Will your goods come in free of duty and VAT?
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Your household goods come into Spain free of import duty and import VAT when you meet every condition listed by Spain's tax agency, the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT):
- Time abroad: you lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months before the move.
- Residence: you are moving, or intend to move, your habitual residence to Spain.
- Ownership and use: you had the goods for at least 6 months before the move (for the VAT exemption, 12 months for a vehicle, caravan, boat or aircraft bought under a diplomatic or consular exemption), and you will use them the same way in your new home.
- Taxes paid: for the VAT exemption, the goods were bought or imported under the normal taxes of the country they come from, with no export refund.
- Timing: the goods are declared for release (free circulation) within 12 months after you establish residence in Spain, or before then if you commit to settle within 6 months and, where it applies, provide a guarantee.
For 12 months after release, AEAT says, you may not lend, pledge, hire out, sell or give away the goods without telling customs first. If you do, import duty applies to those goods, and VAT is charged as of the date you did so, under AEAT's rules and Spain's VAT Act (Ley 37/1992, article 28).
Rules as published by AEAT (page updated 12 May 2026; checked 6 November 2026).
What the relief covers, and what it doesn't
The relief covers goods for your household's personal use or your home's needs, according to Spain's tax agency (Agencia Tributaria).
Covered
- Home: furniture, household objects and linen
- Family: normal family provisions and pets that live in your home
- Work: portable instruments your profession needs
- Transport: bicycles and mopeds, private motor vehicles and their trailers, camping caravans, pleasure boats and private aircraft
Excluded
- Alcohol and tobacco: alcoholic products, tobacco and tobacco products
- Vehicles: commercial vehicles, and mixed-use vehicles used for business, which Spain's VAT Act (Ley 37/1992) excludes from the VAT exemption
- Work materials: professional materials other than portable instruments
The papers customs checks, and when
#As a US national, you show Spanish customs proof that you ended your residence outside the EU and your residence card (TIE) or your application for it, with a detailed list of your goods, according to the Agencia Tributaria's transfer-of-residence page. The card itself does not have to be in hand.
Customs checks the papers when your goods are cleared in Spain, according to the Agencia Tributaria's Nota Informativa 08/2026. The Agencia Tributaria asks for three papers:
- Proof you ended your residence outside the EU: if your home country issues no consular or official deregistration, any document that communicates or requests your change of residence to a home-country authority, such as the tax, health or pension authority.
- Your TIE or your application for it: an EU or EEA citizen shows an application to or entry in the Central Register of Foreigners instead.
- A detailed list of your goods: each item's estimated value and at least an approximate purchase date, on the note's Annex I form.
Under Nota Informativa 08/2026, you can prove your 12 months abroad by any means, for example tax domicile, utility bills, home insurance, employment contracts or children's school enrollment. Neither the note nor the transfer-of-residence page lists the NIE or a visa among the papers for the relief.
Before your shipment leaves, our destination agents review the customs documents it needs, and they check them again after departure.
Do you need the padrón before your goods ship?
Not for Spanish customs. The Agencia Tributaria's customs information note 08/2026 names the padrón (registration in the municipal register) only as a document you may provide to prove the date you established residence in Spain. The note does not make the padrón a condition for your goods to leave the US. So a shipper that will not dispatch until you have the padrón is applying its own condition, not a customs rule.
How the relief is claimed
Spain's tax agency says the relief from import duty and VAT is claimed in the customs declaration that releases your goods in Spain, with no application beforehand. Under the information note of 26 February 2026, that is the H1 declaration, with your goods grouped under code 9905000000 and the additional codes C01 for the duty relief and 101 for the VAT exemption. The tax agency's page, updated 12 May 2026, still describes the older declaration (the SAD).
When to ship: before or after your residence papers
#According to the Agencia Tributaria (Spain's tax agency), you have 12 months after you establish residence to declare your goods with the relief from import duty and VAT, not the six months you may have heard. The six months in the tax agency's text mean something else: the minimum time you owned the goods before the move, and the time you have to establish residence after an early release.
- Before the move 12 consecutive months living outside the EU 6 months owning the goods
- The day You establish residence in Spain
- After it 12 months to declare your goods with the relief
6 months to establish it, under your commitment · a guarantee covering the VAT · 180 days to supply the papers
Release before you establish residence
The tax agency's page says your goods can also be released with the relief before you establish residence if you commit to establishing it within six months. Customs then asks for a guarantee in the form and amount it sets. The tax agency's Nota Informativa 08/2026 says that guarantee covers the VAT on the value of the goods declared, generally with no guarantee for the duty, and gives you 180 days to supply the papers. The tax agency's page also says the goods must be cleared and leave the customs premises, though they may go into private storage, subject to the storage company's own requirements.
Until you have a home
We generally recommend shipping once you have your visa or residence permit. You don't need a permanent address before shipping.
Until you have a home, we can store your goods at origin, at destination or both, charged separately. A shipping line's free days at the port are not warehouse storage, and they vary by line and port. When we quote, we give you an estimated transit window for your route; it is an estimate, not a guaranteed date. Unforeseen storage or charges are generally yours, and we tell you as early as possible.
If a paper is missing at clearance
When a required paper is missing at clearance, the Agencia Tributaria's customs information note 08/2026 allows release only after a guarantee is lodged. For the duty itself, the note says no guarantee is generally asked. Under the note, you then have 10 days to supply the missing papers, or longer on an authorized simplified declaration. Spain's VAT Act sets the general VAT rate at 21 per cent, with reduced rates for some goods under article 91.
Ship it, store it or sell it
#There's no single answer: our advice depends on your budget and the type and value of your goods. One of the conditions of Spain's relief is that your goods have been in your possession for at least six months before the move, according to the Agencia Tributaria. That makes the furniture and everyday things you already own the natural core of a shipment, while something bought new just before the move does not meet that condition.
Weigh what each piece is worth to you, what it would cost to replace and how much space it takes. Households moving from the US to Spain have described both choices in public conversations: some sold most things and came with suitcases, and one was glad it shipped rather than sell piece by piece. A smaller first move keeps your options open.
What sets the price, and what your quote leaves out
#Your quote is based on the volume of your goods, measured in cubic feet, and that volume also decides how they travel:
- Air freight: from a single box.
- Shared container (consolidated cargo): your goods go by sea in a container with other shipments, typically from about 100 cubic feet, so you pay for the space you use.
- Full container: a container of your own, for a whole home.
If the measured volume differs from the quote, we tell you. For a shared container, you get a revised invoice before your shipment goes on, so you can take items out; for a full container, we tell you during loading. Carrier surcharges for fuel, war risk or congestion can be added after booking, and we tell you as early as we can.
Door to door includes delivery to your new home under normal access. Your proposal lists what it excludes: destination terminal handling, port charges, customs inspections, duties and taxes, storage, difficult access and a shuttle (a smaller truck where a large one can't reach the home). These are billed on the final invoice only if they apply. Where a shuttle or difficult access is common, we check with our destination agent before you book and tell you the likely costs.
Storage, a car, the onward leg to the islands, and duty and VAT on goods outside the Spanish tax agency's relief also change the total.
Bringing your car or motorcycle
#The Agencia Tributaria counts a privately used car or motorcycle among the goods the same relief covers. Customs information note 08/2026 says it is declared under its own tariff heading, not with your household goods, because it is subject to Spain's registration tax. Under Ley 38/1992, art. 66.1.n, that tax is not charged when the five conditions below are met, and a declaration to the tax agency is also needed:
- Residence abroad: you lived outside Spain for at least the 12 consecutive months before the move.
- Normal taxes: you bought or imported the vehicle under the normal taxes of the country it comes from, with no tax exemption or refund when it left.
- Prior use: you used it at your former home for at least six months before leaving.
- Registration: you apply to register it within 60 days of starting to use it in Spain (Ley 38/1992, art. 65.1.d).
- No transfer: you do not transfer it for 12 months after registration, or the tax falls due.
Customs information note 08/2026 also says you need the completed customs declaration to register the vehicle permanently in Spain. Ruby International ships cars and motorcycles in your household container, in their own container or by roll-on/roll-off, depending on the route and the destination's import rules. Electric and hybrid vehicles need extra paperwork, permits and handling, so expect extra charges and a longer booking. Our destination agents help with the vehicle's import papers and customs.
Moving to the Canary or Balearic Islands
#Goods shipped from the US to the Balearic Islands clear under the same relief as on the mainland: Spain's VAT law (Ley 37/1992) excludes only the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla from the harmonized VAT system.
The Canaries are part of the Customs Union but outside the VAT area, and they have their own import tax, the IGIC. Under Ley 20/1991, art. 14.3.1º, if you move your habitual residence to the Canaries, your personal goods are exempt from IGIC when you request the exemption and meet the conditions set by regulation. The law itself names these conditions, in addition to the regulation's:
- Purchase: the goods were bought under the normal taxes of the country they come from, with no tax exemption or refund when they left it.
- Vehicles and boats: a motor vehicle, trailer, caravan, mobile home, pleasure boat or private aircraft was in your use for at least six months before the move (twelve months in the cases the law sets out) and is not transferred, assigned or let for 12 months after import, save for a justified cause.
- Prior residence: you lived at your former home for at least 12 months if you come from outside the EU, or 185 days a calendar year if you come from the mainland, the Balearics, Ceuta, Melilla or another EU country.
The Canary Islands Tax Agency (ATC) lists the request among its import procedures as "Exención a la importación por traslado de residencia" (import exemption for a transfer of residence).
Bringing your pets
#Your pet counts among the household goods the relief covers, according to the Agencia Tributaria, but it does not travel in the household shipment. Spain's agriculture ministry (MAPA) requires it to travel with you, or with a person you authorize if you make the same trip within five days before or after; it never travels alone.
MAPA requires a dog, cat or ferret that has no valid European pet passport, or that lives in a country outside the EU other than the few MAPA lists (such as Andorra or Switzerland), to have a microchip (or a legible tattoo made before 3 July 2011), a valid rabies vaccination, and an animal health certificate signed by an official vet of the country it comes from, at least in Spanish. From a country not on the EU's list, MAPA also requires a rabies antibody test at an authorized laboratory. Spain does not admit dogs, cats or ferrets under 15 weeks, and your pet enters through an authorized travelers' entry point, where you declare it to the Guardia Civil's fiscal guard or customs. Check MAPA's page for your pet before you book your trip.
Sources: MAPA, "Viajar con la mascota. Perros, gatos, hurones" (checked 6 November 2026); Agencia Tributaria, Nota Informativa 08/2026 of 26 February 2026 (checked 10 October 2026).
Damage, insurance and claims
#Our All-Risk transit insurance is optional, at 3.5% of the value you declare, with a $500 deductible (the first $500 of a claim). You may arrange your own insurance instead.
- Cover: All-Risk generally covers your shipment door to door, subject to the policy, so damage during final delivery by our destination agent goes through the same claim.
- Packing: If we pack your home and you pack some boxes yourself, leave them open so our crew can check them before sealing. They can then be considered for All-Risk cover, subject to the insurer's terms. If you pack and load everything yourself, only Total Loss cover is available: it pays only if the whole shipment is lost.
- Delivery: Note any visible damage on delivery.
- Reporting: Report any damage within 30 days of delivery to start a claim.
- Claim: We help you through the claim and answer your questions. The insurance company assesses it, decides what is covered and settles it, and you deal with it directly.
Choosing a mover for Spain: what to get in writing
#Compare written quotes from each mover on the same six points, so you are pricing the same move.
- Volume: the volume the quote is based on, and what happens if the measured volume differs.
- Inclusions and exclusions: what door to door includes, and which destination charges are billed if they apply.
- Transit: the estimated transit window for your route.
- Customs clearance: who clears your goods through customs in Spain.
- Insurance: your cover options and the declared value they are calculated on.
- Storage: whether storage at origin or destination is priced separately.
Full-service door to door generally includes furniture reassembly and taking away the packing materials; unpacking your boxes is an optional extra. We offer a free, no-obligation moving survey.
Sources and review date
#Everything this page says about the rules comes from these official pages. Last checked: .
- Relocation of residence. Tax relief and exemptionsAgencia Tributaria (Spanish Tax Agency)The relief from import duty and VAT on a transfer of residence: its conditions, the documents shown, what counts as personal goods and what is excluded, early release on a six-month commitment with a guarantee, the twelve months after release, and that the relief is claimed in the import declaration itself. Page updated 12 May 2026.Accessed .
- Nota Informativa 08/2026, de 26 de febrero (household goods on a transfer of residence)Agencia Tributaria, Departamento de Aduanas e Impuestos EspecialesIn Spanish. The customs information note that replaced NI GA 08/2021: the H1 declaration and code 9905000000, the padrón as proof of the date residence was established, release with a guarantee when papers are missing (10 days), the 180 days on early release, the guarantee covering the VAT, and vehicles declared separately.Accessed .
- Ley 37/1992, del Impuesto sobre el Valor AñadidoBoletín Oficial del EstadoIn Spanish. Spain's VAT Act: the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla outside the harmonised VAT system; the general rate (article 90) and reduced rates (article 91). Consolidated text of 7 October 2026.Accessed .
- Ley 38/1992, de Impuestos EspecialesBoletín Oficial del EstadoIn Spanish. The registration tax on a car: the exemption on a transfer of residence and its five conditions (article 66.1.n) and the 60 days to apply for registration (article 65.1.d).Accessed .
- Ley 20/1991 (Canary Islands tax regime), integrated textAgencia Tributaria CanariaIn Spanish. The IGIC exemption for personal goods on a transfer of residence to the Canaries and its conditions (article 14.3.1º).Accessed .
- Viajar con la mascota. Perros, gatos, huronesMinisterio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (MAPA)In Spanish. Entry of a dog, cat or ferret from outside the EU: microchip, rabies vaccination, health certificate, the antibody test from unlisted countries, the 15-week minimum age and the travellers' entry points.Accessed .
Rules and fees change. Before acting, confirm with the official source. This page explains the procedures; it is not legal or customs advice. Customs decides how your goods are treated.
Plan your move to Spain
#Send us the details of your international move: where you're moving from, where in Spain you're going, and roughly what you want to bring. We review them and follow up with a brief call so we have what we need, then come back with your options.