Tax & Fiscal Lawyers in Spain

Spanish tax runs on deadlines that don't announce themselves: the Beckham Law election expires six months after your Social Security registration, the non-resident property return is due every 31 December, and inheritance tax falls due six months after a death. Most expat tax problems in Spain aren't clever-planning failures. They're missed windows. The firms below are verified English-speaking tax and fiscal specialists listed on ELS.

Verified tax & fiscal lawyers in Spain

21 verified English-speaking firms are currently listed for tax & fiscal work, pulled from the live ELS directory, so this list always matches the full listings. Every firm here is checked before listing: how we verify firms.

The Beckham Law: the six-month window

The Beckham Law caps tax on your Spanish-source income at a flat 24% (up to €600,000 a year) for up to six years, instead of progressive rates that reach 47%, higher still in some regions. You must apply (Modelo 149) within six months of the start-of-activity date on your Spanish Social Security registration. Miss the window and it's gone, with no retroactive application. On a €70,000 salary the difference between the flat rate and the standard scale is worth €10,000-15,000 a year.

Qualifying is not automatic: you need a Spanish employment contract or a qualifying remote-work arrangement (Digital Nomad Visa holders are eligible), and you must not have been Spanish tax resident in the previous five years. The application, the payroll setup and the annual filings are exactly the kind of paperwork that is easy to get wrong once and impossible to fix later.

Owning Spanish property from abroad: the taxes nobody tells you about

Non-resident owners owe Spanish tax every year even if the property earns nothing:

When you sell, non-residents pay 19% capital gains tax on the net gain, and the buyer withholds 3% of the price (Modelo 211) against it. Reclaiming any excess is your filing, on your deadline. Full detail in the capital gains guide and the property-tax overview.

Becoming tax resident: what changes

Spend more than 183 days a year in Spain and you're tax resident: worldwide income, progressive rates, and the savings scale on investment income running 19% to 30% (the 30% band, on gains and investment income above €300,000, applies since 1 January 2025). UK and US double-tax treaties prevent most double payment but not double filing: US citizens keep filing IRS returns (and FATCA forms like Form 8938) regardless of residency. The year you move is the year that decides most of your tax position, and it's decided by dates, not intentions, which is the point of taking advice before the move rather than after.

When do you actually need a tax lawyer in Spain?

For a single rental property and a straightforward annual Modelo 210, a gestor or accountant handles it cheaply and well. A tax lawyer, as opposed to a bookkeeper, matters when the stakes or the structure justify it:

• The year you become resident. Sequencing the move, the Beckham election and the sale of assets before or after the residency line routinely saves five figures.
• Cross-border income. Pensions, US retirement accounts, UK rental income, stock options: treaty positions need to be claimed correctly, not assumed.
• A dispute with Hacienda. Once the tax office opens an inspection or issues a surcharge (late Modelo 210 penalties run up to 150% of the unpaid tax), you need representation, not software.
• Selling property as a non-resident. The 3% retention, the CGT calculation with documented improvement costs, and the home-country top-up (most UK higher-rate taxpayers owe HMRC a small balance) belong in one pair of hands.

Frequently Asked Questions