Barcelona Global contributes to the approval of the Startups Law

On Thursday, December 1, the Congress of Deputies approved the Law for the Promotion of the ecosystem of emerging companies, better known as the Startups Law.

After more than 5 years of work, which Barcelona Global began under the presidency of Gonzalo Rodés and which has had the support of hundreds of members and 14 law firms, this law comes out, opening a path for improvements to achieve the Barcelona of talent to which we aspire and to continue introducing improvements both in taxation and in the bureaucracy associated with attracting talent.

These are some of the main achievements for Barcelona and find out what this law means for Barcelona:

1. Facilitate the attraction of independent professionals and investors by making it possible for them to take advantage of the non-resident tax regime as the employees already did, thus correcting a discrepancy. This will make possible, for example, to attract professionals and investors experienced in scaling up companies that can provide services to startups andturn Barcelona into a true unicorn-generating hub
2. Enable startups to compete with corporations to attract talent through stock option plans, without taxation deactivating the incentive.
3. Speed up the hiring of international talent by facilitating the access to the NIE, allowing a period of 6 months to obtain it.
4. Enable the incorporation of international students of higher education already in Barcelona as local talent,as upon finishing their studies they will be able to have a permit for up to two years to look for a job or create companies
5. Encourage investments in startups by improving the taxation for venture capital fund managers and business angels.Private and individual investment in emerging companies is also encouraged by increasing the deductible amount and the exemption. 
6. Attract digital nomads to work from Barcelona for their companies abroad, granting them residence permits for up to three years, renewable.
7. Streamline the process for an innovative emerging company to be certified:if after three months the mandatory report on its innovative aspect is not issued, it is granted under the principle of positive silence.
8. Extend the consideration of emerging company to those with a turnover of up to 10 million euros within the considerationwith a time limit of 5 or 7 years from their creation.

This law opens a path for improvements to achieve the Barcelona of talent to which we aspire and it is time to continue introducing improvements both in taxation and in the bureaucracy associated with attracting talent.