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Importing a car into Spain from UK
Legendary helpful member
With much gratitude to Poppy23 who has sourced this information, I offer the following as a definitive guide on what to expect when importing a car into Spain. I have removed all identifiers of people concerned, and the name of the company involved so this cannot be misconstrued as advertising. This is intended to be a generic "What you can expect" guide.
Importing a car into Spain from UK
The company selected will take care of the whole matriculation process from start to finish.
The first thing they will need to arrange is the correct paperwork in preparation for the visit to the ITV station. Unless the car being imported has a CoC (Certificate of Conformity), all vehicles imported into Spain need by law to have an inspection by a qualified matriculation engineer to confirm that the vehicle matches the specification on the vehicle’s documentation,
The cost of the two inspections is around (varies by company) 210€. If you are in possession of a Certificate of Conformity, the cost will be reduced.
They will then put the car through an importation test combined with an ITV test. The importation test is a one off, but the standard ITV test is carried out periodically. At the end of the test you will be given a document from the ITV inspectors that explains to anyone concerned (e.g. Policia Local or Guardia Civil traffic officers) that your vehicle is in the process of being imported. This along with a copy of your vehicle’s documentation should always be kept in the vehicle until you receive your new Spanish paperwork and number plates.
The following day the appropriate papers are normally ready for collection from the office at the ITV station. Your documents are then processed through the traffic authorities and all the taxes and legal fees are paid. (The paperwork is prepared by the selected company's lawyer, who will normally be a specialist in this field.)
The paperwork will be ready for collection from the traffic department when they contact the company you have chosen (the waiting time is subject to the traffic department releasing the finalised car documents, there is no control over this). Once your new Spanish registration documents and the new number plates are obtained, the company handling your import will normally deliver the documents to you.
As an example, the fee charged by one particular company is 599€ (this price covers lawyer’s fees, traffic department fees, processing of paperwork, processing the payment of taxes and new number plates). It is likely that the fee you pay will be around this mark.
In addition, you will be liable for road tax. The road tax price is set by your local town hall, road tax in Spain varies from 100-150€ and is paid pro rata. This will be paid on your behalf and you will be given the official receipt at the end of the process.
Registration tax is due on most vehicles coming into Spain with emissions over 120 g/Km. The Spanish authorities charge 9.75% of the Hacienda (tax office) value which for a vehicle with emissions of for example 162g/Km and is valued at 2,633€. In this case, the tax would be 256€. An exemption can be granted if you have owned the car for at least 6 months, you register the car within two months of obtaining your first Padron and you can prove that you have been living in the UK by way of a work contract or P60 for example.
As the UK is now outside of the EU, import duty and IVA may be levied. If the vehicle is registered in Northern Ireland this does not apply.
Your headlights will need to conform with Spanish law. They may be able to be realigned or may need to be replaced with new units if your headlights are of the UK type and cannot be manually switched to dip to the other side. If they can be realigned, the price will start from about 70€ per unit. Photos of the lights would need to be provided to give an accurate quotation. The import company will be able to order the correct headlights, if necessary.
Please note that if your vehicle has one rear fog light it needs to be on the left hand or centre of the vehicle.
The tyres on the vehicle must be identical on the same axle, as an example you can have two Michelin tyres on the front and two Goodyear tyres on the rear. The spare wheel is not checked during the inspection.
Documents that will be required for re-registration
- Registration document of the vehicle.
- Photocopy of NIE certificate (or Certificate of Residence or TIE)
- Photocopy of passport
- A copy of One of the following as proof of address:
- TIE (both sides)
- Padron (mandatory for tax exemption)
- Escritura (deeds) to property,
- Rental agreement
- Water or Electric bill (In name of person registering the car, dated in the last 3 months, and in Spanish)
- last Suma bill
Please note that all the above documents must be in the same name that appears on the vehicle’s registration documents, or sales invoice/contract.
Example of costs in Euros
599 € Fee for dealing with the full registration/matriculation process
210 € ITV and Engineers report (100€ less with a CoC)
256 € Registration tax
1,065 € SUB TOTAL
PLUS Import duty and VAT.
PLUS Road tax
PLUS Headlights.
The fee would need to be paid on the day of the ITV test, as all the relevant authorities have to be paid. The registration tax is also due on this day as the process has been started and the hacienda (Tax Office) will need to be paid. This can normally be paid by card or bank transfer.
