Registration & Compliance Division
Need help with car registration in Spain, France, Portugal, or the UK? We are leading bilingual specialists in European automotive tax compliance and customs clearance, helping expats bypass French Malus rules, Spanish and Portuguese registration taxes (ISV), and DVLA registration bureaucracy safely.
Provide your details to get an exact tax-relief review and registration timeline.
We manage the bureaucracy, language barriers, and technical inspections from start to finish.
We work directly with local authorities—the French ANTS/DREAL, Spanish DGT/Gestorias, Portuguese IMT, and UK DVLA—handling all communications on your behalf.
Sourcing European Certificates of Conformity (COC), adjusting physical components (rear fogs, headlight alignment, MPH/KPH speedometers), and managing individual vehicle approvals.
We review your move date, family status, and ownership history to legally bypass registration fees, customs taxes, and environmental malus charges.
Understanding the key regulations, tax-exemptions, and local requirements in your destination country.
France imposes a massive carbon-based **Ecological Malus** on imported cars (reaching up to €60,000 for high-CO2 engines). However, several powerful rules exist to protect expats:
Importing a vehicle into Spain from the UK or non-EU countries requires passing customs clearance with a **DUA (Documento Único Administrativo)**. We help expats execute a tax-free Transfer of Residence (ToR):
Portugal's registration tax **(ISV - Imposto Sobre Veículos)** and yearly road tax (IUC) can be exceptionally high for diesel or large petrol engines. However, green vehicles get incredible preference:
Whether importing into the UK or sourcing a brand new car for export, navigating British tax and compliance delivers major financial leverage:
Founded by a group of motor enthusiasts from different backgrounds, My LHD Car has grown from a specialized Left-Hand Drive automotive sourcing agency into a trusted, multi-divisional expat logistics, vehicle compliance, and lifestyle concierge network. Over the past 15+ years, we have safely registered and delivered over 1,500 premium vehicles across the UK and continental Europe.
We realized that the hardest part of moving abroad isn't packing boxes—it's navigating complex local bureaucracy, language barriers, and sudden customs taxes. That's why we built our dedicated Registration, Logistics, and Phoenix Relocation divisions: to offer expats a single, reliable point of contact for their entire journey.
Rated "Excellent" (4.7) on Trustpilot, we combine global corporate security with the highly personalized, attentive service of an independent family-owned desk.
Our native staff work inside local offices (ANTS, DREAL, Gestorias, and IMT) every single day, handling your paperwork directly with no middle-men.
We have saved our expat clients over €1.2M in potential import duties, VAT, and ecological CO2 malus taxes since the 2021 Brexit customs transition.
Whether driven on professional plates or hauled on our multi-car carriers, your vehicle and personal belongings are fully insured up to £1M.
Expert answers to common queries regarding foreign car registration and expat tax relief.
To register a UK or foreign vehicle in Spain, you must clear customs (obtaining a DUA), pass a Spanish technical ITV inspection, pay matriculation tax (which depends on CO2 emissions), and file your papers with the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico). If you are relocating to Spain and have owned the car for over 6 months, we can execute a Transfer of Residence (ToR) to waive the 21% VAT and customs duties entirely.
Importing a vehicle into France requires filing a registration request through the ANTS platform. You will need a Certificate of Conformity (COC), a tax clearance certificate (Quitus Fiscal from the tax office), and a valid Contrôle Technique. To avoid the massive Ecological Malus tax on high-emission cars, our compliance team uses specific exemptions (such as the 3-children rebate or year-by-year depreciation discounts) to reduce your tax burden, often down to zero.
Yes, absolutely! It is 100% legal to register and drive a UK Right-Hand Drive (RHD) vehicle in both France and Spain as a resident. We coordinate the physical modifications needed to pass the safety inspections (ITV/Contrôle Technique), including headlight alignment conversion and rear fog light re-wiring, and handle all the registration filings.
To register an EU-spec car in the UK with the DVLA, you must first file a Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA) with HMRC. You then need to obtain a Mutual Recognition or VCA certificate to prove the car has been converted for UK roads (speedometer showing MPH, UK fog light configuration, and headlamp alignment), followed by submitting a formal registration application to the DVLA. Our desk handles the entire conversion and paperwork process.
To register a foreign or UK vehicle in Portugal, you must obtain customs clearance, pass an inspection approval at an authorized center (Centro de Inspeção), pay the vehicle registration tax (ISV - Imposto Sobre Veículos), and submit your application to the IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes). Electric vehicles (EV) are 100% exempt from the costly ISV registration tax, and plug-in hybrids qualify for massive reductions (up to 75% relief) when imported correctly.
