# Proof of residency for importing goods



## MarieS (9 mo ago)

Hi all, 
We are moving to Spain next month and are having all sorts of issues with removals. The company we use says we need a proof of residency from our local council in the U.K. on headed paper and written in a certain format. Our local council has never heard of it and are not prepared to write it. It has to be completed by the registrar apparently and from our registrar it’s a blank no as they only deal with births, deaths and marriages. Anyone here who has recently moved from the U.K. to Spain and had the same issue? How did you get around it? Unless this is resolved very soon our belongings will be staying in the U.K.!
Thanks!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

There is no equivalent certificate as there is no population register as such in UK. When I needed an official proof of residence over inheritance, I contacted my (then) local council and they suggested a letter stating I was on the electoral register. This seems to satisfy whatever a foreign government agency (not Spanish) required.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

I didn't have the issue when moving UK to Spain as it was still EU, but when I moved from Thailand to Spain we tried to use our Thai tax returns as evidence of residency but the Spanish customes refused them. It was finally sorted by a letter from my employer for who I had worked in Thailand.

You may not be able to get a letter from your employer of you aren't moving for work, but clearly other documents, not issued by a local authority in the country of origin, are acceptable.

Have you asked the Spanish customs authorities rather than the moving company?


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

I am also in the process of figuring out how we'll move from the UK to Spain (in August). I was told by a couple of removal companies that a council tax bill will be a good enough document to prove your UK residency. However, apparently, you will also have to prove your Spanish residency to be able to import goods without having to pay VAT and import duty.

We haven't booked anyone yet but we'll probably go with a highly recommended company based in Malaga that moves people twice a week from the UK to Spain and they say they always tell customers to pay the import duty to avoid all the hassle. They calculated it to be around £375 for a load of 30 cubic metres. They take care of the paperwork.


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## MarieS (9 mo ago)

Overandout said:


> I didn't have the issue when moving UK to Spain as it was still EU, but when I moved from Thailand to Spain we tried to use our Thai tax returns as evidence of residency but the Spanish customes refused them. It was finally sorted by a letter from my employer for who I had worked in Thailand.
> 
> You may not be able to get a letter from your employer of you aren't moving for work, but clearly other documents, not issued by a local authority in the country of origin, are acceptable.
> 
> Have you asked the Spanish customs authorities rather than the moving company?


Thanks - yes I’m the process now to find out what other documents would be acceptable.


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## MarieS (9 mo ago)

sadlybroke said:


> I am also in the process of figuring out how we'll move from the UK to Spain (in August). I was told by a couple of removal companies that a council tax bill will be a good enough document to prove your UK residency. However, apparently, you will also have to prove your Spanish residency to be able to import goods without having to pay VAT and import duty.
> 
> We haven't booked anyone yet but we'll probably go with a highly recommended company based in Malaga that moves people twice a week from the UK to Spain and they say they always tell customers to pay the import duty to avoid all the hassle. They calculated it to be around £375 for a load of 30 cubic metres. They take care of the paperwork.


There are SO many things to keep track of, honestly my head is spinning. 
I think we’ll end up paying import duty as well just to avoid all this hassle! We have been told we don’t need residency but we do need an NIE number. We find we get different information depending on who we speak to in Spain, which makes the whole thing pretty difficult. 
Hope your move goes smoother than ours


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

Can't think of a logical reason for requiring residency to import goods, by extension it would mean that duties or not non residents could never buy anything from outside the EU.


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

MataMata said:


> Can't think of a logical reason for requiring residency to import goods, by extension it would mean that duties or not non residents could never buy anything from outside the EU.


The logic is this: 
You lived in one country (UK) - prove it by supplying a document confirming that you have been a resident in the UK for at least 12 months.
Now you are moving to a different country (Spain) - prove it by showing you are registered as a resident there.


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## MarieS (9 mo ago)

sadlybroke said:


> The logic is this:
> You lived in one country (UK) - prove it by supplying a document confirming that you have been a resident in the UK for at least 12 months.
> Now you are moving to a different country (Spain) - prove it by showing you are registered as a resident there.


Absolutely and we can prove it in many ways..council tax bills, letter from our solicitor, letters from our employers..none of which are acceptable apparently. The only thing the Spanish agent will accept is a letter from the council with specific wording on it, and our council refuse to do it. They have no reason other than to say others have asked for the same thing and they’ve always said no! Pretty infuriating as we now have to pay import tax on everything.


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

sadlybroke said:


> I am also in the process of figuring out how we'll move from the UK to Spain (in August). I was told by a couple of removal companies that a council tax bill will be a good enough document to prove your UK residency. However, apparently, you will also have to prove your Spanish residency to be able to import goods without having to pay VAT and import duty.


Hi, would you mind explaining this in more detail? We're looking to move back to Spain after being in the UK these last few years. We moved Spain->UK pre-Brexit and have wondered what the situation will be going the other way. We have addresses in both UK and Spain but to be honest I assumed most people would because the stuff has to be picked up and delivered somewhere...


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## MarieS (9 mo ago)

alpinist said:


> Hi, would you mind explaining this in more detail? We're looking to move back to Spain after being in the UK these last few years. We moved Spain->UK pre-Brexit and have wondered what the situation will be going the other way. We have addresses in both UK and Spain but to be honest I assumed most people would because the stuff has to be picked up and delivered somewhere...


Current rules now we’re out of the EU is that you need a Spanish padron as well as a letter from your local borough confirming that you have been registered at an address in the U.K. for the last 12 months. If you have both then you can import your goods and reclaim the 30% import tax on the total value of your goods. If you can’t obtain the document ( our council are being exceedingly awkward!) then you can’t reclaim the tax. In our case we don’t have a Spanish padron yet so getting around it by paying a bond ( 70 euros I think). We can then import the goods but will need to pay the 30% import tax on the total value. Once the padron is in place ( and assuming we get the letter from our borough here) we can claim our money back. It’s basically unbelievably awkward and expensive for brits to move to the EU these days…thanks Brexit! 😫


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

MarieS said:


> It’s basically unbelievably awkward and expensive for brits to move to the EU these days…thanks Brexit! 😫


Yeh, I figured that bit!  Thanks for the reply and explanation though. Not keen on trying to work out the value of our random crap nor hand over 30% of it...

Did I understand correctly that you're working through a Spanish agent? I wonder if working with a UK-based remover would avoid the demand for paperwork that doesn't exist here but which the Spanish think is commonplace.

Curiously, when we moved (before Brexit), the agent said it was cheaper going Spain-UK than the other way because Spain didn't charge VAT on removals.


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## MarieS (9 mo ago)

alpinist said:


> Yeh, I figured that bit!  Thanks for the reply and explanation though. Not keen on trying to work out the value of our random crap nor hand over 30% of it...
> 
> Did I understand correctly that you're working through a Spanish agent? I wonder if working with a UK-based remover would avoid the demand for paperwork that doesn't exist here but which the Spanish think is commonplace.
> 
> Curiously, when we moved (before Brexit), the agent said it was cheaper going Spain-UK than the other way because Spain didn't charge VAT on removals.


We’re using a U.K. removals company, but they all work with Spain agents who are the ones that approve the mountain of paperwork! We got quotes from quite a few U.K. companies and they all had a Spanish agent. 
I can quite imagine it’s cheaper ( and easier!) going the other way..


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

That's annoying and I can't imagine our rural council is used to such requests so I better get a move on.

I've just read here that you only avoid the customs import tax by declaring things within 12 months of becoming a Spanish resident. As I never signed off the _padron_, I'd not qualify for this as they'll think I've always been there. Thankfully my partner isn't on it so we'll have to do it all in just the one name, otherwise it sounds like we could end up paying import duty on the things we exported from Spain and just want to bring back!


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

alpinist said:


> Curiously, when we moved (before Brexit), the agent said it was cheaper going Spain-UK than the other way because Spain didn't charge VAT on removals.


This is quite important. The removal company we're going with say that we'd rather pay the import duty of about £375 for 30 cubic metres of load than have the hassle of proving the residency in the UK and Spain. Not worth it. Also, since Brexit, there is no VAT on international removals in the UK so it's actually cheaper to pay the import duty than paying 20% VAT as before Brexit.


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## MarieS (9 mo ago)

sadlybroke said:


> This is quite important. The removal company we're going with say that we'd rather pay the import duty of about £375 for 30 cubic metres of load than have the hassle of proving the residency in the UK and Spain. Not worth it. Also, since Brexit, there is no VAT on international removals in the UK so it's actually cheaper to pay the import duty than paying 20% VAT as before Brexit.


The price for import is not done on cubic metres- it’s on the value of goods. Every single item has to go on an inventory list and have a value against it. We have a 5 bedroom house but only taking about half of what we own. Vat on the Second hand value for these belongings is approx £1700 so it’s not insignificant amounts of money. 
There are really harsh penalties now for not conforming with customs rules into the EU. Our friends had some of their items confiscated and returned to the U.K. + a penalty charge, as they were moving some smaller items in their own car when driving to Spain and hadn’t filled out the correct paperwork! 😳


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

Of course, I know that. The director of the moving company told me that the vast majority of people overestimate the value of their belongings. From their experience, the value of a volume of about 30 m3 of belongings of a normal household would generate about £375 of import duty. 

My friend is a director of a removal company based in London. He gave me a mate's rates quote that was 2.5 times higher than the one we're going with; however, his company deals with removals of Premier League footballers, Russian oligarchs, Arab millionaires, etc. so his service is really posh and he couldn't go lower with the price. Anyway, he estimated the import duty of our belongings to be around £400, so fairly similar to the other estimate.



MarieS said:


> Our friends had some of their items confiscated and returned to the U.K. + a penalty charge, as they were moving some smaller items in their own car when driving to Spain and hadn’t filled out the correct paperwork! 😳


Were they returned from Santander/Bilbao, or Calais?


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## MarieS (9 mo ago)

sadlybroke said:


> Of course, I know that. The director of the moving company told me that the vast majority of people overestimate the value of their belongings. From their experience, the value of a volume of about 30 m3 of belongings of a normal household would generate about £375 of import duty.
> 
> My friend is a director of a removal company based in London. He gave me a mate's rates quote that was 2.5 times higher than the one we're going with; however, his company deals with removals of Premier League footballers, Russian oligarchs, Arab millionaires, etc. so his service is really posh and he couldn't go lower with the price. Anyway, he estimated the import duty of our belongings to be around £400, so fairly similar to the other estimate.
> 
> ...


They arrived at Santander.


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## Rory M (8 mo ago)

We are in the process of buying an apartment in Spain, and will be shipping some stuff from the US (I have an EU passport). I'm hoping my residency will be in place before the goods arrive. I already have NIE.
Has anyone moved household goods from US to Spain?
From what I read above, it seems as if we will have to pay the import duty, then request it back within 6 months?


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

MarieS said:


> The price for import is not done on cubic metres- it’s on the value of goods. Every single item has to go on an inventory list and have a value against it. 😳


Hi again, quick question - if you have boxes of books or other small items like pens etc, how accurately is your removals company asking you to list these? I can't imagine listing every book title, never mind every fork or biro pen!


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

alpinist said:


> Hi again, quick question - if you have boxes of books or other small items like pens etc, how accurately is your removals company asking you to list these? I can't imagine listing every book title, never mind every fork or biro pen!


I asked this question and I was told to say something along the lines of: Box 1 - stationary, Box 2 - clothes, Box 3 - kitchen utensils, etc.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

Good luck with getting that past customs!


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## manuka (May 26, 2014)

sadlybroke said:


> They calculated it to be around £375 for a load of 30 cubic metres. They take care of the paperwork.


. I think WEIGHT matters more than volume- 12 cubic metres could be light .....or not! Ours was 12 cubic metres..... but the weight of goods was 4000kg


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

manuka said:


> . I think WEIGHT matters more than volume- 12 cubic metres could be light .....or not! Ours was 12 cubic metres..... but the weight of goods was 4000kg


I think you may find with customs charges value of the goods shipped matters most.
The shipping company alone will be concerned with weight and size.
Seeing as there are now vat charges levied as well. 
Everything has a customs code at a % of declared or perceived value to be charged. 

I had a box of car parts shipped with a value of €400 and paid something like €75 for the pleasure, the box weighed 2kg and was only 200x100x100 in size.... 
Last week a box of books arrived from the uk with no extra charge just the original postage.. Customs value of £20. The postman wasn't very happy as it weighed 20kg.

After all a packet of diamonds is tiny and weightless compared to a classic car but they both may carry the same value and high taxes.


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

sadlybroke said:


> I asked this question and I was told to say something along the lines of: Box 1 - stationary, Box 2 - clothes, Box 3 - kitchen utensils, etc.





MataMata said:


> Good luck with getting that past customs!


As odd it seems, I've now received pretty much the same information from a large removals firm with a very high score and reviews on trustpilot, with many since Brexit and mentioning getting the loads going through customs without issue. Perhaps customs are targeting the small van man operations but letting the liveried HGVs sail through.


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

alpinist said:


> As odd it seems, I've now received pretty much the same information from a large removals firm with a very high score and reviews on trustpilot, with many since Brexit and mentioning getting the loads going through customs without issue. Perhaps customs are targeting the small van man operations but letting the liveried HGVs sail through.


Its possible you are correct with regards the large companies.
We have new neighbours who travelled over with a UK reg transit van (hired). The company they used did the standard forms (don't know what they were) and said to the couple.
"list every item no matter how small and give a value"
So they did 26 pages of it.
Customs in Bilbao took one look at it, opened the rear of the van, saw all the labelled boxes, stamped the paperwork and waved them on..

Now thats just their story and your or anyone else experience may or will be different.


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## Chrisgh (6 mo ago)

Arrived at Bilbao yesterday morning. Full inventory to hand and a declaration that everything in our van was ours and sole use etc. Drove down the nothing to declare, because we didn’t, and we were waved on by customs.


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## Debbie A (6 mo ago)

Hello, that’s great! Any advice you can offer in terms of paperwork/declaration etc? We will be self driving a van via France to Spain and don’t want to get held up at custom in two weeks time.


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## Chrisgh (6 mo ago)

Inventory of every item in every box and anything you’re carrying.

We used this declaration. It’s English and French, I just translated the French to Spanish but you won’t have to do that.Declaration of non transfer of ownership.
Also a statement like this,

I *___*,
with passport/ID number: *__*,
and nationality: *__*,
hereby stating that our goods are transported from:
*_*
*_*
to:
*_*
*_*
, and were bought more than 6 months ago, and we will not transfer, sell or lease any of the listed items within 12 months.
I also confirm that we are planning to live in country of destination for at least 12 months and the reason why we are moving is:
*_* *_*
Place of signing Name in
the document: Date: capitals: Signature:

Also proof of address in England for 12 months prior to moving out and your address in Spain. I had council tax bill, utility bills and our removal from electoral roll document. For Spain I had deeds and utility bills. Also had copies of our NIE’s. Anything you can think of to prove you’re moving to Spain.
As I said we didn’t get stopped but I think I was prepared enough. 

Hope that helps.


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## Debbie A (6 mo ago)

Chrisgh said:


> Inventory of every item in every box and anything you’re carrying.
> 
> We used this declaration. It’s English and French, I just translated the French to Spanish but you won’t have to do that.Declaration of non transfer of ownership.
> Also a statement like this,
> ...


Hi Chris, 

Thank you so much for the information and form it is really helpful!


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