Moving to Tenerife from the UK after Brexit: customs, relief and shipping

What Brexit changed for removals to Tenerife

Since the end of the transition period on 1 January 2021, goods coming from the UK are no longer intra-EU movements. Every removal to Tenerife needs a full import declaration (the Spanish DUA). Without relief, customs duty could apply depending on the goods and their origin, plus IGIC, the Canary Islands’ version of VAT.

For people relocating, Spain applies the EU’s transfer-of-residence relief: personal belongings imported by someone moving their normal residence into the EU come in free of duty and, in the Canaries, free of IGIC. It is claimed directly in the import declaration – there is no separate application beforehand – but you must be able to prove every condition when the declaration is filed.

Who qualifies for transfer-of-residence relief

According to the Spanish Tax Agency, you need to:

• have lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months before the move;
• be moving (or intend to move) your main residence to Spain;
• have owned the belongings for at least 6 months before the move;
• provide a detailed list of the goods with their estimated value and approximate purchase date;
• import them within 12 months of taking up residence – or beforehand, if you undertake to take up residence within 6 months (customs may ask for a guarantee);
• not lend, pledge, hire out or transfer them for 12 months after import without telling customs first.

Relief covers belongings for your personal use and your household – furniture, linen, clothes, normal household provisions, pets and the portable tools of your trade – and also bicycles, motorbikes, private cars and their trailers, caravans, pleasure boats and private aircraft. Nothing may look commercial by its nature or quantity.

Excluded: alcohol and tobacco beyond the allowances, commercial vehicles and professional equipment other than portable tools. If customs specifically asks, you may also have to show that the goods will be used in the same way as before and that normal taxes were paid on them in the UK.

Shipping to Tenerife from the UK

Most removals travel by sea, either in a full container for a whole household or as groupage (shared container space) for smaller moves. Another option is road transport through France and Spain to Huelva or Cádiz and the ferry to Tenerife. The price depends on the volume, the distance to the port, insurance and the season, so we quote case by case. Ask your UK removal company how they handle the export side; we take care of the import into Tenerife.

Step by step

1. Enquiry: send us the rough volume, collection town and moving date on WhatsApp.
2. Inventory: you draw up a detailed list with estimated values and approximate purchase dates. We tell you what customs needs to see.
3. Residence paperwork: register on the town hall census in Tenerife (empadronamiento) and gather proof of your UK residence.
4. Shipping: container, groupage or road and ferry.
5. Import declaration: on arrival we file the DUA and claim relief in the declaration itself.
6. Delivery to your new home once the goods are cleared.

Documents you need

• Passport and your application for, or your, foreigner’s identity card (TIE).
• Proof of at least 12 months’ residence in the UK, for example tax residence documents, employment contracts, electricity bills or home insurance.
• A document showing you have notified a UK authority of your change of residence.
• Your empadronamiento certificate from the town hall in Tenerife (it can show the date you took up residence).
• The detailed inventory and the shipping documents.

What determines the cost

• Shipping: volume, container or groupage, distance to port, insurance and season.
• Duty and IGIC on anything that doesn’t qualify for relief (IGIC general rate 7%).
• Clearance: depend on the job – we confirm them in your quote.

Bringing your car as well? Read importing a car from the UK to Tenerife and try our car import cost calculator.

Timing your move

The relief window runs for 12 months from the date you take up residence, and goods can arrive up to 6 months before if you commit to moving within that time. The weak point is usually paperwork, not the ship: make sure your empadronamiento and residence documents will be ready when the container arrives. If they are not, talk to us first and we will plan the clearance around it.

Common mistakes

• Packing recent purchases: items owned for less than 6 months don’t qualify.
• Shipping the wine cellar: alcohol beyond the allowances is excluded.
• A vague inventory: “misc. boxes” makes relief harder to obtain.
• Not meeting the 12 months outside the EU: if you have already spent long periods in Spain, check this with us before you ship.
• Selling relieved items within 12 months without telling customs.