REGISTERING A FOREIGN EU VEHICLE IN SPAIN

EU residents living in Spain, who want to re-register and legally import their cars i.e., get them onto “Spanish plates” can now do this. However, please note that at the time I am posting up this information there is a massive crack down and the police are stopping many UK plated cars - so be warned - and driving a British plated car around after a period of 6 months (12months if 6 months is from one year and 6 is from the next) is illegal anyway.

By April 2006 it will be almost impossible to import a right hand 4 wheel drive vehicle onto Spanish plates ! It is already  impossible to import a right hand drive commercial vehicle.

IMPORTING AND Registering a RH VEHICLE IN SPAIN

How to Re-register your vehicle yourself

If then you do decide to re-register this is how you do it, but take a deep breath first as it even though it sounds more complicated than it really is it can be a stressful and time consuming project,  however it can be done and once you have done it you may wonder what all the fuss was about in the first place. You may just wish to get a gestor to do the work for you for a fee or look in the expat press where you will find many adverts for people (offering again for a fee) to do the job for you.  The charge for this can be anything from 2-300 euros up to 8-1000 so shop around and ask for recommendations. A good place for recomendations are the forums where there are lots of expats who  have already carried out these tasks before take a look at our links page for websites for these.

• Take your car to the local ITV station and ask for a form to change matriculation.
  • For the UK there are two forms to register the permanent export of a motor vehicle. If your older vehicle registration document is not a Form V5, you will have to contact the DVLA in Swansea for a Form V756, (or download it here ) complete it and send to them the completed section “Notification of Permanent Export”. Keep a photocopy because Traffico will keep the originals and you never know when or if you might be asked for this!
• You will then need to go to your local ITV (Inspección Tecnica de Vehiculos) station where motor vehicles are periodically checked for mechanical safety, (every two years as opposed to every year in the UK -  again dependant upon age of vehicle), you can find out where these stations are on the Traffico web site and selecting the area you live in in the drop-down box. Have the vehicle checked for the Certificado de Conformidad (CEE), or that it is EU type approved and often this can be legally done by someone at the ITV station for a fee.
• After you have obtained a “Satisfactorio” (pass) certificate from the ITV and the CEE, take them to your local ayuntamiento or council offices, where the details will be put onto their computer and you can pay the “road tax”, as mentioned above (impuesto). You may have to take a form to the Bank to pay this, depending on the local ayuntamiento (Town Hall), and the amount varies depending on the engine size of the vehicle.
• Go to the local Consulate with your car documents and ask for a Baja Consular, this being the declaration that you intend to import the vehicle permanently into Spain. This will cost you 36 euros and you will also have to fill in a form stating that you live permanently here in Spain and they will stamp your passport stating just that.
• Next go to the Hacienda or tax office with the original DVLA vehicle registration document (plus a photocopy), the original Bill of Sale or Invoice showing that VAT was paid. (Hmmm, this could be a tricky one as if you bought the car privately would you necessarily have one?)
  • If you do not have this invoice you will probably have to pay VAT/IVA based on their valuation of the vehicle apparently.  I have been informed that  this is not asked for of late but if you have it take it , you can never take enough paperwork with you!!!!!
• Take the following documents with you:
  • The ITV and CEE certificates,
  • Baja Consular or import certificate from the British Consulate.
  • Original residencia or NIE documents and photocopy. All within the stated 30 days.
• At the tax office Hacienda ask for the Form Modelo 565, which will cost you a few cents at most and complete it.
  • Go to the counter where the sellos or (revenue) stamps are to be bought. It should be identified by the sign “Espacio reservado para le etiquita identificada.” These need to be stuck on the form at the top left hand side. Then show your residencia or NIE as applicable, and if you do not have this actual document, the official receipt should suffice. They should then certify the “libre de impuesto” which is the tax exempt box and if everything is present correct and all in order you will not be asked for the tax. Keep everything crossed at this point!
• Next stop – Traffico. The following are the documents required:
  • The completed Hacienda Form Modelo 565
  • Original DVLA registration document (V5 or V756)
  • ITV and CEE certificates
  • Residencia/NIE or a copy of the application
  • Certificado de empadronamiento for matriculation
  • The road tax receipt (impuesto municipal sobre vehiculos de traccion mecanica) after payment at the Bank or the local ayuntamiento as applicable.
  • The registering (matriculation) fee in cash, currently €66,70. ( July 2005)
    • To save queuing at Traffico my advice would be to download from the Internet the form Solicitud de Matriculación, Form number TASA 9.03. You will need Adobe Reader software to download this form. You need two copies of the form, which are both printed size A5 on an A4 sheet.
• When you arrive at Traffico get a ticket, queue up and hand in the paperwork.

• When you next return, go to the cash counter and show the receipt and you will be given another ticket. Go to the appropriate window you will be given your registration document, the Permiso de Circulación – Certificado
• If you haven’t already been given this you will then need to return to the ITV station and given a Tarjeta de Inspeccion Técnica card and if your car is over four years old, or five if a motorcycle, you will be given an ITV sticker to place in the top RH side of your windscreen.

Now you can have new number plates fitted.  Phew! That is it!!!

So You Think You Want To Change Your English Plates To Spanish Ones 
- here's the most recent "how to"

Import duty on personal vehicles on delayed transferring after applying for residencia.

Now this procedure is not applicable from the 28th March with the applications being made at the local Dept. de Extranjeros or police station as advised by the British Consulates 

• In order to log onto and successfully complete the necessary paperwork on the government web site www.aeat.es you need to be verified.
• To do this you need to apply for a ‘certificado de usuario’ on web site www.fnmt.es 
• You enter your ‘numero NIE’ and your email address and then wait.
  • Your details are checked and registered, then 4 or 5 days later you will receive an email inviting you to download an electronic certificate onto your computer which acts as a security ‘key’ and allows you into the website. One word of caution. The browser you use to download the certificate, is the browser you have to use to complete the process. The certificate is not transferable and will not work with every browser. I first downloaded it using Netscape 7.1 but this didn’t work so I had to re-apply for another certificate, wait another 5 days and download the second certificate using Internet Explorer 6.0 This time it worked and I was able to log onto the site to try and get my last piece of paperwork. But again, it’s all in Spanish.
• On the web site, you firstly have to pay the tax due but don’t know how much to pay, so I took a trip back to the hacienda to ask.
  • The tax is calculated from a book of figures showing age of vehicle, engine size and fuel type. In my case, I was told that the new price of my bike (based solely on year and engine size, no mention of the name Harley Davidson) was 7500 euros and that I had to pay duty on 67% of that because it was 2 years old. The tax level for my bike is 12% (there are different tax levels) so I had to pay 603 euros, again electronically, via the Internet.
• Having successfully paid the tax, you will receive an ‘NRC’ number (numero refistro cuenta) which is a 22 digit number sent automatically via the web site. This number, along with your details and vehicle details must then be entered onto another digital page before you can print off ‘modelo 576’ which is the last piece of paperwork you need to take to ‘traffico’. But again, it’s all in Spanish.

• I printed off the web pages that were baffling me and took them back to the offices of the hacienda. I shot my biggest smile to the prettiest girl and within no time at all she was filling out the paperwork for me with all the correct figures in all the right places.
• I took the papers back home, put all of the details onto the computer, held my breath and clicked ‘enter’. It worked. I was then able to print off modelo 576 and take all of the collated paperwork, plus two photocopies of each, to ‘traffico’ in Valencia.
• Once there, I queued for 40 minutes just to get to the information desk to ask where I needed to go. The lady gave me another form to fill out with my name, address, NIE number, vehicle make and model then told me to take it to the cashier in order to pay my fees, 69.40 euros.
• Then I was given a numbered ticket and told to go upstairs to wait for my number to be called. After having all of the papers checked, I was invited to return in 2 days to collect my documents.

JOB DONE!   I put the plates on my bike this afternoon, I’m legal!

So, to sum up.

• Get a Baja Consular from Alicante if you want to try and avoid paying some of the tax.
• Change the headlamps on the vehicle from right to left hand drive – black tape or ‘beam benders’ are not accepted.
• Employ the services of a vehicle technician to get a Ficha Reducida.
• Go to the ITV centre for the CEE and ITV Satisfactorio.
• Log onto the fnmt web site to get a certificado de usuario.
• Log onto the aeat web site to pay the tax and print off modelo 576.
• Photo copy all of the paperwork and take it all to traffico.