audiseller Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I see on the Government site it states that to stay longer than 3 months in Spain one has to register with the local Office for Foreigners. What do the people on this forum do? Apologies if this has been discussed already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I thought in any EU country it was 6 months, if worried about just drive into France, Andorra or Portugal for a night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 If a Moho is out of the U.K. for more than 12 months it is deemed as permanently exported (dvla website) A non resident can keep a car in Spain indefinitely on UK plates so long as it is not used for more than 6 months in a year and has a valid UK tax and MOT and of course insurance. A Spanish ITV is not acceptable so you would have no option but to take it back to get it MOT'd. (Ex pat website) I don't know how these affect long term motorhomers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aly Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 If staying more than 90 days, but less than 183, you are supposed to register temporarily. If you stay more than 183 days in a year Jan - Dec, you are automatically deemed to be tax resident, whether you have registered or not. I don't motorhome, but have a property in Spain. My travel insurance covers me for a maximum of 100 days away. In practice, even if I stay that long, going over the 90 days, I do not temporily register. I have read of people temporarily registering, who then found they had been permanently registered in error. However, there are lots of people in Spain permanently, or going backwards and forwards, and exceed the limits, but do nothing. If I were motorhoming, I wouldn't worry about going over 90 days (provided I had insurance cover), but would ensure I didn't exceed the 183 days, going over the border if needed, as Lenny says. If you do this, make sure you keep ATM receipts, petrol, camp site receipts to prove you were elsewhere. Personally, as I always fly in/out, I keep all my boarding card stubs. The 'outlaws' in Spain, often say to me, 'I don't know why you worry, the authorities can't prove how long you have been here'. My response is always 'They don't have to prove it, YOU have to prove to them you haven't exceeded your time' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKen1 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Billggski - 2016-01-04 2:55 PM If a Moho is out of the U.K. for more than 12 months it is deemed as permanently exported (dvla website) A non resident can keep a car in Spain indefinitely on UK plates so long as it is not used for more than 6 months in a year and has a valid UK tax and MOT and of course insurance. A Spanish ITV is not acceptable so you would have no option but to take it back to get it MOT'd. (Ex pat website) I don't know how these affect long term motorhomers, Not True .... A Non Resident or Resident can not keep a NON Spanish registered car here indefinitely on Foreign plates, 6mth (183 days) is the limit, after this period it must be registered to Spain .Also the period of 6mths is NOT in a year its over a 12mth period (could be from May to October say ) so you cant nip to the border for the day and start again. Its true that if you are staying longer than 3 mths you should register with the local town hall ,not very convenient if you travelling around and I have never heard of motorhomers having to do so and I would think the local town hall would not be interested. FYI your details are collected anyway when you leave your passport at campsite reception or when you wild and the Guardia cruise round.... Brian K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I think that's what I said, keep it there but you can only use it for six months, and take it back for the mot, but it shows the confusion. Jan-Dec or any 12 month period? Some expats seem quite annoyed by car and morotorhomes breaking the law when they themselves take the trouble to register and test their vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiseller Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 lennyhb - 2016-01-04 12:43 PM I thought in any EU country it was 6 months, if worried about just drive into France, Andorra or Portugal for a night. That's most unlikely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilmac Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Aly - 2016-01-04 1:58 PM If staying more than 90 days, but less than 183, you are supposed to register temporarily. If you stay more than 183 days in a year Jan - Dec, you are automatically deemed to be tax resident, whether you have registered or not. I don't motorhome, but have a property in Spain. My travel insurance covers me for a maximum of 100 days away. In practice, even if I stay that long, going over the 90 days, I do not temporily register. I have read of people temporarily registering, who then found they had been permanently registered in error. However, there are lots of people in Spain permanently, or going backwards and forwards, and exceed the limits, but do nothing. If I were motorhoming, I wouldn't worry about going over 90 days (provided I had insurance cover), but would ensure I didn't exceed the 183 days, going over the border if needed, as Lenny says. If you do this, make sure you keep ATM receipts, petrol, camp site receipts to prove you were elsewhere. Personally, as I always fly in/out, I keep all my boarding card stubs. The 'outlaws' in Spain, often say to me, 'I don't know why you worry, the authorities can't prove how long you have been here'. My response is always 'They don't have to prove it, YOU have to prove to them you haven't exceeded your time' The 183 day rule makes it impossible to just nip over the border and re-enter. It's 183 days in a rolling period, so for any period of 365/366 days if you have been in Spain for more than 183 of them - you're a tax resident. Almost impossible to police these rules though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKen1 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Billggski - 2016-01-04 7:45 PM I think that's what I said, keep it there but you can only use it for six months, and take it back for the mot, but it shows the confusion. Jan-Dec or any 12 month period? Some expats seem quite annoyed by car and morotorhomes breaking the law when they themselves take the trouble to register and test their vehicles. You cant keep a vehicle here permanently and only use it for six months.Take a brand new vehicle with no MOT requirement the 183 day rule still applies over a 12 mth period. Go over and by law you should reregister it in Spain. The same rules apply in the UK also for foreign reg vehicles. As for Expats getting annoyed ..I think we all get annoyed when others break the law. Brian K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aly Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 neilmac - 2016-01-04 8:47 PM The 183 day rule makes it impossible to just nip over the border and re-enter. It's 183 days in a rolling period, so for any period of 365/366 days if you have been in Spain for more than 183 of them - you're a tax resident. Almost impossible to police these rules though. My understanding is that the 183 day rule applies to a 'calendar year', and the tax year in Spain is Jan-Dec So therefore, it would be possible to stay July-December, go over the border for a few days, then return and stay until end of June thereabouts. Bearing in mind any UK vehicle needs to back in time for it's MOT. I would however be interested in links to legislation if this possibilty no longer exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKen1 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Aly - 2016-01-04 10:32 PM neilmac - 2016-01-04 8:47 PM The 183 day rule makes it impossible to just nip over the border and re-enter. It's 183 days in a rolling period, so for any period of 365/366 days if you have been in Spain for more than 183 of them - you're a tax resident. Almost impossible to police these rules though. My understanding is that the 183 day rule applies to a 'calendar year', and the tax year in Spain is Jan-Dec So therefore, it would be possible to stay July-December, go over the border for a few days, then return and stay until end of June thereabouts. Bearing in mind any UK vehicle needs to back in time for it's MOT. I would however be interested in links to legislation if this possibilty no longer exists. It is definetly a 12mth rolling period NOT calender ie you can stay 6mths (183 days) but not return for a further 12 mths . As for Tax Resident. the the tax year starts 1st Jan but you can become a tax resident part way through the year and pay proportionally for that year. I will look for the official link .....Ive seen it somewhere . Brian K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Just in case anyone is contemplating re registering their UK van in Spain, do make sure, before you make such a decision, that you will not encounter the problems that we are having in France. We have been working on this for 6 months, and there is no end in sight. Ours is a Pilote van on a Peugeot chassis. Each time we ask what we have to do we are told only the next step, so we were told that we only needed a certificate of conformity, then we could have it CT tested and get it registered, simples. Peugeot sent us what we now realise is only a partial certificate, for the engine/chassis unit. We were refused our test because of the partial certificate and we were told that we needed another partial certificate from Pilote, we are still working on that one. When that is obtained we have to make an appointment to have it confirmed as a motorhome with DREAL, we also had to make an appointment with the town treasurer's dept to get a certificate about how much tax we will have to pay to import the van, (we think it's nothing). When we get to DREAL they will decide whether they will allow a van with the habitation door on the left to be registered in France, and give their verdict on things like gas installation etc. We do not anticipate any great problem in getting past the CT test, but we're ready for whatever comes next, and maybe soon we can get the van back on the road. Of course, it may be different in other EU countries. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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