Registering a foreign car in Spain: the steps, taxes and deadlines in 2026

When you have to register it

A car on foreign plates can be driven in Spain by a visitor. Once you live here, it has to be registered in Spain: the official guidance for people moving from another EU country is to do it within a month of becoming resident.

The tax law sets its own clock: if a car is used in Spain for more than 30 days without applying for Spanish registration, the registration tax becomes due. That window is 60 days when the car comes with you because you are moving your residence and you claim the exemption below.

If you need more time, the DGT can give the car temporary plates for two months, renewable, for a fee of about 20 euros.

Step 1: the ITV inspection

Take the car to an ITV station (the Spanish MOT) with:

• the registration document from the country of origin,
• the certificate of conformity (CoC) from the manufacturer,
• the purchase contract or invoice, if you are not its first owner.

If it passes, the ITV issues the Spanish technical record (tarjeta ITV) that the DGT will ask for. Booking in advance is usual. More about the ITV in MOT in Spain: the ITV explained.

Step 2: the registration tax, or its exemption

The impuesto de matriculación is paid once, on the first registration in Spain, to the Spanish tax agency (form 576). It is a percentage of the price of a new car, or of the market value of a used one, set by its official CO2 emissions:

These are the general rates of the law; a region may set its own. In Ceuta and Melilla the tax is 0%. For a used car, the market value is usually taken from the Treasury's official tables, the same ones used for the transfer tax: you can look a model up on our official value page (in Spanish). The law also discounts the part of that value that is tax the car would have paid in Spain when new.

The exemption when you move to Spain

A car you bring because you are moving your home here is exempt if all of these are true:

1. you lived outside Spain for at least the 12 months in a row before the move;
2. you bought the car paying the normal taxes in the country you come from, with no tax refund when it left;
3. you used the car there for at least 6 months before you left;
4. you apply for Spanish registration within the deadline (60 days from when you start using it in Spain);
5. you do not sell it during the 12 months after registering it here.

The exemption is declared with form 06 instead of paying with form 576.

VAT, if the car is nearly new

For VAT, a car bought in another EU country counts as new if it is delivered less than six months after it first went on the road, or if it has done 6,000 km or less. A private buyer then pays the VAT in Spain, not in the country of sale. A used car bought from a private seller in another EU country does not pay VAT again.

Step 3: the local road tax

The town hall where you live charges a yearly road tax (impuesto de circulación). You pay the first one, or register for it, before going to the DGT, which asks for the receipt. The amount depends on the town and the car's fiscal horsepower.

Step 4: the application to the DGT

File the registration with the DGT online, or in person at a traffic office with an appointment. You will need:

• the official application form,
• your identity document, with proof of address (and your NIE),
• the Spanish ITV record from step 1,
• the original documents of the car from the country of origin,
• the receipts of the registration tax (or the exemption form) and of the road tax,
• the purchase contract or invoice, if you bought it.

The fee (tasa 1.1) is about 100 euros; the official guidance quotes 99.77 euros. It is paid by card, never in cash. Many people use a gestoría (agent) to do the whole process.

Step 5: the plates

With the registration granted, an authorised maker produces the plates from the new Spanish registration. The number follows the national sequence, so it tells anyone the date of first registration in Spain, not the age of the car: see Spanish license plates explained.

Cars from outside the EU, including the UK

A car from a country outside the EU, which includes the United Kingdom since 2021, also has to go through customs: import VAT and, depending on the car's origin, customs duty, on top of the steps above. The certificate of conformity may also be harder to get. A gestoría that handles imports can tell you the cost before you ship the car.

Or buy the car in Spain

Importing a car only pays off for some cars. A car already on Spanish plates needs no import inspection and no registration tax, only the transfer tax (ITP) and the change of owner. Read our guide to buying a used car in Spain, and check any car you like with the official DGT vehicle report before you pay.

Frequently asked questions