cost to register u.k vehicle spanish plates

[donna bagnall]

i know this must have been asked before however, will ask again, what is the process to register u.k vehicle on to spanish plates and how much does it cost
thanks in advance

[Campo Kenny]

Donna I will give you a ball park figure as I've done it twice myself. I paid my legal person out there who does our yearly taxes etc. to do it and it worked out both times at circa 850 euros.

This included obtaining an engineers report, taxes , all dealings with traffico etc. and her fees, it even included the new plates.

Other bits to budget for are a set of replacement left hand drive headlights and the fee for the ITV (MOT).

I must point out the other variation on the cost is the taxes which relate to the vehicle, i.e. a one year old Ferrari will be taxed a hell of a lot more than an old Suziki Vitara.

Good luck anyway,

Kenny

[dxf]

Hi Donna,

Ball park figures for a DIY job are 500 to 600 depending upon engine size, pm me and I will send you our "crib sheet" with the details of necessary trips to various offices to get the various bits of paper you need Dave X F

[Campo Kenny]

Totally agree with the above comments and costings provided you don't mind a lot of running around/getting lost and knock backs through having the wrong paperwork etc, If you live here full time and time is not an issue then no problem, but I found that with visiting for only 2 or 3 week periods paying someone an extra £100 or so was more than worth it......you'll save the most if you or your husband can fit the lights yourselves. All in my humble opinion of course.

Dave out of interest you obviously know a bit about this, can you answer a question for me. A friend a year or two back wanted to take an old S class Merc over. It was a 97 R plate car bought here for £5500. The tax on it to pay for matriculation was horendous when he enquired so he junked the idea, new price of the vehicle was originally £58,000 plus and I believe this was the problem. I took a much newer but cheaper when new car over and tax was not a problem ....how does the taxing work for future reference?

Cheers
Kenny

[prime mover]

Sorry to be a pain in the ass but I have to ask the obvious question, why would you want to have a right hand drive car in a left bjhand drive country, it's wierd, to me anyway

[dxf]

Its simple - if you have a "good" car then to replace it in Spain costs shed loads of money for the same thing. Many women prefer to drive RHD cars because they can judge where the ditch at the side of the road is easier. Also, when first here and unsure if this is the country for you, it is easier to keep the same car in case you return to England.

[Chrissie]

dxf:
Do i detect a touch of SEXISM in your comments?

[Campo Kenny]

Daves quite correct about the cost issue. Second hand vehicles in Spain are a joke price wise even though new prices are similar.
When we were last over a bloke we know paid 13500 euros for a certain 4x4 which I know without doubt I'd pick up here for the equivelent of 8500 euros or maybe less.

As for driving a RHD over there it's no problem........for every bad point on the road vision wise there's a good point for it to balance it out (is a bummer at toll booths on your own though).

If you can drive and are compentent it makes no odds if it's LHD or RHD........I've even used LHD in the UK if I've liked the car. I'd certainly not really consider a used LHD motor even if I go to live there............new is a different matter.

Kenny

[masterob]

Many women prefer to drive RHD cars because they can judge where the ditch at the side of the road is easier.

If that is so, I wonder why are there not more LHD cars in the UK so that women (why women?) can judge the side of the road?? Bizzare

[spanish_lad]

right hand drive.. a pain on your own at the airport carpark, mercadona car park, drive through mcdonalds, toll booths on motorways...



i've been told recently that a car *can* be transfered for €300 all in... wether this is true or not is another matter which i shall investigate when the person who told me actually has spanish plates not english ones.


i take it that the traffico set the value of the vehicle, or can you tell them what it is ?? do they check it? can you say "oh i bought it 7 months ago for 400 quid" ?? when really it cost you 3000 pounds.. in order to pay less tax... ???

[Campo Kenny]

SL, Agree on the toll booths etc., see my posting above. As for the tax..............I think it goes on the value of the vehicle when new applicable to cars up to 10 years old (that's what i was told)

So if you brought two cars over, say a 2001 Saxo and a 2001 Merc S600 the Saxo would be billed at x % of £7000 whils the Merc would attract x % of £85000.

I am told and again don't know for sure that if you bring a car of over 10 years old across the tax is minimal...........sounds like a nice idea to find a low mileage, pampered one owner minter of 1995 vintage to me.
Kenny

[dxf]

Hi,

No not sexism, just what most of the 100 or so customers have said. Tax from hacienda is for up to 14 year old cars, UNLESS within 30 days of deciding to "abandon England" you change the plates.

Dave

[Babby]

4 x 4s in the UK have been outpriced out of the market, they are expensive to run, expensive to tax, etc. so they are practically being given away. A friend of ours is over there at the moment buying one because they are so much cheaper. For other models of cars - not so sure about price differences.

[toddcl]

Babby

Won't he get stung for a hefty import tax as he has not owned the car for six months prior in the UK before bringing it back to Spain?

[masterob]

Is it not the case that there are no import duties levied on cars purchased within the EU and for which duties have been paid in the country of origin?
I certainly never paid any import duty on a new LHD car that I bought in the UK before relocating to Spain and I only owned it in the UK for 4 weeks.

[El Cid]

There is always a lot of confusion over the "import" tax that you pay when you bring a car into Spain and register it on Spanish plates. It is not an import tax, it is a special registration tax and is either 7% or 12 % of the current value of the car.

This will be waived if you "import" the car at the time you apply for residencia as it is then regarded as part of your "goods and chattels" that you are allowed to import free of any taxes.

One of the conditions of this waiver is that you must have owned the car for 6 months.

Sid

[Campo Kenny]

Interesting El Cid. Just before we took the last car over there I was toying with what to take. I had the choice of 2 vehicles I could buy both being the same price within a few hundred pounds.

I called the office in Spain who were doing the registration for me for ball park costings.

I was informed that although the price I am paying for the vehicles is similar Car A would attract a higher tax than car B as it was a lot more expensive when new

I would like to find out exactly what is what before I take another over.

Kenny

[rafiki]

This will be waived if you "import" the car at the time you apply for residencia as it is then regarded as part of your "goods and chattels" that you are allowed to import free of any taxes.

How much leeway in time does one have in this situation Sid? In other words, one arrives in Spain with car with the intention of taking up residence, how much time does one have to apply for the residencia in order to be able to claim the tax relief on the import of the car?

[El Cid]

How much leeway in time does one have in this situation Sid? In other words, one arrives in Spain with car with the intention of taking up residence, how much time does one have to apply for the residencia in order to be able to claim the tax relief on the import of the car?

Officially, if you are not legally working, you must apply for residencia as soon as you arrive in Spain if you have the intention of staying permanently or, in any case, within 90 days.

This, although it is still the law, is not enforced. The key to avoiding the tax is to do the reregistration at *about* the same time that you apply for residencia. I *think* you have only 30 days after the residencia application to do this.

There is a first hand report on the process here http://tinyurl.com/j7gcb

Sid

[El Cid]

Interesting El Cid. Just before we took the last car over there I was toying with what to take. I had the choice of 2 vehicles I could buy both being the same price within a few hundred pounds.

I called the office in Spain who were doing the registration for me for ball park costings.

I was informed that although the price I am paying for the vehicles is similar Car A would attract a higher tax than car B as it was a lot more expensive when new

I would like to find out exactly what is what before I take another over.

Kenny

There is a list published by the tax office of the average new values of all cars, boats etc. This is used for a variety of taxes such as IHT and, as far as I know, it is used to value cars that are "imported".

They also publish a table of annual depreciation factors that are used to find the current value.

Based on the experience of a friend who recently paid the "import" tax it was based on the depreciated value of the vehicle.

This is that table.

Sid

ANEXO IV
Porcentajes determinados en función de los años de
utilización a aplicar a los precios fijados por el Ministerio
de Economía y Hacienda, para vehículos de turismo, todo
terreno y motocicletas ya matriculados:
Años de uso Porcentajes
Hasta 1 año . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Más de 1 año, hasta 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Más de 2 años, hasta 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Más de 3 años, hasta 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Más de 4 años, hasta 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Más de 5 años, hasta 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Más de 6 años, hasta 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Más de 7 años, hasta 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Más de 8 años, hasta 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Más de 9 años, hasta 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Más de 10 años, hasta 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Más de 11 años, hasta 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Más de 12 años . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10