When you live and/or work in Spain and/or you own a property here you will need to pay tax like you would in any other country. Below you will find an overview of the different taxes you will come across. It is advisable to check with your financial advisor or accountant for taxes and rates that apply to you. Most rates vary from region to region as the regional and local governments regulate those.
Read the full article about Spanish Taxes
If you have bought a property in Murcia, Spain and/or are living here for the majority of the year, it is very handy to have your own transport. As second hand cars are quite expensive in Spain (compared to the UK or Ireland for example), it might be more cost effective to import your own car. Having done this recently I’ve put together some information, which I hope, will be of help to you regarding importing a car from the European Union into Spain. Be prepared for lots of red tape, delays, unnecessary form filling etc which has been put in place by countless imbecile Eurocrats to justify their existence and pay.
Firstly you start by going to the Jefatura de Trafico office in your area. In our case this was in Cartagena (Murcia). When you get in the door you take a number for ‘Informacion’ (or in our case for every option as we didn’t know where to go). When it is your turn explain you want to change over your European car and you will receive a checklist (called: Matriculacion de Vehilculos usados adquiridos en la union Europa) stating all the documents you will need to collect and/or fill out. You do not need all the items listed; here are the things you do need:
1. Solicitud de Matriculacion
This A5 form is available from the Trafico office and is normally supplied in the waiting room. In this from the person in who’s name the car is will need to fill DNI, NIE or CIF number, name, address, information about the car and put a signature at the bottom.
2. Documentacion de los Interesados (documents from the person in who’s name the car is). For this you bring the original document of your NIE, DNI or CIF number. It is also advisable to take a copy.
3. Original documentation of your car + a copy of every original. This includes the Spanish version of the British and Irish M.O.T. or the A.P.K. in Holland. It is called El Certificado de Caracteristicas or La Tarjeta de Inspeccion Tecnica.
For this you will need to have your car checked at the nearest ITV station. We went to the ITV Rheinland Iberica in Cartagena. Make sure you arrive early in the morning, park you car and go into the office and hand over your car documentation and pay €195. You will receive a clipboard with a checklist and you will then have to drive your car through a series of check stations, where mechanics will check things like the tires, brakes, shock absorption and steering.
When finished you will receive a report with all the results and if your car is ok you will get a sticker to put on the right hand side of your front window and the Spanish certificate of road worthiness.
4. If in our case your car is from Holland you will need form RDW 323 from Holland, which is an export declaration (declaracion official de exportacion). This only applies to cars from Holland.
5. Proof of payment of the Impuesto Municipal sobre Vehiculos de Traccion Mecanica, which is a road tax and payable to the Servicio Municipal de Gestion Tributaria y Recaudacion of the local Town Hall (Ayuntamiento) where you are registered. We paid €25.22
6. Proof of payment of El Impuesto Especial sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte (form 576.05 or 06). You don’t have to pay this tax if you bought your car prior to moving to Spain and if it’s still registered in your own country. If you are already living in Spain, and importing a car from another country, you will however have to pay this tax. We were not subject to this tax as we already had the car before registering and living in Spain. To prove this I had to get a document from the Dutch Consulate in Alicante, which stated that I am no longer registered in my home country and now registered and living in Spain. The Consulate will need a document from the Town Hall of the last place you lived in (in our case Amsterdam) to be able to supply you with that declaration.
7. Lastly you will need to pay Tasa 1.1 or 1.2 a rate for importing the car, the amount we paid was €69.40.
There are agencies that, for a fee, can help you with most of the above. We found it however easy enough and quite an experience to do everything ourselves.
Firstly you will have to establish where you want to buy and whom you are buying the property for. Do you prefer being close to the sea or would you enjoy the tranquility of a rural location. Visit the area’s you have chosen and maybe even holiday there for a while to get a feel for the place. Check weather charts to find the perfect climate that suits you, Murcia is a large province and Spain is a big country that has a rather varied climate with many microclimates (palm- and orange trees are generally a indication of a warmer climate). It is of course a great place to soak up the sun but there are also some fantastic places to enjoy winter sports such as ski-ing in Granada, just a two-hour drive from your property in Murcia.
Read the main article about Buying Property in Spain