car tax debt passing to new owner?

[scouser]

I was speaking to a friend today who told me that, when buying a second-hand car, any car tax debt of the previous owner passes to the new owner. Is this true?

I can understand if any HP debt is still owed but not unpaid car tax surely. Any facts would be welcome.

[gerryh]

I was speaking to a friend today who told me that, when buying a second-hand car, any car tax debt of the previous owner passes to the new owner. Is this true?

I can understand if any HP debt is still owed but not unpaid car tax surely. Any facts would be welcome.

Assuming you mean the car tax paid to the local town hall then,
In my case definitely not true.
I part exchanged a car in Nov and it was not resold and re registered until March following year.
As I was, theoretically still the owner on 1st Jan I was liable for the car tax. Didn't know about it until the following year when My bank account was embargoed for the car tax and a fine for late payment.
Cheers
Gerry

[Martin Page]

I believe the tax arears are passed on WHEN the new owner registers it ... thats invariably why they dont !

[Beachcomber]

If they are unable to trace the old owner, for example in the case of a foreigner who has sold up and left the country, the debt reverts to the vehicle similar to the way in which unpaid plus valía reverts to a debt on the property.

When purchasing a second hand vehicle you should check that there are no bills, fines, loans or other debts outstanding on it just as you would (or should) a resale property.

[gus-lopez]

I was speaking to a friend today who told me that, when buying a second-hand car, any car tax debt of the previous owner passes to the new owner. Is this true?

I can understand if any HP debt is still owed but not unpaid car tax surely. Any facts would be welcome.

Assuming you mean the car tax paid to the local town hall then,
In my case definitely not true.
I part exchanged a car in Nov and it was not resold and re registered until March following year.
As I was, theoretically still the owner on 1st Jan I was liable for the car tax. Didn't know about it until the following year when My bank account was embargoed for the car tax and a fine for late payment.
Cheers
Gerry

You should always make sure when part-exing that the car you are trading in is changed into the dealers name. Otherwise anyone testing the vehicle or dealer employees can rack up speeding fines, parking tickets , etc; & they all come back to you.

[scouser]

I was considering selling my British registered car and buying a second hand car here but I'll have to think again.

How do you check if the previous owner has any car tax debt or fines outstanding?

[gus-lopez]

I was considering selling my British registered car and buying a second hand car here but I'll have to think again.

How do you check if the previous owner has any car tax debt or fines outstanding?

http://www.stop24.es/

[malagaman2005]

I was considering selling my British registered car and buying a second hand car here but I'll have to think again.

How do you check if the previous owner has any car tax debt or fines outstanding?

http://www.stop24.es/

.....or a local Gestor will do the equivalant to an HPI check for about 20-25 euros.

[gus-lopez]

I was considering selling my British registered car and buying a second hand car here but I'll have to think again.

How do you check if the previous owner has any car tax debt or fines outstanding?

http://www.stop24.es/

.....or a local Gestor will do the equivalant to an HPI check for about 20-25 euros.

Yes, quite true if you are buying locally. I used the site for when I'm looking at vehicles via the internet in other areas of spain.

[malagaman2005]

.....or a local Gestor will do the equivalant to an HPI check for about 20-25 euros.[/quote]
Yes, quite true if you are buying locally. I used the site for when I'm looking at vehicles via the internet in other areas of spain.[/quote]

Good point, I keep forgetting that vehicle registrations are all regionalised here and not nationally like any normal country

[DavidSearl]

FROM DAVID SEARL

FOR SCOUSER AND OTHER POSTERS

How do I check on debt against a used car?

This is the original poster’s basic question.

Q. When I go to buy a used car in Spain, how can I be sure that there is no debt charged against it, such as outstanding back time payments or taxes or traffic fines?

A. First, as noted by various posters, I strongly urge anyone purchasing a used vehicle in Spain to employ a Gestoria to handle the paperwork. They will not charge you very much and they will save you a good deal of time and trouble. I shall explain why.

Traffic fines are not a problem because they are charged to the registered owner and not to the vehicle. So any unpaid fines will be in the registered owner's name, not to the car.

Then there are two places you want to check for outstanding charges against a used car.

Not too many people know that there exists a body called the Registro de Bienes Muebles, the Registry of Moveable Goods. This is exactly the same as the Registro de Bienes Inmuebles, the Property Registry, where your house is registered, along with any mortgage outstanding on it. The Registry of Moveable Goods does the same thing for moveable property, such as a car or a boat.

Any automobile dealer or finance institution which lends the money to buy a car will register this debt at the Registry. If payments are not made, they will place an embargo on the vehicle and this will show up on the list. You request a Nota Simple, just as if you were buying real estate. This registry forms part of the Registro Mercantile, the Commercial Registry.

It is a matter of public record, so anyone may consult it. However, you will have to go in person to Malaga city unless you have a Digital Signature, a Firma Digital, which enables you to access many public documents on the Internet. The Gestor has this certification, of course, so it is easy for him to check.

The second check you want to make is with your Town Hall, to see if the annual municipal vehicle tax is paid. It is true that any transfer of vehicles requires that the most recent tax be paid and certified. However, an unscrupulous seller might have four years of back taxes unpaid, which will be charged to the vehicle itself, and its new owner.

You can check this at the Town Hall as long as you have the licence plate number of the vehicle. Or you can ask the seller to show you his paid tax receipts for the past five years.

If you are a fan of do-it-yourself, which I generally recommend, you can learn a lot by going through the procedure yourself. You could also pay the sales tax of four per cent yourself and fill in the forms yourself. None of this is rocket science but it is time-consuming, and the non-expert may still miss out some point.

Another sore point comes up for sellers of second-hand cars, as also noted in various posts. There have been many cases where the purchaser offers to handle all the papers for the transferencia, the vehicle transfer. The unwary seller later discovers that the sale has never in fact been registered and the vehicle is still officially in his name. He finds this out when he gets a traffic ticket on the car, as he remains the registered owner.

The safest way to handle this is for you and the buyer to go together to the Traffic Department, sign the transfer form there, and each keep a copy. Only this signed transfer form, stamped by the Traffic Department, assures you that the vehicle has officially changed hands. Even then, you should go to your Town Hall, with the stamped form, to make sure that they do not continue to charge the vehicle tax to you. The Traffic Department is supposed to inform them, but it is better to be sure.

When you leave your old car with a dealer in part exchange for a new car, you need to be especially careful to make sure it has been legally transferred to the final buyer.

That is why we recommend the Gestor in this case.

Good luck with it, David Searl

[spanish_lad]

the gestor that i use refuses to do any transfer without the receipt of the "road tax" for the last year, which is payable at the town hall office. I assume that you cant say.. pay 2011 without having first paid 2010 etc.

[El Cid]

Good point, I keep forgetting that vehicle registrations are all regionalised here and not nationally like any normal country

They have not been regionalised for over 10 years!

Sid

[julian]

this has been a normal country for over 10 years then !!...time to move out !!!

[spanish_lad]

Yes, quite true if you are buying locally. I used the site for when I'm looking at vehicles via the internet in other areas of spain.

can a local gestor not check a car thats far away ? its not like they go sit in it anyway?