Spanish Government issued a draft Law for the promotion of the ecosystem of Start-ups, especially talking about what will be considered as such, the characteristics that a company must have to fit into this concept, and the tax benefits those companies will receive.
In any case, it will entail significant benefits for all these companies, in terms of economic growth, as well as many other advantages that, if the aforementioned draft materializes and comes into force, will provide a significant boost for all of them.
Measures to attract international talent to Spain
However, there is an additional point about this draft law which is very important in terms of Global Mobility, that will surely entail the evolution, globalization and economic growth of many of these emerging companies.
According to this draft law, new measures will come into force in order to stimulate foreign investment and attraction of international talent. The most important ones are the following:
1st: Speed and simplified procedure to request a NIF for foreign investor, whether it is a natural person or a legal entity.
2nd: The investor may request the assignment of a tax identification number before the Tax Authorities, and it is processed electronically.
3rd: Treasury shares in startups incorporated as limited companies, in order to execute a compensation plan with the acquisition of own shares of a maximum of 20% of the capital.
Telecommuting: New horizons for expats
The most interesting part, regarding international mobility of expatriates is concerned, is undoubtedly the regulation of digital nomads figure.
In this sense, the aforementioned draft law includes a modification of our special immigration law, including a new permit which allows digital nomads remain in Spain to perform a work or professional activity remotely for companies located outside the national territory through the exclusive use of computer, telematic and telecommunication systems.
It will also be analyzed that when this international worker develops a professional activity on his own (as a contractor or freelance), he will be able to work for a company located in Spain as long as the percentage of that work does not exceed 20% of their total professional activity.
Moreover, the shareholders of this permit will benefit from the advantages included in this special immigration law, such as fast processing, telematic request, positive administrative silence, etc.
Conclusion
In summary, the draft will implement important measures that will facilitate foreign investment in Spanish startups.
On the other hand, this law will try to attract international talent to Spain through a residence permit, which focuses on regulating a very recent reality that increased during Covid19 crisis: digital nomads. There are many employees or self-employed workers who currently telecommute around the world, many of them wishing to move to Spain with their relatives and continue teleworking for foreign companies or clients with whom they have a professional relationship.
In this sense, we must remember that the latest survey carried out by the British bank HSBC on the countries best valued by expatriate workers, states that Spain is ranked on 5th position.
This survey assesses different aspects that any expatriate takes into account when moving to a new country, such as salary, job challenges, work life balance, climate, culture, quality of life, etc. Unfortunately, Spain could not compete in terms of incomes with other European capitals. However, if digital nomads’ residence permit is approved, and the shareholders can maintain their payrolls or salaries from foreign companies or clients, Spain will become the most desirable option for expatriates.