# MOT & Road tax for cars and motos coming from UK?



## SteveBarbosa (Mar 17, 2009)

Hi,

I will be moving to spain in august and will be driving down there. My UK road tax on my car runs until end of november. How does road tax work in spain? Will I have to tax it under spanish rules as soon as I get down there, or can it wait? If it can wait, how long for?

Also, I think I might renew the MOT on the car (even though its not due until november) so that I can enjoy 12 months without having to get it MOT'd in spain. Or am I missing something?

Same goes for the motorbike (being transported by removals) - my tax runs until end of july in the UK - I am thinking of purchasing another 12months as its only about 15 quid. Or is this simply not worth it? When should I purchase tax over in spain - immediately or at a later stage? Again, the mot is until end of august - the mot certificate states I cant renew until end of july but I wont be around at that time. I am hoping I can simply go and get a MOT now and have 12 months straight away (forfeiting the remaining 2 months on the existing MOT) - is this possible.

Does anyone understand what I am asking?


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

SteveBarbosa said:


> Hi,
> 
> I will be moving to spain in august and will be driving down there. My UK road tax on my car runs until end of november. How does road tax work in spain? Will I have to tax it under spanish rules as soon as I get down there, or can it wait? If it can wait, how long for?
> 
> ...


Hi Steve

welcome!

There are a few people on here who I know are clued up about all this ... but whilst you are waiting for them to come online and reply I can tell you our experience. 5 Years ago my husband drove his car over here when we moved to Spain because he loved his car! It was a complete pain in the butt!! You are only supposed to have a "foreign" plated car in Spain for a limited period of time (and I cant remember what that was!!) - then after that time you have to re register the car and obtain spanish plates - which is laborious and pretty costly !! maybe not if your car is worth a whole lot of money so the cost of spanish plates seem peanuts! In the end we sold ours for next to nothing (UK plated cars dont sell that well) .. and we bought a true spanish car!

The other thing to consider is the safety element .. I dont know if you have driven on the Costa del sol often or not ? but believe me it can be hard work and with the added burden of a car with everything on the wrong side you are increasing the risks to yourself and others of accidents!

Im sure you will get comments from some of our lovely guys on here who are into cars and motorbikes who will give you much more info ..... the ladies on here are pretty clued up too!!

ooops almost forgot - you cant tax a UK plated car here in Spain. 

Best of luck
Sue


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## SteveBarbosa (Mar 17, 2009)

Hi Sue,

My intention is to re-register the car in spain and get spanish plates. My wife will do all this as she is spanish and will have a better grasp of the beaurocracy although she doesnt have experience of taxing a car in spain. I've heard it is around 300 euros without using a gestor.

My wife says that in spain you don't pay for annual car tax. Is she right or completely wrong? I dare not question her directly in case I get a slap ha ha.


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

SteveBarbosa said:


> Hi Sue,
> 
> My intention is to re-register the car in spain and get spanish plates. My wife will do all this as she is spanish and will have a better grasp of the beaurocracy although she doesnt have experience of taxing a car in spain. I've heard it is around 300 euros without using a gestor.
> 
> My wife says that in spain you don't pay for annual car tax. Is she right or completely wrong? I dare not question her directly in case I get a slap ha ha.


Ha! so you already know all this Steve! maybe my brain didnt register some of what you had written in your original post! apologies ....... Its not a fixed amount for car tax - we have had to pay our annual car tax to the local authority in the town in which we lived at the time ..... so Marbella for example. And as I understand it the rates for tax are different depending on where you live! Last year when we paid our tax on a ford puma it cost us less than 100 euros.

I feel as a girlie Im out of my depth here! listen Im a Senior Manager with lots of responsibility in my normal life! but when it comes to cars and what you pay for Im pretty rubbish!! ... I only need to know its got petrol in it and a light above the mirror to check my lipstick!

HELP!!!!!!!!!! Im shouting the boys cos I know they will know everything! Where are you Steve, Extreme,Dave et al ....

Sue


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## XTreme (May 17, 2008)

Suenneil said:


> I feel as a girlie Im out of my depth here!
> Sue


It's good to see a girlie that knows her limitations Sue!

You'll get preferential treatment on the XTreme SpankFest Tour of Spain 2009! You lucky girl! 

Steve....get a fresh ticket on the bike before you come here. And you can renew your tax online providing it hasn't expired.

I believe you have to have them both current if you want to re-plate it here.


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## owdoggy (Jul 23, 2008)

Get a Certificate of Conformity and a manufacturers CO2 emissions certificate for the bike before you come over. If you re-plate it over here you will need them..... as I found out 


Doggy


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

SteveBarbosa said:


> Hi,
> 
> I will be moving to spain in august and will be driving down there. My UK road tax on my car runs until end of november. How does road tax work in spain? Will I have to tax it under spanish rules as soon as I get down there, or can it wait? If it can wait, how long for?
> 
> ...


Hi Steve,
Take a look at MOTOS de Segunda Mano * Motos de Ocasión for Bikes and AutoScout24: Coches de ocasión, vehículos usados, coche segunda mano for cars. This should give you an idea of their availability in the Spanish market and thus a clue to any hassle of the pain to get them "Homologados".

Make sure you bring all the paperwork with you. You will be asked for your UK Log Book, MOT and TAX by people... in my case, the Gestor. They must be valid. 
You will also be asked about lots of weights and measures regarding the vehicles and their level of Factory Standard complience. Any type of "Custom Car", so popular in the UK, would have one hell of a time getting legal papers in Spain.

IMO, having toyed with the idea and having taken the first couple of steps to doing it myself.... and finding it a clear nightmare from the go, not complexity wise, but...well, I'm not a gestor and so not in the club etc., I found it much easier to let a Gestor do it. They can produce the "Ficha Tecnica" with the documents you supply and before you know it, you'll have an ITV date setup and ready to go. Soon to be followed by the pick up and fit of the Spanish plates.

Check that the models are familiar to the Spanish market. If not, you could have some problems with conformity via Engineer checks, spec letters from the manufacturer etc., etc.

Best of luck.

Xose

p.s. Cost me under 450€, but that seems to vary A LOT by what people's experiences have shown on this forum. Road tax depends on where you live and the car model. I pay 44€ for a medium family car, 87€ for a people carrier and I know a guy who has an old Merc 300 who pays about 130€. Same location.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Ii know what the law says but.....
We came here from Prague with two cars, one a LHD with UK plates, registered in the UK but bought from Germany, and the other with Spanish plates.
Being anxious to observe all the relevant laws, I bought a year's tax for the UK vehicle. Until a week ago it had never been to the UK. I have seen very very many UK plated cars here, both LHD and RHD, and not one of them had a current tax disc displayed. I'm not talking about older cars either - new Mercs, BMWs etc, all without tax. When I asked a friend who drives a new UK plated Jeep why he had no disc, he laughed at my naievity.
My LHD vehicle has now been taken back for sale in the UK and my son is driving a replacement out in July. The vehicle will be taxed and MOT'd but I am seriously hesitating about renewing once the tax runs out. Of course I will have the vehicle regularly serviced and maintained in safe, roadworthy condition. But our local police didn't even ask to see driving licence or insurance when I parked the UK plated car in the wrong place last year. They didn't fine me either and they certainly didn't look at the tax disc to see if it were current.


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

XTreme said:


> It's good to see a girlie that knows her limitations Sue!
> 
> You'll get preferential treatment on the XTreme SpankFest Tour of Spain 2009! You lucky girl!
> 
> ...


Hey Xtreme .... I know my strengths and weaknesses!! Luckily for me my strengths seem to have got me this far so Im non too worried about the weaknesses!!! And Im confident enough in myself to admit when Im rubbish at something or just dont know ....... cars / directions / map reading .... all complete nonsense to me!!!

Sue x:flock::flock:


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Suenneil said:


> Hey Xtreme .... I know my strengths and weaknesses!! Luckily for me my strengths seem to have got me this far so Im non too worried about the weaknesses!!! And Im confident enough in myself to admit when Im rubbish at something or just dont know ....... cars / directions / map reading .... all complete nonsense to me!!!
> 
> Sue x:flock::flock:


Very important characteristic, that. Someone (can't remember who) once said that it's better to keep silent and be thought stupid than to open your mouth and put the matter beyond all doubt. Wise words.
I'm useless at directions so I bought a satnav but I find that difficult to get to grips with.... Being told what to do by an unseen person seems plain wierd to me.
I think I'll practise by setting it to places I already know the way to...if that makes sense.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Suenneil said:


> Hi Steve
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes you can - I did. But......you have to have it registered at a UK address and it must be new enough not to require an MOT. Or you have to take it back to the UK for the test.
Europe-wide insurance can be crippling too. We had to have it to drive from Prague to Andalucia but the total cost for two cars (Mercedes and LandRover) came to almost £1600.
Needless to say, we have not renewed!!


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Yes you can - I did. But......you have to have it registered at a UK address and it must be new enough not to require an MOT. Or you have to take it back to the UK for the test.
> Europe-wide insurance can be crippling too. We had to have it to drive from Prague to Andalucia but the total cost for two cars (Mercedes and LandRover) came to almost £1600.
> Needless to say, we have not renewed!!


no, I meant you couldnt tax a UK in Spain ... you know what I mean !! pay the tax in spain to the spanish authorities for a UK plated car ...... Im leaving this one well alone now - but glad Steve has received plenty of help from the boys!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Suenneil said:


> no, I meant you couldnt tax a UK in Spain ... you know what I mean !! pay the tax in spain to the spanish authorities for a UK plated car ...... Im leaving this one well alone now - but glad Steve has received plenty of help from the boys!


I've been trying to pay tax on my Spanish plated 4x4 for ages now to no avail. The previous owner lived in Mallorca and has signed all the papers etc but it seems tax may -not is, note! - be owing to the Mallorcan authorities for last year and it's now months since I gave the gestor the papers to sort it.
Complicated by the fact that the previous owner has returned to the UK...
Do you get a sticker like the itv sticker to show you've paid up?


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> I've been trying to pay tax on my Spanish plated 4x4 for ages now to no avail. The previous owner lived in Mallorca and has signed all the papers etc but it seems tax may -not is, note! - be owing to the Mallorcan authorities for last year and it's now months since I gave the gestor the papers to sort it.
> Complicated by the fact that the previous owner has returned to the UK...
> Do you get a sticker like the itv sticker to show you've paid up?


Dont believe we ever received a sticker or anything for the windscreen - it was just a small piece of paper showing we had paid, date, car details etc. Its a bit of a lottery really isnt it trying to get things sorted for the car paperwork! you get told different things by different departments! hey hoh one of the joys of living in Espana!!! Sue x


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