Buying a car in the EU as a self-employed person or company: VAT

If you buy a car in another EU country as a self-employed person or company and another trader sells it to you, the usual case is an intra-Community acquisition: the seller does not charge you the VAT of their country if you give them a valid VAT number (NIF-IVA), and you declare Spanish VAT on your form 303, where you can deduct it if you meet the requirements of the law. For a passenger car, the law presumes 50% business use, so that is, in principle, the deductible share unless you prove a different degree of use. If the seller applies the special scheme for second-hand goods (REBU), there is no intra-Community acquisition and no VAT to deduct.

When it is an intra-Community acquisition

Spain's VAT Act (Ley 37/1992) subjects to the tax intra-Community acquisitions of goods made for consideration by traders and professionals when the person transferring them is also a trader or professional. The Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) sums it up like this: it is the purchase by traders of goods transported from another member state to the mainland and the Balearic Islands, by the seller, by the buyer or by a third party on their behalf.

Some purchases are not, even if the seller is a professional:

• If the sale is taxed under the special scheme for second-hand goods in the country of origin.
• If the seller applies their country's small-business exemption scheme (franchise scheme): they will have no VAT number and will not charge VAT, and you do not account for the transaction as an intra-Community acquisition.

And if you buy as a private individual, even if you are self-employed, the rules we explain in VAT on a car bought in the EU apply.

First: the VAT number and ROI registration

According to the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT), a trader established on the mainland or in the Balearic Islands is obliged to obtain the VAT number (NIF-IVA), by registering in the Register of Intra-Community Operators (ROI), if they are going to make taxable intra-Community acquisitions of goods.

• How to apply. With the census declaration, form 036, ticking box 582 for the registration request and entering in box 584 the expected date of the first transaction.
• How long it takes. If the Tax Agency does not decide within three months, the assignment may be considered refused. Apply in advance.
• Why the seller needs it. The EU VAT directive, as worded by Directive (EU) 2018/1910, makes the exemption of the intra-Community supply in the country of origin conditional on the buyer being identified for VAT in another member state and having given the supplier their number. Without that number, the exemption does not apply.

Your number can be checked in the VIES system, and you can check the seller's there before paying.

How it is declared: forms 303 and 349

The Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) states that the VAT on an intra-Community acquisition is generally settled on form 303: the acquirer declares the Spanish VAT due on the transaction and, in turn, can deduct it when the requirements of the law are met.

• VAT due. The instructions for form 303 reserve boxes 10 and 11 for the taxable bases and VAT amounts of the period's intra-Community acquisitions of goods and services.
• Deductible VAT. The part you are entitled to deduct goes in the deductions section of the same form.
• Rate. The general VAT rate is 21%.
• Informative return. Intra-EU acquisitions are also reported on form 349.

If you deduct all the VAT you account for, the effect on your 303 is neutral. If you can deduct only a part, the difference is a real cost of the car.

How much VAT you can deduct

The general rule is that VAT on goods that are not used directly and exclusively for the business cannot be deducted. But for capital goods used wholly or partly in the business, the law sets its own rules, and for passenger cars the most important one is this: they are presumed to be used for the business in a proportion of 50%.

That presumption rises to 100% in some cases listed by the law:

• mixed vehicles used to carry goods;
• those used to carry passengers for payment;
• those used for driver or pilot instruction for payment;
• those used by their manufacturers for tests, trials, demonstrations or sales promotion;
• those used for the professional travel of sales representatives or commercial agents;
• and those used in security services.

If the actual degree of use in the business differs from the one applied, the deduction must be adjusted. The degree of use is shown by any means of proof admitted in law, but the law warns that neither your own tax return nor recording the car in the business's books is enough.

If the seller applies REBU

A dealer in another country can sell you a used car under the special scheme for second-hand goods. In that case, the law excludes the purchase from intra-Community acquisitions and establishes that the VAT borne by someone who acquires second-hand goods supplied by a reseller applying the special scheme is not deductible. The VAT on the margin is included in the price as a cost. We explain it in REBU on imported cars.

Registration and registration tax

To register a new car bought in the EU, the DGT (Spain's traffic authority) asks for proof of payment of VAT, form 309 or 300, or proof that you are included in the VAT taxable persons census.

You pay the registration tax (impuesto de matriculación) just as a private individual would, with form 576, whose filing we explain in how to file form 576. One exception of interest if you buy a van: category N1 vans are not subject to the tax if they are significantly used in an economic activity, which the law presumes when you are entitled to deduct at least 50% of the VAT on their purchase. Check with the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) how to prove it in your case.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying without a VAT number. Without it, the supply is not exempt at origin.
• Counting on deducting all the VAT on a passenger car. The law presumes 50% business use except in the cases it lists.
• Confusing a REBU invoice with an intra-Community one. With REBU there is no VAT to declare or deduct.
• Forgetting form 349. The intra-Community acquisition is also reported.
• Thinking that, as a company, you do not pay the registration tax. It is payable unless the vehicle is exempt or not subject to it.

This guide refers to the mainland and the Balearic Islands: for VAT purposes, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are not considered Community territory. Each company has its own tax situation: review the transaction with your adviser before buying.

Sources consulted

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

• Ley 37/1992, de 28 de diciembre, del Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido (texto consolidado). BOE.
• Adquisiciones y entregas intracomunitarias. Agencia Tributaria.
• Identificación para realizar operaciones con otros empresarios dentro de la UE: ROI, VIES, NIF-IVA y NVAT. Agencia Tributaria.
• Directiva (UE) 2018/1910 del Consejo, de 4 de diciembre de 2018, que modifica la Directiva 2006/112/CE (comercio intracomunitario). DOUE (vía BOE).
• Modelo 303. Instrucciones 2026. Agencia Tributaria.
• Matriculación de vehículos nuevos y vehículos provenientes del extranjero. DGT (sede electrónica).
• Orden EHA/3851/2007, por la que se aprueba el modelo 576. BOE.
• Ley 38/1992, de 28 de diciembre, de Impuestos Especiales (texto consolidado), artículo 65. BOE.