The are quite a few steps and costs involved to import and register and car from a non-EU country in Spain.
First and foremost EU conformity, import and registration costs must be taken into account as these can make the import and registration in Spain impossible or too expensive to be worth while.
This said, under EU rules if you are moving from a non-EU country to live in an EU country, such as Spain, you can bring your possessions including cars, and avoid paying the costly duties and taxes and having to pay for expensive EU conformity certification.
These transfer of residence rules give you up to12 months form the date you get your residency to import your car and avoid paying customs and VAT. However you only have 60 days from the date you take up residency, to register your car and avoid registration tax (if it applies).
The UK is no longer in the EU and the process and costs to register a UK car in Spain after Brexit have changed considerably.
This is because UK cars now are now treated as vehicles from third countries and must either clear customs, or get a customs certificate if your car qualifies for customs exemption.
The process you follow will depend on your situation as will the cost. You’ll need to budget for costs of around €1,000 with taxes as applicable on top.
Importing a high value car from the UK in Spain post Brexit, now comes with added costs. As the UK is no longer in the EU and the standard process to import and register a UK car in Spain now involves customs.
This means on top of the registration tax which in most cases will be 17% of the vehicle value, 10% customs duty and 21% VAT will apply, unless you can find away around it.
Paying nearly £50k to register a £100k motor is simply not a consideration. There are however various ways these huge costs can be avoided, bringing the cost of importing and registering high value cars in Spain down to a few thousand Euros, rather than tens of thousands.
Want to keep your UK car in Spain? MOT or road tax due or already run out? Need to register a vehicle from another EU country onto Spanish number plates?
This is a situation that many people from the UK and other EU countries find themselves in. You moved here, or have a holiday home and brought a car over, and don’t want the hassle of taking it back, selling it and buying a Spanish one. Or you simply want to keep your car and use it in Spain and are considering switching it to Spanish number plates.
The process for getting Spanish number plates.
Fill in the form below and submit to request your Spanish number plates quotation.
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