Road tax on an imported car in Spain: when and where it is paid

The road tax on an imported car is paid to the town council of your address and before registering it: the DGT (Spain's traffic authority) requires proof of payment of the tax, or of its exemption, to process the registration. Its official name is the Tax on Mechanically Propelled Vehicles (Impuesto sobre Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica, IVTM). For a passenger car, the amount depends on the fiscal horsepower and on the coefficient your town council applies, which can double the rate set by law. After that it is paid every year, like any car registered in Spain.

What it is and who pays it

It is a direct municipal tax on the ownership of mechanically propelled vehicles fit to travel on public roads. It is regulated by the consolidated text of Spain's Local Finance Act (Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales), in its articles 92 to 99.

• Who pays it. The person or entity in whose name the vehicle appears on the registration certificate.
• Who it is paid to. The town council of the address shown on the registration certificate, which manages and collects it.
• Which cars. Those registered in the public registers until they are deregistered. For this purpose, the law also treats as fit to travel vehicles with temporary permits, such as the green plates requested while the registration is processed.

When an imported car pays it

Before registration. The law establishes that whoever applies to the DGT for the registration of a vehicle must first prove payment of the tax, and the DGT states it on its website: you must pay the road tax to the town council of your address and attach the proof of payment or exemption to the application.

The law allows town councils to require it under a self-assessment scheme, and each one decides in its tax ordinance how payment is proven. Ask your town council which form it uses and whether you can do it online.

Since the amount depends on the fiscal horsepower shown on the ITV card (issued at Spain's roadworthiness inspection), the logical thing is to pay it after the inspection and before applying for registration. You can see the other steps in how to register an imported car with the DGT.

Do you pay for the whole year? The tax period coincides with the calendar year, except in the case of the first acquisition of the vehicle, when it starts on the day of acquisition. In that case the law provides for the amount to be prorated by calendar quarters. How your town council treats a car being registered in Spain for the first time is specified by its tax office.

How much is paid: fiscal horsepower and rate

The law sets for passenger cars a rate by fiscal horsepower brackets:

• Under 8 fiscal horsepower: €12.62.
• From 8 up to 11.99 fiscal horsepower: €34.08.
• From 12 up to 15.99 fiscal horsepower: €71.94.
• From 16 up to 19.99 fiscal horsepower: €89.61.
• From 20 fiscal horsepower upwards: €112.00.

On top of those amounts, each town council can apply a coefficient that cannot be higher than 2, and can set a different one for each class of vehicle and even for each bracket. If the town council applies no coefficient, the amount in the table is paid. The table of amounts can be modified by the State Budget Act.

An example with assumed figures: a passenger car of 13.31 fiscal horsepower is in the 12 to 15.99 bracket, with a legal amount of €71.94. With the maximum coefficient of 2, it would pay €143.88 a year, before any discount.

How to find your car's fiscal horsepower

Fiscal power is not the power in kW nor the commercial horsepower in the advert. Spain's General Vehicle Regulations (Reglamento General de Vehículos), in annex V, calculate it with their own formulas:

• Four-stroke combustion engines: from the diameter of the cylinders, the piston stroke and the number of cylinders.
• Electric motors: dividing the effective power in kilowatts by 5.152.

The same annex establishes that the fiscal horsepower entered on the technical inspection card is the one resulting from those formulas, expressed to two decimal places. That is why the figure that counts is the one on the ITV card issued to you in Spain, which you obtain at the pre-registration inspection: we cover it in the ITV inspection for an imported car.

A detail that surprises with electric cars: since the formula divides the effective power by 5.152, a powerful motor can end up in the highest bracket of the rate, although your town council may then discount it.

Discounts and exemptions

Tax ordinances can regulate, on the amount, these discounts:

• Up to 75% depending on the fuel the vehicle uses, because of its impact on the environment.
• Up to 75% depending on the characteristics of the engine and its impact on the environment.
• Up to 100% for historic vehicles or those at least twenty-five years old, counted from manufacture or, if that is not known, from first registration.

They are optional: each town council decides whether to apply them and under what conditions. Among the exemptions in the law are vehicles registered in the name of people with a disability for their exclusive use, with a degree of disability of 33% or more; that exemption must be requested from the town council and does not apply to more than one vehicle at a time.

The following years

Once registered, the tax falls due on the first day of each tax period, which coincides with the calendar year. And it is worth keeping up to date: the DGT does not process a change of ownership of a vehicle until its owner has proven payment of the previous year's tax, which matters the day you want to sell it.

To work out the full numbers before buying, add this item to the others we cover in the total cost of importing a car.

Mistakes to avoid

• Applying for registration without the town council's proof. The DGT requires proof of payment or exemption first.
• Calculating with the advert's horsepower. What counts is the fiscal horsepower on the ITV card.
• Taking a discount for granted. It depends on your town council's ordinance.
• Paying at the wrong town council. It is the one of the address shown on the registration certificate.

This guide follows national law, which applies without prejudice to the regional tax regimes (regímenes financieros forales) of the Basque Country and Navarre: their own rules apply there. The specific amounts and coefficients are set by each town council in its tax ordinance: check it before calculating.

Sources consulted

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

• Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2004, de 5 de marzo, texto refundido de la Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales (texto consolidado), artículos 92 a 99. BOE.
• Matrícula temporal (placas verdes). DGT (sede electrónica).
• Matriculación de vehículos nuevos y vehículos provenientes del extranjero. DGT (sede electrónica).
• Real Decreto 2822/1998, Reglamento General de Vehículos (texto consolidado), anexo V. BOE.