Beckham Law vs France's impatriate regime (article 155 B): 2026 comparison

Verified as of 14 September 2026. Every fact below comes from the French tax code, the tax authority’s official guidance (BOFiP) or a large advisory firm’s page dated 2025 or 2026. These rules change; check the source before relying on a figure. For the rest of Europe, see our 2026 comparison of European expat regimes.

This article is general information, not tax advice.

What the French regime is

The régime des impatriés, in article 155 B of the French tax code, reduces the tax on people who come from abroad to work in France. Unlike Spain’s Beckham Law, it does not replace the tax scale with a flat rate. It exempts specific parts of your income for a limited period, and everything else is taxed normally.

How the benefit works

• The relocation bonus (prime d’impatriation) is exempt. Either at its real amount, if the employment contract sets it out in advance, or as a flat 30% of net total pay. The flat option is for people hired directly from abroad and, since November 2018, for people sent by a foreign employer.
• Pay for work done abroad is exempt, when the work abroad is in the employer’s direct interest; it is usually counted pro rata by days.
• Caps. Each year you choose one of two limits: the total exemption cannot exceed 50% of your total pay, or the exemption for foreign work cannot exceed 20% of your taxable pay.
• A pay floor. Your taxable pay must be at least what comparable jobs in France pay; any shortfall is added back.
• Some foreign investment income. 50% of foreign-source interest, dividends, royalties and gains on securities and intellectual property is exempt, when the payer is in a country whose treaty with France includes an administrative-assistance clause.

Duration and who qualifies

The regime lasts until 31 December of the eighth calendar year after the year you start work in France.

It applies to employees and managers called from abroad to work for a company established in France. That covers transfers within a group and people hired directly from abroad. You must not have been French tax resident in the five calendar years before starting, and you must be French tax resident in the years you claim it. An update of the official guidance on 11 August 2025 confirms that people who applied from abroad to a job advertised in France qualify too, as long as they really lived abroad when hired.

France and Spain side by side

Where each one tends to fit

France is built around a job with a company in France and a relocation package. Its benefit depends on how the pay is structured: the bonus, the days worked abroad and the 50% or 20% cap. Its window is longer than Spain’s.

Spain fits profiles France does not cover, such as a remote employee of a foreign company, and applies one simple rate to all employment income. Its limits are the six years, the absence of personal and family allowances and a strict six-month deadline.

Which one costs less depends on your salary, the structure of the package and your other income. That comparison needs both returns calculated with your figures; headline rules are not enough.

What to check before deciding

1. Whether your French offer includes a relocation bonus set out in the contract, or whether the flat 30% option applies to you.
2. How many days you would work outside France, and whether the 50% or the 20% cap suits you better.
3. Your foreign investment income and the countries it comes from.
4. On the Spanish side: your route, the five-year rule and your Modelo 149 deadline. The free diagnosis checks them in five minutes, and the savings calculator shows what the Beckham Law means on your salary.

Have the French side confirmed by an adviser in France. If you want the Spanish side modelled by a registered lawyer or tax advisor, you can ask for a review: we will look for one, with a fixed quote before you commit to anything.

Sources

• Légifrance, article 155 B of the Code général des impôts (version in force since 31/12/2018)
• BOFiP, BOI-RSA-GEO-40-10-10, scope (11/8/2025)
• BOFiP, BOI-RSA-GEO-40-10-20, exemptions (11/8/2025)
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, France, income determination (reviewed 24/4/2026)
• Mayer Brown, main measures of the 2026 finance law (6/2/2026)
• Spain: Law 35/2006 on Personal Income Tax, art. 93 (BOE)