How does the calculator work?
The calculator estimates the total cost of re-registering a foreign-plated car to a Spanish plate on Mallorca. You enter the first-registration date, the make and model, the engine displacement and the CO₂ emissions of your vehicle. From that we compute the Spanish vehicle registration tax (IEDMT) using the official value tables published by the Ministerio de Hacienda, plus the DGT fee, the pre-registration inspection, the municipal vehicle tax and the typical cost of new plates. Optionally you can include a Gestoría fee if you would rather not run the paperwork yourself.
The data the calculator needs is on your vehicle registration certificate: first-registration date in field B, engine displacement in field P.1, CO₂ emissions in field V.7 (European V5C). The value of the vehicle does not come from you. You pick the make and the exact model variant from the built-in lookup, which covers 112 makes and 61,628 model variants, and the calculator inserts the official table value. For motorcycles it does not ask for a value at all, because the tables set it purely by engine size.
What does the total break down into?
Registration tax IEDMT (Impuesto Especial sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte)
The largest line item. The Spanish vehicle registration tax is a one-off levy at import. The rate depends on the vehicle's CO₂ emissions: 0 % up to and including 120 g/km, 4.75 % from 121 to 159 g/km, 9.75 % from 160 to 199 g/km, and 14.75 % from 200 g/km up. The Balearics raise that top bracket alone to 16 % by regional law (article 74 of Decreto Legislativo 1/2014); the lower brackets are unchanged. Only the 120 g/km threshold is inclusive, the others are strict. If a CO₂ figure is prescribed for the vehicle but not evidenced, the highest rate applies instead of an exemption. The official overview is on the AEAT website. Motorcycles have their own brackets at 100, 120 and 140 g/km, without the Balearic increase.
The taxable base is not the market value, not the price you paid and not the list price in the country the car comes from. It is the “precio medio de venta” that the Ministerio de Hacienda sets for your exact model variant in Anexo I of its annual order, multiplied by the residual percentage for the vehicle's age from Anexo IV. For 2026 the order is Orden HAC/1501/2025, published in the BOE of 23 December 2025.
The residual percentages go by full years since first registration: up to 1 year 100 %, up to 2 years 84 %, up to 3 years 67 %, up to 4 years 56 %, up to 5 years 47 %, up to 6 years 39 %, up to 7 years 34 %, up to 8 years 28 %, up to 9 years 24 %, up to 10 years 19 %, up to 11 years 17 %, up to 12 years 13 %, and 10 % for anything older. The rule of thumb that a ten-year-old car has lost around 60 % of its value does not match this table: 60 % depreciation corresponds to roughly five years, while a car past its tenth year is down to 17 % of the table value, a loss of 83 %. Old cars with high CO₂ figures can still come out cheap in tax terms, but the reason is the residual percentage, not a rounded rule.
A worked example from an actual Gestoría invoice on Mallorca in 2026: a Mercedes GLS 580 4MATIC, first registered in May 2024, 311 g/km. Anexo I lists 117,200 EUR for that variant. The car is a good two years old, so 67 % applies. 117,200 EUR multiplied by 0.67 gives 78,524 EUR, and exactly that figure appears on the invoice as “valor del vehículo”. At the Balearic rate of 16 % the tax is 12,563.84 EUR. The list price of the same car where it came from was around 137,790 EUR and plays no role at all. Using it would have overstated the tax by roughly 18 %.
Motorcycles work differently. Anexo I lists no motorcycle models at all; their value comes from a scale by engine displacement, or by power for electric machines. Combustion examples: up to 50 cc 950 EUR, up to 125 cc 1,600 EUR, up to 250 cc 2,250 EUR, up to 750 cc 6,700 EUR, up to 1,000 cc 10,000 EUR, up to 1,200 cc 12,550 EUR, and 15,500 EUR above that.
Pre-registration inspection
Before a foreign vehicle gets a Spanish plate it has to be inspected, and in most cases a homologation file documenting its technical data has to be prepared for the Spanish registry. Budget 70 to 150 EUR for that step; on the invoice we checked it appears as “Industria” at 99.91 EUR. This is not the periodic ITV, which costs only around 25 EUR on Mallorca and which the car then has to pass on the normal schedule. A roadworthiness certificate from your home country does not transfer. If the headlights need converting for driving on the right, or a re-test is required, expect 50 to 200 EUR of garage time on top.
DGT fee and new plates
The DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico) charges a fixed fee of 99.77 EUR for issuing the Spanish registration document (Permiso de Circulación) and updating the registry. The physical plates are made by any print shop or workshop: 41 EUR for the pair on a car, around 20 EUR for the single plate on a motorcycle. If you need to move the vehicle legally before it is registered, temporary green plates (placas verdes) cost 41 EUR plus a 20.60 EUR Tráfico fee, so 61.60 EUR in total.
Municipal vehicle tax (IVTM)
The annual road tax goes to the municipality where the vehicle is registered, and the rates differ from town to town. Palma is the most expensive on the island and applies the legal maximum coefficient of 2.0. Its 2026 tariff by fiscal horsepower (caballos fiscales): 23.61 EUR below 8 CVF, 68.16 EUR from 8 to 11.99, 143.88 EUR from 12 to 15.99, 179.22 EUR from 16 to 19.99, and 224.00 EUR from 20 upwards. Marratxí, for comparison, runs from 19.50 to 173.35 EUR. In the year of registration the tax is charged by quarter (article 96.3 TRLRHL), so registering in the fourth quarter costs a quarter of the annual amount.
Optional: Gestoría
A Gestoría handles the forms, appointments and the trips to the authorities for you. The going rate on Mallorca is 125 to 140 EUR: two independent providers both charge 125 EUR for the work itself, one adds 15 EUR for opening the file. That is the fee alone, without the third-party costs above. If the vehicle has no Certificate of Conformity, a homologation is needed on top, which runs from 200 to 2,000 EUR and is not part of the calculator. If your Spanish is limited or your time is tight, hiring a Gestoría usually saves several weeks of waiting. The DIY route is possible but slow.
Who actually has to re-register?
Once you become resident on Mallorca (empadronamiento plus NIE/residencia), the law gives you 30 days from registration to re-plate any foreign vehicle. This deadline is in article 7 of the Reglamento General de Vehículos and has been enforced more strictly in recent years. Driving on foreign plates beyond the deadline risks fines of 200 EUR upwards and the vehicle being impounded at a roadside check.
Tourists and people who keep their main residence abroad can keep driving the foreign-plated car. For longer stays beyond six months the legal situation becomes grey, and insurers can refuse cover. When in doubt, take an hour with a Gestoría or a lawyer.
Re-register or buy locally?
Rule of thumb: most of the side costs are fixed. DGT fee, plates, inspection, municipal tax and a Gestoría add up to roughly 350 to 650 EUR regardless of what the car is worth, and the registration tax comes on top of that. On a cheap old vehicle this is a large share of its value, so buying a used car locally in Spain is often the more economical route, and you skip the inspection dossier and the import paperwork. For newer or higher-value vehicles with low CO₂ figures, bringing the car generally pays off. The calculator gives you the actual numbers for your specific decision.
What the calculator does not cover
- Transport costs from your home country to Mallorca (ferry or moving company, typically 600 to 1,200 EUR depending on route)
- A new Spanish car insurance policy, which you need to take out alongside the re-registration
- De-registering the vehicle in your home country, if you have not done that yet
- The homologation if the vehicle has no Certificate of Conformity, from 200 to 2,000 EUR
- The transfer tax (ITP, modelo 620) when you buy from a private seller: 4 % of the taxable base on the Balearics. Buying from a dealer means VAT instead, with no ITP.
- Vehicles that still count as new, meaning under six months old or under 6,000 km: the taxable base is calculated differently and Spanish import VAT is due on top
- Special cases like camper vans, classic cars, or imports from non-EU countries
Frequently asked questions
Does the calculator work for motorcycles too?
Yes. Pick “Motorcycle” in the first step: the calculator then uses the motorcycle-specific tax brackets (0 % up to 100 g/km, 4.75 % up to 120, 9.75 % below 140, 14.75 % from 140 g/km), checks the power rule from 74 kW and 0.66 kW/kg, and knows that motorcycles up to 250 cc pay no registration tax at all. It does not ask you for a vehicle value, because the tables derive it from engine size. The side costs adjust as well: one number plate instead of two, and the municipal tax by engine size.
How long does re-registration take end-to-end?
Plan for four to eight weeks. Getting an ITV appointment takes one to three weeks, Hacienda processing the IEDMT takes two to four weeks, and the DGT registration another two to three weeks.
What paperwork do I need just for the calculator?
Only your vehicle registration document. It holds the first-registration date, the displacement, the CO₂ figure and the exact model designation you need for the table lookup. For the actual administrative process you additionally need the title document, the Certificate of Conformity (CoC), your NIE and your empadronamiento.
Is the calculator binding?
No. It is an estimate based on the official value tables (Orden HAC/1501/2025 for 2026), the DGT fee schedule, the municipal tariffs and typical Gestoría prices on Mallorca. The official IEDMT assessment is issued by Hacienda. With the right model variant looked up, the tax itself comes out to the euro. The remaining uncertainty sits in the side costs and in the question of which Anexo I line matches your car, since model names repeat across engine versions and model years. Check displacement and power before you pick a line.
What happens if I just do not re-register?
At traffic checks with foreign plates and a Spanish address, fines apply; repeat offenders risk the vehicle being impounded. Your home-country insurance may also refuse to cover an accident because the car is permanently abroad.