What the UK and Spain Really Share About You: Fines, Tax and Criminal Records

Traffic fines: the 2023 agreement

On 15 March 2023 the UK and Spain made an agreement in Madrid, in the form of an exchange of notes. One half deals with recognising and swapping driving licences, which our guide to Spanish driving licences covers. The other half lets each country ask the other for vehicle and keeper details for eight offences:

• speeding
• not wearing a seat belt
• not stopping at a red light
• drink driving
• driving under the influence of drugs
• not wearing a helmet
• using a lane you are not allowed to use
• using a mobile phone while driving

The two countries can add more offences later if both agree.

The country where the offence happened writes to the keeper, or to the person it suspects, in the language of the country where the car is registered. So a Spanish fine on a British car can reach the address the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) holds for you, in English. The UK side only supplies the vehicle and keeper details. The fine stays Spanish, and Spain follows it up under its own law. Nothing in the agreement moves Spanish penalty points onto a UK licence.

The agreement says this part starts on a date the two countries agree, once a secure system for swapping the data is working. We could not find an official notice saying that date has come. If a letter does arrive, our guides explain how to pay a Spanish traffic fine, how to appeal a fine and how to spot a fake fine, which is worth checking before you pay.

Tax: bank accounts, online sales and crypto

Banks and other account providers report accounts held by people who are tax resident in another country. They send the details to their own tax office, which passes them on. This runs under the Common Reporting Standard, written by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The first countries began these exchanges in 2017 and 2018, and Spain is on the UK's list of partners.

It is not instant. UK account providers report to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) once a year, by 31 May, for the year before. HMRC then passes the details to the country where you are tax resident. So if you are tax resident in Spain, your UK account details reach the Spanish tax office.

Two newer rules follow the same idea. UK platforms that help people sell goods, let property or offer services report their sellers to HMRC, and Spain is on the 2026 list of countries covered. UK crypto platforms collect details of their users from 1 January 2026 and report on those who live in the UK or in other countries signed up to the same rules. Their first reports, covering 2026, are due between 1 January and 31 May 2027. Inside the European Union, the Union's own version of the crypto rules makes member countries swap the same kind of data with each other.

Criminal records

The UK and each European Union country exchange criminal records under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the post-Brexit treaty. It provides for fast exchange of criminal records data, which matters for investigations, prosecutions and sentencing. If you need a certificate for a visa, our guide explains how to get a criminal record certificate.

Data protection

Personal data flows freely from Spain to the UK because the European Commission has agreed that UK law protects it well enough. This is called an adequacy decision. On 19 December 2025 the Commission renewed two of them, one for general data protection and one for police and criminal justice. The police and criminal justice decision runs until 27 December 2031 unless it is extended.

What this means for you

• If you are tax resident in Spain, our guide to filing your Spanish income tax return explains what to declare.
• It helps to keep records of your accounts, pensions and payments.
• It is worth keeping your DVLA address up to date, as Spanish fines on British cars can be sent there.
• Spanish law calls your foreigner's identity number (número de identidad de extranjero, NIE) personal and unique, and it must appear on every document Spain issues you, apart from visas. The card you renew when it expires is the foreigner's identity card (tarjeta de identidad de extranjero, TIE).

Sources: Command Paper 836; HMRC on account reporting; HMRC's International Exchange of Information Manual, pages 400020, 400080, 400090 and 906100; HMRC on platform reporting and crypto reporting; Kingsley Napley on crypto; Trade and Cooperation Agreement explainer; eucrim on adequacy; Royal Decree 1155/2024, article 205; gov.uk on the TIE.

A note on this page: an earlier version described a 2025 UK and Spain data sharing agreement that we could find no record of. We have corrected it.