Registry of Raw Tobacco Operators

These rules affect natural or legal persons, or entities without legal personality, that carry out an economic or commercial activity with raw tobacco found or circulating in Spain.

For the purposes of this regulation, raw tobacco includes the leaves and other natural parts of the tobacco plant once cured or dried, when they are not considered to be tobacco products under the provisions of the Special Tax (Tax on Tobacco Products). This concept does not include in any case the living plant or the cut plant that is not cured or dried.

In the case of tobacco leaf farmers who carry out the activity of curing or drying the leaves and other natural parts of the tobacco plant, not directly, but through agricultural processing companies, agricultural cooperative societies or producer organizations, the following are considered raw tobacco operators: companies, cooperative societies, organizations mentioned and other entities or natural or legal persons that carry out, on behalf of the farmers, such activities.

All raw tobacco producers who directly carry out curing or drying activities must register.

Transporters acting on behalf of others shall not be required to register as operators of raw tobacco, without prejudice to other specific obligations established in these control regulations.

All operators who carry out economic or commercial activities, such as manufacturing, initial processing, import, export, acquisition or intra-community shipment, among others, with raw tobacco found or circulating in Spanish territory, must register in this Registry prior to commencing their activity.

Natural or legal persons, or entities without legal personality, not established in Spanish territory must appoint a representative with tax domicile in Spain, to comply with this obligation, who must be registered in this Registry.

The Registry will be unique for the entire Spanish territory, and will be located in the electronic headquarters of the State Tax Administration Agency, a public body responsible for its management and maintenance.

If you are an operator required to register, you must register at the Tax Agency's electronic headquarters by completing the electronic form provided for this purpose.

You may also process your registration through a representative with tax domicile in Spain, in which case the procedures relating to the power of attorney must be carried out electronically through the electronic headquarters of the Tax Agency, as well as by persons or entities that, according to the provisions of article 92 of Law 58/2003, of December 17, General Tax Law, have the status of social collaborators in the application of taxes and meet the requirements and conditions established for this purpose by the regulations in force at any given time.

Registration in the Raw Tobacco Operators Registry can only be processed through the Tax Agency's electronic office using the form provided for this purpose, in which you must reflect the following information:

1. Identification data of the raw tobacco operator, whether established or not in Spanish territory, stating their tax domicile.
2. Identification data of the representative in Spanish territory of the non-established operator, identified in letter a), stating its tax domicile.
3. Detailed description of the economic or commercial activities to be carried out with raw tobacco (producer, wholesale distributor, primary processing company, tobacco processing factory, etc.).
4. Use and destination of raw tobacco.
5. Full address of each of the establishments where you carry out these activities or the raw tobacco storage facilities, if applicable. (If the same raw tobacco operator has two or more establishments or storage facilities, he must include the complete address of each and every one of them).

Remember that any fact or circumstance that motivates the modification of the data declared at the time of the initial registration must be communicated by the operator itself or by the representatives in Spain of non-established operators, through the electronic headquarters of the State Tax Administration Agency, as soon as it is known.

All applicants for registration must be registered in the Census of Business Owners, Professionals and Tax Withholders in the section corresponding to the activity to be carried out, as well as be up to date with their tax obligations. 

In the case of operators subject to compliance with the authorization or registration obligations established in the tobacco market regulations, such compliance will be a requirement for registration in this Registry of Raw Tobacco Operators.

These requirements will not have to be accredited at the time of registration, but will be subject to subsequent verification by the control bodies of the State Tax Administration Agency.

Registration in the Raw Tobacco Operators Registry will entail the assignment of a Raw Tobacco Operator Code (COTC), which identifies those obligated to be registered in this Registry.

The code consists of thirteen alphanumeric characters distributed as follows:

1. The first two letters ES will identify Spain.

2. The following two numbers will identify the area of the province or Autonomous City corresponding to the tax domicile of the operator or the representative in Spain in the case of operators not established in Spanish territory.

3. The fifth, sixth and seventh characters will consist of the letters OTC , the acronym for “Raw Tobacco Operator” , or the letters RTC , the acronym for “Raw Tobacco Representative”.

4. The eighth to twelfth characters will be sequential numbers that identify the Registry operators in chronological order.

5. The last character, thirteenth, will be a capital control letter.

At any time, registered operators, or their representatives in Spain, may deregister from the Raw Tobacco Operators Registry through the Tax Agency's electronic office, which will mean that the operator code will be void from the date of deregistration.

Likewise, the subsequent verification by the State Tax Administration Agency of the inaccuracy or falsity of the data declared in the Registry of Raw Tobacco Operators will entail the automatic deregistration of the registered operators or representatives, after hearing from the interested party, which will imply the cancellation of the operator code granted from the date of deregistration, without prejudice to the corresponding sanction for the possible commission of the infraction provided for in Law 11/2021.

Likewise, those operators or representatives who have effectively ceased their activity related to raw tobacco for a period of more than one year will be automatically deregistered.