When importing a vehicle into Spain the following taxes and duty must be paid.

Value Added Tax (IVA) at 16 per cent is payable on cars imported from outside the European Union or on any vehicle from within the EU, on which value added tax has yet not been paid.

A registration tax (impuesto municipal sobre circulacion de vehiculos) of 12 per cent is payable on vehicles imported into Spain and is calculated on the vehicle's current value which is based on the price which would have been paid new, had the vehicle been purchased in Spain. As you would imagine, there are also exceptions and these are where petrol-engine capacity is less than 1600 cc and diesel-engine capacity is less than 2 litres when the tax is 7 per cent. This tax now includes 4WD vehicles which previously were taxed at a lower rate.

Import duty of 10 per cent is payable on vehicles imported from outside of the European Union.

The amount payable for each of the above taxes is based on the original price of the vehicle with a reduction for each year of its age up to ten years, e.g. 80 per cent after the first year, 70 per cent after two years, 50 per cent after four years, reducing to 20 per cent after ten years. If you wish to import a vehicle into Spain you must be either a resident or applied for it, own property in Spain or have an agreement to rent for a minimum of one year.

Non residents from outside of the EU may import a vehicle registered outside the EU for a total period of six months, which need not be continuous, within a calendar year. Again, there are exceptions but these are concerned primarily with conditions applicable to work and employment.

The very simple truth of the matter is that if you are contemplating importing a vehicle into Spain, then you need to know exactly what you are doing if you intend to carry out the legal requiremnets yourself. For a relatively modest sum you can employ a Gestor to do the work for you.