Beckham Law in Marbella — pay 24% income tax for up to five years on the Costa del Sol
Beckham Law advice in Marbella for expats, remote workers and professionals relocating to the Costa del Sol. Flat 24% tax rate for up to five years. Application, management and optimisation.
Check my Beckham Law eligibility in Marbella- REAF
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The problem
Many professionals, remote workers and entrepreneurs who relocate to Marbella and the Costa del Sol are unaware that they may qualify for Spain's special expatriate tax regime — the Beckham Law — and can pay income tax at a flat 24% rate for up to five years instead of progressive IRPF rates reaching 47%. Others are aware of the regime but either apply too late (the window is just six months from Social Security registration) or fail to coordinate their departure from their home country with their arrival in Spain, creating unnecessary tax liabilities in both jurisdictions. The result is that many new Marbella residents pay far more tax than they are legally required to in the critical first years of their Spanish residency.
Our solution
BMC advises professionals and entrepreneurs relocating to Marbella and the Costa del Sol on every aspect of the Beckham Law: eligibility assessment, the application process with the AEAT, coordination with home-country advisors to manage exit tax implications, and annual management of the special regime filings for the full duration of the five-year period. We assess each client's individual income profile to confirm that the Beckham Law regime is more advantageous than standard IRPF — and advise on any planning steps that should be taken before officially taking up Spanish tax residence.
How we do it
Eligibility assessment
We analyse your situation against the Beckham Law requirements as reformed by the Ley de Startups 2023: you must not have been a Spanish tax resident in the five years prior to the move, and you must qualify under one of the eligible categories — employee transferred to Spain by a non-Spanish employer, remote worker employed by a foreign company, entrepreneur with a qualifying business project, director of a Spanish company, or highly qualified professional in an innovation or R&D entity. We confirm your eligibility and quantify the expected tax saving.
Pre-arrival planning
Before you officially become a Spanish tax resident, we advise on timing decisions that affect both jurisdictions: the date of your official move for tax purposes, treatment of existing assets under the applicable double tax treaty, any exit taxation in your home country that should be managed before departing (particularly relevant for German, US, and UK residents), and the optimal structure of your income sources in the first year of Spanish residency.
Beckham Law application
We prepare and submit the Beckham Law application to the AEAT using the official modelo 149, within the six-month window from your Social Security registration. We manage all AEAT correspondence until the formal approval is received and advise your Spanish employer or client on the correct withholding tax rate to apply to your payments from the date of application.
Annual filing and ongoing management
For the full duration of the regime, we prepare and submit your annual Spanish income tax return under the special expatriate regime (modelo 151), advise on the treatment of specific income types (rental, dividends, foreign employment income) under the Beckham Law rules, and conduct an annual review to ensure the regime continues to be advantageous given any changes in your circumstances.
I relocated from London to Marbella to work remotely for my UK employer. BMC confirmed I qualified under the Beckham Law, submitted the application within three months of my Social Security registration, and coordinated with my UK accountant on the exit tax position. The saving versus UK income tax was significant, and the peace of mind knowing everything was correctly structured from day one was worth every penny.
The Beckham Law in Marbella: Spain’s most powerful tax incentive for international residents
Marbella and the Costa del Sol have long attracted internationally mobile professionals, but the expansion of the Beckham Law under the 2023 Ley de Startups has made the region significantly more competitive as a base for high-earning remote workers, digital nomads, and entrepreneurs who previously would have chosen lower-tax jurisdictions. The combination of the 24% flat rate (compared to the standard IRPF top rate of 47%), the exclusion of worldwide income from the Spanish tax base, and the exemption from the modelo 720 overseas assets declaration makes Marbella an exceptionally attractive location for the right profile of international professional.
BMC has managed Beckham Law applications for clients relocating to the Costa del Sol from the UK, Germany, the US, France, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. Our team understands both the Spanish application process and the departure-side tax implications in each of these jurisdictions, enabling us to coordinate the full picture rather than just the Spanish filing.
The six-month rule: why acting immediately matters
The Beckham Law application must be submitted within six months of registering with the Spanish Social Security system. There is no extension and no second chance: if the window passes, the opportunity to benefit from the regime for that period of residence in Spain is permanently lost.
Many new arrivals in Marbella are focused on practical logistics — finding a home, enrolling children in school, setting up utilities — and delay engaging a tax advisor until after the six-month window has already expired. Others register with Social Security without realising that this starts the clock. The cost of missing the deadline — tens of thousands of euros in additional IRPF over five years — is entirely avoidable with early planning.
BMC recommends engaging us before or immediately upon arrival in Spain, so that the six-month clock is managed as a known deadline rather than a surprise.
Frequently asked questions
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