Last Thursday, November 3, 2022, the Government of Spain approved the Startups Law, a law that may come to place the country at the forefront in attracting investors.
It includes important tax measures and relaxes procedures to encourage the creation of and investment in startups in the technology sector. It favors the establishment of teleworkers and “digital nomads”. Its most important points to highlight may be:
- Tax incentives for workers, investors, and startups, which includes preferential treatment of remuneration through stock options.
- Company incorporation procedures are streamlined, carried out in a single step and by telematic means, thus saving notary and registry costs.
- Reduction of the corporate tax from 25% to 15% and in the Non-Resident Income Tax for 4 years; as well as the deferral of the payment of the tax debt without interest for a period of 12 and 6 months respectively.
- The use of stock options, in the form of remuneration, is facilitated and their tax exemption is increased to 50,000 euros, and they are taxed when they are liquidated.
- The deduction base for investment increases from €60,000 to €100,000 and the deduction rate becomes 50%.
- Non-resident nomadic foreigners, as well as employees of startups, can access a special 5-year visa.
- The double Social Security contribution is eliminated for those who are self-employed and simultaneously employed.
- Collaboration with public administrations, universities, public research organizations and technology centers is also encouraged. This prevents the creation of sandboxes or test licenses in regulated sectors.
However, we must not forget that it has been approved in the Congress, it still remains to be approved by the Senate, this advance, however little it may seem apparently, can make that attraction of investment that it intends to obtain, start to work.
