Form 576 for an imported car: how to file it

Form 576 is the self-assessment of the registration tax and the step that opens Spanish registration for an imported car. It is filed by the person in whose name the car is to be registered, generally online, once definitive registration has been applied for and before it takes place. If the result is an amount to pay, the tax has to be paid; filing it gives you the Electronic Registration Code (Código Electrónico de Matriculación, CEM), and the DGT (Spain's traffic authority) will ask you for proof of the tax in order to register.

What form 576 is and when it does not apply

It is the self-assessment form for the Special Tax on Certain Means of Transport, known as the registration tax, approved by Order EHA/3851/2007. The Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) describes it as the form generally filed to start the registration process, and it is used to declare all means of transport that are subject to the tax and not exempt from it.

It is not the only possible form. If your case is an exemption or a non-liability, another one is used: form 05 when the tax authority's prior recognition is needed and form 06 for exemptions and non-liabilities without prior recognition. The DGT accepts the proof for whichever applies: form 576, 06 or 05.

This article explains how it is filed. How the tax is calculated, with its rates and examples, we cover in the registration tax on an imported car.

Who files it

The Order approving the form names, among others, two liable persons who matter to you if you import a car:

• The person or entity in whose name the first definitive registration in Spain is made, whether the car is new or used, built in the Community or imported.
• The resident who uses a car in Spain without registering it here within the legal period, in the case of article 65.1.d) of the Special Taxes Act (Ley de Impuestos Especiales). We explain it in how long a car with foreign plates can be driven in Spain.

A prerequisite that is sometimes forgotten: according to the form's instructions, the person filing must have a NIF (Spanish tax identification number) and be identified in the register of taxpayers. If you lack it, it has to be sorted out before filing.

When it is filed

The tax falls due at the moment you submit the application for the first definitive registration. That is why the instructions say that the self-assessment is filed once definitive registration has been applied for and before it has taken place.

There is an important exception for someone who is already using the car in Spain with foreign plates. In that case the tax falls due the day after the 30-day period for applying for registration ends, and when the taxable event is not registration, the deadline for self-assessing is fifteen calendar days from the date it falls due.

What you need before filling it in

• The ITV card. The vehicle's data are entered in line with the wording on the technical inspection card, so the ITV (Spain's roadworthiness inspection) comes first. We cover what they ask for in the ITV inspection of an imported car.
• Whether the car is new or used. It is ticked on the form using the criteria in the law: it is new if delivered within six months of its first entry into service or if it has not travelled more than 6,000 kilometres.
• Date of entry into service and kilometres, which are only filled in if the car is used. The instructions take as the date of entry into service that of the first registration, definitive or provisional, within the European Union.
• The place of acquisition, which is ticked in all cases.
• The details of whoever brought the car into Spain, which are only requested if the vehicle comes from the European Union and the ITV card is type A.
• The price or value. For a new car, the base is the VAT taxable base of the purchase; for a used one, its market value on the date the tax falls due.
• The official CO2 emissions, which decide the bracket and, with it, the rate.

The boxes of the assessment

The assessment part of the form has eight boxes. According to the AEAT's instructions:

Box	What goes in
01 Taxable base	For a new car, the VAT base of the purchase; for a used one, the market value on the date the tax falls due
02 Reduced taxable base	Only if there is a reduction, such as the large-family reduction previously recognised by the tax authority
03 Rate / Bracket	The rate that corresponds to the car's bracket according to its CO2 emissions and the autonomous community
04 Tax due	The result of applying the rate to the taxable base or the reduced base
05 Flat-rate deduction	Only if some deduction is established for extraordinary circumstances
06 Amount to pay	The tax due minus the deduction, never negative
07 To deduct	Only on a supplementary self-assessment: what was paid before
08 Result of the assessment	Box 06 minus box 07

For a used car that was registered abroad, the instructions remind you that the residual amount of the indirect taxes it would have borne had it been registered new in Spain is deducted from the market value, to the extent that it is included. To set that value you can use the used-vehicle valuation tables approved by the tax authority in force on the date the tax falls due.

In the observations section, each vehicle carries a code: 00 corresponds to all other vehicles that are not a quad, off-road vehicle, vehicle fitted out as living accommodation or motorbike.

Payment, filing and the CEM

• Online, as a general rule. The AEAT states that filing is generally done over the internet, from the form's procedures page, which also includes payment of the registration tax and checking of the CEM.
• In person, by appointment, if you are a private individual. Individuals who are not in the register of businesspeople, professionals and withholding agents can file it at the AEAT's service points, by appointment, provided the car is theirs. Beforehand they must have paid the tax and obtained the full reference number (NRC) from the collaborating bank.
• The result is the CEM. When you file the form you obtain the Electronic Registration Code. To register, the DGT asks for proof of payment, exemption or non-liability for the tax.
• Endorsement. The law requires the self-assessment to be endorsed by the Administration before definitive registration. If the tax due comes out below what would result from the average sale prices approved by the tax authority, it may check the value before endorsing it, with a maximum period of sixty days from when you make the car's documentation available to it.
• If you make a mistake. A supplementary self-assessment is filed, stating the 13-digit identification number of the previous one and what has already been paid in box 07.

With the CEM and the other supporting documents you apply for the registration: we explain it in how to register an imported car with the DGT.

Mistakes to avoid

• Filing the 576 when your case is an exemption. Exemptions and non-liabilities go through form 05 or 06, depending on whether or not they require prior recognition.
• Not having a NIF or not being in the register. Without that the form cannot be filed.
• Copying the data from the advertisement. The vehicle's data are entered according to the ITV card.
• Ticking “used” for a car that is new for tax purposes. The taxable base is calculated differently in each case.
• Declaring a very low value. If the tax due comes out below what results from the average sale prices, the tax authority may check the value before endorsing the self-assessment.

In the Basque Country and Navarre, the proof of the tax is issued by their own provincial (foral) tax authority. If in doubt about your case, consult the AEAT or an administrative agent (gestor).

Sources consulted

Checked on 11 October 2026. We link to the original source so that you can consult the current text.

• Modelo 576 (primera matriculación de medios de transporte). Agencia Tributaria.
• Orden EHA/3851/2007, de 26 de diciembre, por la que se aprueba el modelo 576 de autoliquidación del Impuesto Especial sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte. BOE.
• Modelo 576. Instrucciones. Agencia Tributaria.
• Ley 38/1992, de 28 de diciembre, de Impuestos Especiales (texto consolidado), artículos 68 y 71. BOE.
• Gestiones de primera matriculación (modelos 05, 06, 568 y 576). Agencia Tributaria.
• Matriculación de vehículos nuevos y vehículos provenientes del extranjero. DGT (sede electrónica).
• Modelo 576. Impuesto Especial sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte. Autoliquidación (ficha de gestiones). Agencia Tributaria.