Starting January 1, 2025 no car or vehicle without a DGT label You will be able to circulate through the city of Madrid, even if you are registered in the capital. Despite this, the owners of these cars and vehicles without a badge will be obliged to pay road taxpopularly known as the ‘little number’.
This has been confirmed to Motorpasión by the Mobility Area of the Madrid City Council: “It is not a tax on circulation. It is a tax on mechanical traction vehicles.”
A tax on “roadworthy” cars
This rate is mandatory for all registered vehicles and it is charged by the town councils. Its amount goes by section according to the fiscal horsepower (CVF) of the vehicle and the minimum is defined in the Regulatory Law of Local Treasurybut each council can increase it. The most common is the one that goes from 8 CVF to 11.99 CVF: in the city of Madrid if charged 59 euros at the moment.
The Local Treasury regulations define that:
The Tax on Mechanical Traction Vehicles is a direct tax that taxes the ownership of vehicles of this nature, suitable for driving on public roadswhatever their class and category (Article 92.1)
The municipal regulation of Madrid (Fiscal Ordinance Regulating the Tax on Mechanical Traction Vehicles) is based on this general state precept. Although it defines some particularities and exceptions. For example, vehicles registered as historic are exempt, and plug-in vehicles and hybrids have discounts (they pay 75% less than what their segment requires).
Can they continue charging me the ‘little fee’ if I don’t circulate? The big question. Although the City Council reminds us that it is “a tax on mechanically powered vehicles” and therefore mandatory for all registered vehicles (as defined in the general regulations), it is also indicated therein “suitable for driving on public roads”.
Given that a car without a label cannot circulate on any street or road in the municipality of Madrid, it would be understood that said tax should not be collected from these owners. We are talking about cars and vehicles that are registered in the capital, so normally their owners will have their domicile there and cannot use their car to drive around the city in which they reside.
According to Associated European Motorists (AEA)the City Council should not do it: “Taxes cannot be collected on vehicles that cannot circulate in Madridalthough they are still registered in Traffic, as established in Art. 6 of the Local Treasury Law”.
Hence, this organization requests “tax exemption for vehicles registered in the IVTM Register of the Madrid City Council that are not authorized to circulate on urban public roads in the territorial area of Madrid ZBE.” The Madrid council has no intention of doing so, since they have made it clear that they are going to continue charging for it.
What if I deregister the car or sell it? The Law Regulating Local Treasury (and the Municipal Ordinance of Madrid) also specifies that:
A vehicle is considered suitable for circulation if it has been registered in the corresponding public registries and as long as they have not caused loss in them. For the purposes of this tax, vehicles with temporary permits and tourist license plates are also considered eligible (Article 92.1).
Therefore, The only way to avoid having to pay that tax would be to deregister the car.. But it also means not being able to drive with it not only in Madrid, but on any road in the community, in Spain, Europe or any region. In effect it is a car that can no longer be used.
Selling it does not have to exempt us from this tax, unless we do so before January 1, 2025: as the RACE remembersin the case of selling or buying a second-hand car, the road tax will be paid by the person who appears as the owner on January 1 of the calendar year in which the sale takes place.
What if my car is registered as historic? In the Madrid Ordinance, historical vehicles are included among those that are exempt from this tax, as well as, for example, official vehicles, some with reduced mobility or emergency vehicles, among others:
They will have a 100% bonus on the tax rate for vehicles declared historic by the respective Autonomous Community, provided that they are thus included in the Registry of the Provincial Traffic Headquarters.
Those that can qualify for this special class, based on the recently modified regulations, are vehicles registered 30 years ago or more, but they must meet a series of requirements: having stopped producing that specific type and maintaining their original condition, which is in correct condition and maintenance.
Also if they are included in the General Inventory of Movable Property of Spanish Historical Heritage, if they are declared of cultural interest or if they belonged to a relevant personality or participated in an event of historical significance. That is to say, few cars without a label will be eligible for this classification, no matter how much the process has become cheaper and simpler.
On the other hand, the new regulation of Historic Vehicles has taken care to prevent users from resorting to registering their car as historic to avoid the restrictions of the ZBE, since They will always be occasional use cars and can never be used as an “everyday means of transportation.”
In addition, Madrid also has special regulations for this type of vehicle and its use in ZBEs: although they can circulate on any street in Madrid, they have parking restrictions depending on age.
On which streets in Madrid does the veto apply? Madrid ZBE includes the entire city and the prohibition of access and circulation applies to the streets of the municipal area of Madrid that depend on the town hall.
Which means that it affects all municipally owned streetsas well as the M-30 ring road, which is also. Some highways are left out despite being included in the municipal area of Madrid: for example the M-40. Also the M-50 (state ownership) or the M-45 (autonomous ownership). On all these roads we can circulate with an unmarked vehicle, but we can never access neighborhoods or districts of the city from them.
The council controls offenders on access from these roads, and within the city, with more than 460 cameras, in addition to photo-red traffic lights in the area demarcated by the M-30.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
