From 2.3 billion euros in tax deductions to only 4: the resounding fiscal fiasco of Calviño's law to launch startups

Law 28/2022 to promote the ecosystem of emerging companies, much better known as the Startup Law, is approaching four years in force and, however, the effectiveness of the regulations continues to be highly debated, as confirmed by a report commissioned by the same Government in which its almost zero fiscal impact is reported. This is one of the works prepared by the National Forum of Emerging Companies that takes stock and confirms that between 2023 and 2024, barely 4 million euros were granted in tax deductions in corporate tax under the normal, a minuscule figure if one takes into account that the Government estimated in its preparatory documents an impact of more than 2,000 million euros on collection.

This is due to an aspect already criticized at the time of writing the project. The star tax measure was a four-year reduction of 10 points in corporate tax, from 25% to 15%. The problem is that the vast majority of companies targeted by the law do not generate profits, so they do not pay this tax.

To calculate this bill, the Ministry of Economy then led by Nadia Calviño understood that there would be 5,000 companies with the 'emerging company' seal and an average turnover of two million euros. However, currently, the number of companies certified by Enisa is close to half of the forecasts. Of these, only 365 checked the box in their corporate declaration to take advantage of the deduction.

The law was approved by consensus in the Congress of Deputies and publicly celebrated by the sector, although in the background it has always commented that it fell short and the bulk of the measures were not substantial. In fact, just before calling elections, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced a review of the text and the launch of the Scaleup Law, with the aim that more innovative companies could benefit from this legislative framework. More than a year ago, contacts began in line with European movements to promote investment in technology companies.

The report, one of the works carried out this year by this advisory council controlled by the Government, also confirms the failure of the reform of employee share plans and their new tax treatment. Not only have they not become popular, but in the years in which the legislation was in force, fewer and fewer companies have chosen this route to attract talent with a percentage of the company. From 194 companies that granted so-called stock options in 2023, it increased to 144 in 2024.

For this reason, the members of the commission advocate reformulating the averages and carrying out a more in-depth analysis, especially in those instruments "where the low capacity to generate profits conditions access to some incentives", as well as new incentives for investors in venture capital funds.

Positive effects

Not all measures have left a testimonial mark. There are two that can be considered to have fulfilled their objective. One is the increase of up to 100,000 euros in the tax deduction for investing in newly created companies, which caused the year after passing the law the number of citizens betting on this type of company to skyrocket by 32%, despite the fact that the general context for startups in 2023 was bad.

On the other hand, the regulations also included measures to facilitate the issuance of visas to entrepreneurs and qualified workers who wanted to work in Spain under a special tax regime. This measure has become especially effective with the so-called digital nomads, people who telework for foreign companies from Spain and whose presence has multiplied after the pandemic. The latest census included in the report indicates that in September 2025 there were more than 40,000 workers in this regime, four times the number in January 2024.