Steps to register your foreign vehicle in Spain
If you have bought a car abroad, and want to bring it to Spain, it is important that you know all the steps you must take to register your vehicle in Spain without problems.
The procedures to carry out any management are usually slow and confusing, many doubts can arise and, normally, few people know the steps to follow.
Steps to register a vehicle in Spain
If you move to Spain and want to continue driving your vehicle, you are probably wondering how to register a car or motorcycle in Spain. Registering a foreign car for change of residence may seem like an odyssey, so in Relomar we offer international vehicle transport services and registration and customs procedures management, so you can bring your car to Spain in the most comfortable way possible .
To bring a foreign vehicle to Spain, the first step will be to register it. Be the type of the vehicle, whether it is a new car or a second-hand car, if you want to drive a foreign car in Spain, we tell you the steps you must follow to do so.
- Gather the necessary documentation: the car purchase contract, the technical sheet, the certificate of conformity and the one that guarantees the quality and environmental standards of the car.
- If these papers are in another language, request a sworn translation into Spanish. When you go to present the papers you will have to bring a copy of both languages.
- Choose how you want to bring the vehicle: road, train, boat or plane, among others. This can vary quite a bit the final price of the import of the vehicle.
- Pass the Technical Inspection of Vehicles, ITV.
- Fill in form 576 in your Treasury office and pay the Special Tax on Certain Means of Transportation.
- If the car is new and you import it from the European Union, you must present the 300 or 309 model to credit or pay the VAT or the Property Transfer Tax. If the purchase was made outside the EU, you must present the Single Administrative Document that is usually delivered to Customs and cost about € 200, without adding 21% VAT.
- If it was bought in a company, you have to present the invoice in which the CIF or equivalent of it appears.
- You have to pay the Circulation Tax in the Town Hall where you are registered. There is no fixed amount and it depends on the session.
- Buy approved plates for your vehicle.
- Request an appointment at the Provincial Headquarters of the General Directorate of Traffic and, with all the above documents, pay the Registration Fee.
- Secure the vehicle: it is the last step but it is essential since, without it, you will not be able to drive in Spain.
Tax of Registration of a Car in the Treasury
The Registration Tax is a special tax for vehicles that the Treasury establishes for those vehicles that are registered for the first time or are imported from other countries. This tax may vary in cost depending on other fees or taxes at the time of registration, such as VAT.
The Registration Tax is the amount that a person must pay for first registering a car in Spain. To import your vehicle to Spain from abroad you must fill in the 576 model.
To register a foreign car in Spain, you must make an appointment at the Delegation of Finance and submit the following documents:
- Purchase invoice of the car translated into Spanish by a sworn translator. It must include the taxes paid.
- Reduced technical sheet of the car.
- If there is a change of residence it is necessary to present all documents for acceptance.
How much does a registration tax cost?
To know the cost of the registration tax of a car or motorcycle, it is necessary to know the total cost without VAT. In addition to knowing the tax base, to calculate the registration tax, we will have to be aware of the characteristics of the vehicle. We must know its status, if the vehicle is new and has been acquired in Spain or is a foreign import vehicle. We will specify below the type of vehicle: Motorcycle, car, motorhome, trailer …
We will also have to know other vehicle data, in order to proceed with the calculation of the registration tax: As if the vehicle is electric or uses fuel, the province of Spain in which it will be registered, the CO2 emissions it emits (these appear in the technical data sheet of the vehicle), if it is a vehicle for exclusive use by a disabled owner, the use that will be given to the vehicle (private use for traffic, use for commercial purposes such as a taxi or a driving school car) ,…etc.
How much does it cost to register a foreign car in Spain?
“How much does it cost to register a foreign car in Spain?” Perhaps this is the most frequent question we ask ourselves when we want to register a vehicle in Spain. There is no fixed amount of what it means to register a foreign vehicle in our country and it will depend on several factors such as the circumstances of our vehicle.
We may want to know the registration price of a new import car, the price for changing the registration of our foreign car or knowing the registration price of other types of vehicles (such as the price for registering a motorcycle or a trailer). The pre-delivery costs would be added to the registration price, that is, those expenses for the procedures of the agency and the payment of the circulation tax.
In any case, we observe that the cost of registering a foreign car in Spain will vary depending on the current registration fees, the method chosen for transport and the bureaucratic amounts you must pay, among other procedures.
But, to give you an idea, we offer you an approximate price of the cost of fixed expenses in terms of registration of a foreign vehicle in Spain: The price of registering a vehicle would be around 1,500€. To this amount, the additional expenses should be added.
Documentation to register an import car
To register a foreign vehicle in Spain, once we have completed the transfer of the vehicle to Spanish territory, we have to collect and present a series of documents in the corresponding instances (DGT and Treasury)
Model 576 or Special Tax on certain means of transport will be necessary for the payment of the registration tax. In addition it will also be necessary for our foreign vehicle to pass the ITV.
The documents that you have to present at the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) for car registration are:
- ITV card along with copies.
- Car bill or sales contract. Remember that you must carry your sworn translation in Spanish.
- Payment of the Special Tax on Certain Means of Transportation, (IEDMT) such as VAT or Property Transfer Tax.
- The document that demonstrates the application for registration requested from the DGT.
Is vehicle transfer an expensive or cheap process?
As we have seen, to move a vehicle from another country to Spain you must carry out many procedures and the price varies depending on them. The different procedures and elections, for example the method of moving the vehicle, can vary by thousands of euros, so do not hesitate to make all the necessary accounts. If you wish, in Relomar we can handle all these administrative procedures for you.
In which country are you most interested in buying a car to import into Spain?
For their cars of big brands and exclusive designs, many are those who prefer to buy their car in Switzerland and take it to Spain. Others, on the other hand, choose to bring their car from Russia. Switzerland, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy …
Whatever the origin of the vehicle, there are few who consider the option of buying their car abroad and want to import it later to their residence in Spain.
Although there is no exact country where it is more profitable to buy a foreign car, the truth is that almost all Spaniards opt for Germany and Italy, especially for the German country.
How much does it cost to register a German or Italian car in Spain?
The price of importing a German or Italian vehicle to Spain is very similar to the average of the European Union; The amount is usually around 1,500 euros.
Even so, it is a variable figure that goes from 700 to 2,000 euros, depending on how polluting the vehicle is.