Buying or selling a second-hand car in Spain

A private sale of a vehicle is closed with four actions: the sale contract signed by both parties, the payment of the Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales (ITP, the Spanish transfer tax) by the buyer, the ownership transfer at the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico, the Spanish traffic authority) requested by the buyer, and the sale notification filed by the seller.

The order matters. The contract is signed first, then the buyer pays the ITP (modelo 620) and, with that receipt, can already request the ownership transfer at the DGT. In parallel, the seller notifies the sale in order to stop being answerable for the car. Managora drafts the sale contract and files the ownership transfer and the sale notification for you (you can see the price of each service on the procedure page).

Before signing, it is worth requesting the vehicle report from the DGT electronic office. The reduced report is free and flags issues that would prevent the transfer or the use of the car on the road. The full report or encumbrance report (tasa 4.1, the official DGT fee, €8.67) reveals charges, seizures, retention of title, ITV (the Spanish roadworthiness test) history, number of owners and mileage.

Check four things: that the seller is the real registered owner, that the car has a valid ITV, that it does not carry a retention of title (outstanding finance) or any seizure, and that no debts or restrictions are recorded. A vehicle with a retention of title or a registered seizure cannot be put in your name until that charge is lifted, so checking before you pay saves you from buying a car you will not be able to transfer.

They are two different procedures and both are necessary. The sale notification is filed by the seller: it tells the DGT that the car has been sold, so the seller stops receiving its fines and notices. The ownership transfer is requested by the buyer: it puts the vehicle in their name in the Vehicle Register.

One does not replace the other. Even if the seller notifies the sale, the car is still registered in the seller's name until the buyer completes the transfer. That is why the seller must keep a signed copy of the contract and notify within 10 days of the sale (article 32 of the Reglamento General de Vehículos, the Spanish General Vehicle Regulation), without waiting for the buyer to do their part.

The ownership transfer at the DGT has a fixed official fee (tasa 1.5, €55.70 for cars and tasa 1.2, €27.85 for motorbikes and mopeds) and the buyer has 30 days from the signing of the contract to file it. The DGT will not carry out the transfer unless the payment of the ITP, or the exemption from it, is evidenced first.

The ITP is a tax ceded to the autonomous regions: the rate is set by each region (usually around 4%) and is applied to the higher of two values, the price paid or the tax value in the official average price tables. Vehicles more than 10 years old may have reduced flat amounts depending on engine capacity. You can see the price of Managora's service on the ownership transfer page.

No. The sale notification releases you from the fines and penalties imposed on the vehicle from the date of the sale onwards, but not from the Impuesto sobre Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica (IVTM), the municipal road tax.

The IVTM is owed by whoever is registered as the owner of the vehicle on 1 January. If you were the owner on that day and you sell halfway through the year, you have to pay the full IVTM for that year: sales do not give rise to apportionment by quarters, because article 96.3 of the texto refundido de la Ley de Haciendas Locales (the Spanish Local Public Finance Act) only provides for it on first acquisition and on deregistration of the vehicle, not on ordinary transfers. The notification protects your pocket against traffic fines, not against this local tax.

Managora handles the sale from start to finish and entirely online. We draft the sale contract with all your details, we calculate and file the ITP (modelo 620), we process the ownership transfer at the DGT and we file the sale notification that releases the seller.

You only provide the documents for the car and for both parties: we take care of the forms, the tasas and the filing before the administration. You can check the details and the price of each service on the sale contract, ownership transfer and sale notification pages.