SPANISH ROAD TAX

Spanish road tax

Auxi Gutierrez, office manager of multilingual law firm in Marbella, Málaga, Spain is pleased to set out some lines with regards to the Spanish Tax on vehicles (Impuesto sobre vehículos de tracción mecánica IVTM). The tax on vehicles is a local municipally mandatory tax, established in Spain. This settlement of this Spanish tax is handled directly by the corresponding Town hall where cars and motorbikes are registered.

The IVTM is a Spanish tax on the ownership of motor vehicles, suitable for use on public roads.

How is this tax regulated in Spain?

You will find the regulation of this Spanish Tax in the revised Regulation Act Local Taxation (Royal Legislative Decree 2/2001 of March 5).

This tax would be applicable for all vehicles with Spanish plates except for those mentioned below

• Vehicles that are considered old timers. • Those stroken off from the registry. • Vehicles with a special temporally permit for racing and/or other sports events.

How is this Spanish tax calculated?

The Tax is required according to the below mentioned minimum fee schedule. The chart assigns that each type of vehicles is subject to a minimum amount based on some of the following factors, the fiscal power of the vehicle, the number of seats, the load capacity and displacement.

Power and class of vehicle Share Euros A) Cars Less than 8 fiscal horsepower 12,62€ From 8 until 11.99 fiscal horsepower 34,08€ From 16 until 19,99 fiscal horsepower 71,94€ From 20 fiscal horsepower onwards 112,00€

Increase of minimum fees.

The Town Halls have the capacity to increase this Spanish tax amount with a maximum rate of 200 percent, regardless of the population of the municipality, as required by article 95.4 of the Spanish Law on Local Taxation.

Bonus

The regulation of the bonuses are optional depending on the kind of fuel consumed by the vehicle and the characteristics of the engines, taking into account the corresponding impact on the environment.

Article 99. Justification of the tax payment mentioned as per Spanish Law 36/2006 of November 29.

1- The payment of this Tax in Spain has to be shown at the time of the application to the corresponding provincial traffic registry.

2- The Provincial Traffic will not process the change of ownership of a vehicle in the event that it is not shown that the tax from the previous year has been settled.

Which vehicles are exempt from paying this tax or are entitled to receive a bonus?

• There is an exemption for owners who have a degree of disability higher than 33%. • 50% for large families (familias numerosas) • 100 exemption for vehicles such as rental cars, taxis, etc..

The Spanish tax on vehicles is one of the highest that exist within the Spanish fiscal landscape taking into account the value of the asset as the same, in general, is relatively low.

Despite this consideration, among different town halls, we find relevant difference in the amounts payable for the same vehicles. Rarely this matter is checked when purchasing a car or changing of domicile of the same.

For any further information or clarification on this subject do not hesitate to contact, ARCOS & LAMERS ASOCIADOS, Spanish lawyers, Tax advisers, Registered Accountants in Marbella, Málaga, Costa del Sol, Spain.