What transferring a car in Spain really costs: three items and a worked example
DGT fee, transfer tax and agency: what you pay when a used car changes owners in Spain, and what it adds up to in a typical case.
Transferring a car doesn't have one price: it has three. The DGT fee, the transfer tax (ITP) and, if you delegate the paperwork, the agency. What confuses people is that each item is paid to a different body at a different moment.
The DGT fee
The most predictable one: transferring a passenger car costs around €55, less for mopeds. It is paid to the DGT itself when filing.
The ITP — the big one
The transfer tax goes to your region's tax office, and in most regions sits between 4% and 8% of the vehicle's value. Mind the word “value”: the tax office doesn't simply accept the contract price, but the higher of that price and the value from its official tables, which depend on model and age. Declaring €500 for a car the tables value at €6,000 doesn't save tax: it generates a supplementary assessment.
The agency
Optional. File it yourself and it costs nothing; delegate it and add the fee. What you're buying isn't the form — it's not getting the ITP wrong and not setting foot in a traffic office.
A worked example
A car valued at €10,000 in a region with 6% ITP: €600 tax + ~€55 DGT fee + agency if any. The usual surprise isn't the fee — it's discovering the ITP after agreeing the price. At Autamo the full breakdown appears before you reserve, tax and paperwork included in the total.