Selling in Spain as a non-EU company: VAT representative, packaging EPR and WEEE rules

Spain sets its own rules for VAT representation, packaging, electronics and batteries, on top of the EU rules in EU VAT for online sellers and EPR in the EU, and in the GPSR. This page covers what Spain adds. Each row in the table links to its EU rule.

A business outside the EU names a VAT representative

A taxable person not established in the EU names a representative to meet its VAT duties (Ley 37/1992 art. 164.Uno.7º). The duty does not apply to a business established in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, or in a state with mutual-assistance instruments analogous to those of the EU. The article names no state. The tax agency’s page names only Norway, so on that page a UK or US business names a representative. A business that reports through the OSS or IOSS needs none (Reglamento del IVA art. 82.1). The EU rules on representatives are in fiscal representative. The procedure, the returns and the fines are in Spain VAT tax representative. Separately, the tax administration may require a translation into Castilian, or another official language, of invoices for supplies of goods and services made in Spain (art. 164.Cuatro).

Packaging has a representative, a register and a fallback

A producer established in another EU state or a third country that sells in Spain designates a person or company in Spain as authorised representative (Real Decreto 1055/2022 art. 17.2). The representative registers in the packaging section of the Registro de Productores de Producto, and the registration number goes on the invoices. Without a representative, the first distributor or trader in Spain is subsidiarily responsible. Since 12 August 2026 a marketplace is no longer the fallback producer. It asks for your register number and a self-certification that you belong to a system and have named a representative (MITECO; PPWR Art. 45(4)). The annual information is due before 31 March of the following year; a producer placing less than 15 tonnes a year gives it in simplified form (art. 16). The window for 2026 data runs to 31 March 2027 inclusive (MITECO’s page says it opens on 2 January; procedure sheets SIA 2962548 and 2945277 say 1 January), and for 2026 you declare by who was the producer on each sale date, before and after 12 August 2026 (MITECO). The EU side is in packaging EPR and the EPR authorised representative. What Spain adds for packaging, with the representative route, the collective systems, the penalties and the 2026 declaration, is on Spain packaging EPR.

Household packaging says which container it goes in, and no pack may carry the words “respetuoso con el medio ambiente” or an equivalent that could lead to its abandonment in the environment (art. 13(3)).

Electronics and batteries are registered with the industry ministry

A distance seller established in another EU state or a third country is a producer of electrical equipment and registers in the Registro Integrado Industrial (Real Decreto 110/2015 art. 3(h), 8(1)). A producer established in another EU state also appoints an authorised representative in Spain by written power of attorney (art. 3(j)). The ministry’s register guides apply the same duty to a seller in a third country. See WEEE registration in Spain. The producer gives the register information every quarter. See WEEE registration.

Battery producers selling at a distance from other countries communicate their producer status to the same register and obtain a registration number (Real Decreto 106/2008 art. 5(6)). Registration is free, and the ministry validates it only with a contract with an authorised collective scheme or the communication of an individual system. Distance sellers show the number on their website and invoice (disposición adicional primera, 2) and also appoint an EPR authorised representative in Spain (Batteries Regulation Art. 56(3)). See the Battery Regulation and Spain battery registration.

A safety breach is a serious infringement

Breaching the safety provisions is listed as a serious infringement, fined EUR 10,001 to 100,000. With the aggravating circumstances of art. 48(3) it is very serious, fined EUR 100,001 to 1,000,000; either band can be exceeded up to a multiple of the unlawful gain (Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2007 arts. 47(h), 48, 49). The Ministry names this law as Spain’s penalty regime for the Regulation (FAQ 9.1). Ley 21/1992 de Industria, the general industrial-safety law, goes up to EUR 100,000,000 (art. 34), but no official page names it as a GPSR route. The consumer ministry carries out market surveillance with the autonomous communities. The EU rules are in GPSR fines. What Spain adds, with the authorities, the Castilian rule and the SOIVRE import check, is on Spain product safety.

What the texts read leave open

The VAT Act names no state in the representative exception; the tax agency’s page names Norway. The battery text read is the consolidated Real Decreto 106/2008 as updated on 20 January 2021; the BOE lists no later amendment or repeal on 5 October 2026, although Directive 2006/66/ECDirective 2006/66/EC, Batteries Directive (repealed by Regulation (EU) 2023/1542)The whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office., which it transposes, was repealed with effect from 18 August 2025. The move of the battery register into the Registro de Productores de Producto (Ley 7/2022 additional provision 12, due by 10 April 2025) has not happened on the pages read. No official page was found that names Ley 21/1992 as a route for a GPSR breach; the Ministry’s answers name RDL 1/2007.