24 Aug 2012 3:56 PM:
Spanish law doesn't allow you to matriculate a RHD commercial vehicle in Spain.
If your UK Limited Co. is operating through your property in Spain, then the tax authorities will probably view that Ltd Co as having a presence in Spain and will require you to do either a) register a 'branch' of your Ltd Co on the regional mercantile register or b) register a wholly owned subsidary on the regional mercantile register. This of course exposes you to setup costs, ongoing tax submissions, filing of anual accounts etc. and they may also demand that a subsidary or branch requires at least 1 employee.
These are general rules and there may be ways that you can get around the above. I.e. could you demonstrate that you are infact 'distance selling' as I THINK (note this may not be fact) that this means you can operate without having a subsidary or branch.
You MAY still need to register for IVA in Spain - you will need to take advice on this, as it depends upon how you operate, are you or your cusomers VAT or IVA registered, European harmonised tax rules such as 'place of supply' etc.
I'd look at researching Distance Selling first - VAT / IVA will be your principle area of complication, so note such things as 'proof of export', EC Sales List, Intrastat .... the laws in both countries. A lot of aticles on the internet are well out of date, so try and address official sources. It all sounds daunting but if your familiar with taxation issues, and it seems you should be as you have a UK Ltd Co., with good solid investigation all should 'click' in. The secret is .... know what your getting into before you jump.
In terms of transport / distribution, have you considered an alliance. Generally speaking, food product distribution to the UK from Spain goes from Barcelona hubs and with an alliance with the Spanish suppliers, you could take advantage of a lower backhaul rate.
As mentioned before, if you UK matriculated van is kept in Spain it is illegal and Robert has already highlighted the facts about a 'business' property in Spain ... the implications I have covered off above. I agree with Robert that you can demonstrate that the van is used for deliveries from ES to UK, and I'll also add that it can have signwriting on it ..... just make sure there is no reference to a Spanish tel # / email / address.
Don't be put off by all this and best of luck in your venture,
Mike
Thread:
Using a UK Registered van for business in Spain
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