime: the Foral Alternative to the Beckham Law
Full management of Bizkaia's special regime for displaced workers: eligibility, non-residence evidence, the annual election and application for up to 11 tax years.
Why a move to Bizkaia calls for a different regime from the Beckham Law
Our process for the art. 56 bis displaced workers regime
Eligibility assessment
We verify the six tests of art. 56 bis: prior non-residence (five tax years plus the date-to-date count), cause of the move, highly qualified work, 85% dedication, contribution group 1 and effective performance in Spain.
Non-residence evidence file
We build the proof of five years abroad: tax residence certificates where they exist and, for countries without them, passports, immigration records, residence permits, contracts, housing and economic life abroad.
Election and annual return
We exercise the election in each year's foral tax return and prepare the full filing: 30% exemption, documented relocation expenses and compatibility with the ordinary deductions.
Monitoring through the regime
We track compliance year by year (work-abroad limit, dedication, employer changes) and manage the exit to the ordinary regime when the eleven years run out.
The challenge
Anyone relocating to Bilbao or elsewhere in Bizkaia discovers late that the state Beckham Law does not apply to them: under the Economic Agreement foral law governs, and the available regime is article 56 bis of Norma Foral 13/2013, with its own tests (highly qualified work, 85% dedication, contribution group 1) and an entry condition, five prior years of non-residence, whose proof decides the case. A poorly framed file, or a tax assessment for earlier years accepted without analysis, can close off the regime for an entire decade.
Our approach
We assess full eligibility before any move: whether the activity fits the qualified-work catalogue of Instruction 4/2023, verification of the contribution group and dedication, and above all the evidentiary viability of non-residence over the five preceding tax years. We build the evidence file, exercise the election in the return and accompany its application year by year for up to eleven tax years, including documentation of relocation expenses up to the 20% cap.
The special regime for displaced workers under article 56 bis of Norma Foral 13/2013 is Bizkaia's answer to the state Beckham Law, which does not apply in foral territory. It grants a 30% exemption on gross employment income and a deduction for relocation expenses capped at 20%, for the year of the move and the ten tax years that follow.
The difference with the state regime is not only in the figures but in the mechanics: there is no fatal six-month Form 149 window. The election is exercised each year in the foral tax return itself, which gives room to those who arrive without prior planning. In exchange, the entry filter is more selective: highly qualified work, direct and principal dedication, contribution group 1 and five prior years of non-residence that must be provable.
Where these files are won
In our experience the art. 56 bis is decided on two fronts. The first is the qualification of the activity: Instruction 4/2023 requires the work to be directly and principally related to R&D, scientific-technical, innovation, financial, management or senior commercial activities, with a minimum dedication of 85%. Documenting the real duties of the contract well avoids later disputes.
The second, and more delicate, is the proof of non-residence. For returnees from treaty countries with tax certificates it is a formality; for Gulf returnees, where a usable certificate often does not exist, the file requires reconstructing physical absence through passports, official immigration records, residence permits, contracts and economic life abroad. And where the Hacienda Foral has already issued assessments for earlier years treating the taxpayer as resident, the defence of those assessments and access to the regime are a single strategy to be decided with all the numbers on the table.
The full detail of the regime, with the comparison against art. 93 and the worked example, is in our Basque Beckham guide.
We open every engagement with a prior opinion on eligibility and evidentiary viability before committing processing fees: if the regime does not hold, it is better to know before opting in.
What our Bizkaia displaced workers service includes
Eligibility opinion
Analysis of the six tests with their evidence: prior residence, cause of the move, qualification of the activity, dedication, contribution group and place of performance.
Non-residence file
Documentary reconstruction of the five years abroad, including countries without tax residence certificates: immigration records, permits, contracts, housing and banking.
Annual election and foral return
Exercise of the election and preparation of the return with the 30% exemption, documented relocation expenses and compatible ordinary deductions.
Defence against assessments for prior years
Where the Hacienda Foral disputes residence for earlier years: appeal, suspension without guarantee up to 20,000 euros, consistent non-resident regularisation and a joint strategy with access to the regime.
Planning across the eleven years
Annual compliance monitoring, optimisation of documentable expenses and preparation of the transition to the ordinary regime when the window closes.
Do you qualify?
Check in 30 seconds whether your situation qualifies for Bizkaia Displaced Workers Regime (Art. 56 bis): the Basque Beckham.
The Beckham Law really does not apply in Bizkaia?
How much does the 56 bis regime save?
Which relocation expenses are deductible?
Is there a filing deadline like the state Form 149?
Analysis and perspectives
Publications
Service Lead
Associate - Tax Division
Lucia Mendez, Associate - Tax Division at BMC. Specialising in Personal income tax (IRPF), Wealth tax, Non-resident taxation (IRNR).
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Bizkaia Displaced Workers Regime (Art. 56 bis): the Basque Beckham
Tax
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