Selling your private hire licence: the definitive guide

Updated: July 2026. Figures include source and date; the index is recalculated every month.

There are four key factors to successfully selling a private hire licence: knowing its true value, having the paperwork ready before advertising, not wasting time on casual enquirers, and collecting payment via bank transfer once the ownership has been registered. This page covers all four, in order.

How much is your licence worth today?

Start with an external benchmark, not with what your neighbour is asking for. The index VTC360 for July 2026: Balearic Islands €198,014, Madrid €145,502, Barcelona €92,064, Málaga €67,952, Valencia €60,928, Seville €55,692, Zaragoza €36,716, A Coruña €23,016 — each figure with its sample published in the price index. Seven of the eight series have risen by around +5.2 per cent year-on-year: the market is keeping pace.

The province sets the order of magnitude; your specific licence falls within the range depending on what you can demonstrate:

Verified income history. 12–18 months of platform payment statements cross-checked with bank statements support the higher end of the range. This is the income certificate, and via VTC360 it is included in the transaction.
Current tenancy agreement. With a solvent tenant paying regular rent, your licence sells as an investment product, not just another advert (why a licence with a tenant sells better).
Vehicle and its emissions rating. A recent eco-friendly hybrid is a plus; a diesel at the upper limit is a minus.
No outstanding charges, road tax or penalties. Anything unclear will lower the price — or put potential buyers off.

The valuation tool gives you your price range in a minute, calculated based on actual sales in your province, without asking for your email address. And the definitive comparison comes from the published transaction figures: price range and days on the market for actual transactions — the most recent being Madrid at 120,000–125,000 € (63 days) and Barcelona at 85,000–90,000 € (43 days).

The paperwork – do it once

The sale either speeds up or falls through because of the paperwork. Before listing, gather:

The authorisation (VTC licence) and the owner’s ID — national ID card, or deeds and powers of attorney if it’s a company.
The latest valid renewal: this is the periodic review of the authorisation, and the buyer will request it on day one (what does ‘valid’ mean).
Valid insurance and certificates confirming you are up to date with the tax authorities and social security.
The lease agreement, if applicable: the buyer takes over the lease — the agreement continues and the buyer becomes liable for the rent — so it forms part of what you are selling.
The platform settlement statements and statements for the period, if you wish to provide proof of income. This is what turns ‘invoice’ into an official document.

The official list of required documents, region by region, can be found at what documentation is required for a change of ownership. On VTC360, you upload the documents just once to your private folder: no need to forward PDFs via WhatsApp to strangers.

The five steps of the sale

1. Valuation. Get your price range from the valuation service, based on actual sales in your province. With source and date. 2. Documents to your private folder. Upload them once and you won’t have to touch them again. 3. Verification within 48–72 hours. The team checks ownership, encumbrances, planning permission and any penalties before publishing. That’s why buyers trust us — and why they haggle less. 4. Anonymised listing. Your advert is published with its serial number, without your name or telephone number. Interested parties are directed to VTC360: filtered out the casual enquirers, verified buyers, and you don’t have to answer a single call. 5. Supervised sale. VTC360 negotiates on your behalf at your agreed minimum price, handles the paperwork and holds the money in trust. You receive payment by bank transfer once ownership has been registered — neither before nor in instalments. Target: 7–15 days from the deposit (the entire process, including fees).

How long does it actually take? Verification: 48–72 hours. Completion: 7–15 days from the deposit with the complete file — compared to 4–8 weeks for a private sale (comparison). List your property whenever you like: register your licence, and find details of the service under sell.

Taxation for the seller, in simple terms

Your net proceeds depend on how you hold the property. The quick guide:

You’re a private individual. The difference between what it cost you and what you receive is a capital gain: this is taxed as part of your personal income tax, at the savings tax rate — ranging from 19% to around 30% in the higher tax brackets in 2026. If you bought it years ago for very little, the tax bill could be hefty: work out your net proceeds before accepting an offer, not afterwards (details).
The licence is held by a company. The capital gain is subject to corporation tax. And there is a third option — selling the company’s shares rather than the asset itself — which has its own tax regime (how the sale of a limited liability company (S.L.) holding a licence is taxed).
The transfer tax (21% VAT or ITP, depending on your status) determines how you invoice; the rule of thumb is here.

The usual honest advice: half an hour with a tax adviser before accepting an offer is the best investment in the whole sale.

If your tenancy has a tenant: subrogation

An existing tenancy doesn’t hinder the sale – it actually enhances it. The buyer takes over the tenancy — the contract remains exactly as it is and they start collecting the rent from the first month — so a tenancy with a solvent tenant and direct debit payments sells as an investment product: no need to find a tenant, no need to set anything up, and you start collecting rent from day one. To ensure that value is realised, document the current rental situation: tenancy agreement, security deposit, payment history. The same paperwork with a tenant who pays ‘when they can’ detracts rather than adds value.

The asking price and days on the market

The seller’s most costly mistake isn’t selling too cheaply: it’s setting the price too high and letting the property sit on the market for too long. Transactions taking place within 39–63 days on the market; a property priced correctly falls within that range, whilst one priced out of line accumulates weeks of inactivity, which the next buyer interprets as a flaw. The sensible strategy: list within the range provided by the(/herramientas/valorador) valuer, let the verified history support the upper end of the range, and agree with VTC360 on your minimum price — below which there will be no negotiation — before listing.

What you pay (and what you don’t)

In this sector, the norm is ‘give me a call and we’ll discuss it’. Not here: VTC360’s fees are 4 per cent of the price, on a success-only basis, with a minimum of €3,000, including certification. The buyer pays nothing. And if it doesn’t sell, you pay nothing: no registration fee, no listing fee, no standing charge. Do the maths with your price range in mind: on a licence worth €60,000, that’s €2,400 — €3,000 at the minimum — which you only pay once the sale proceeds are already in your bank account. Compare this with the norm in the sector: a percentage that is revealed ‘during the valuation’ and which you only find out once you’re already committed.

Why your sale price is published within a range

Upon completion, the transaction is published with a price range — never the exact amount — alongside the province and the number of days on the market, in the public register. There are two reasons for this. The first is for your benefit: your specific price remains protected. The second is for everyone: these ranges feed into the index that provided your benchmark during the valuation. The seller who comes after you can base their valuation on data because you closed the deal using data. This is how the market’s only record of actual prices is built — and your transaction, whilst anonymous, forms part of it.

Sellers’ mistakes (all of which are avoidable)

Accepting a deposit outside of escrow. If the buyer disappears, that ‘reserved’ money becomes the subject of a legal dispute.
Showing the paperwork to just anyone. Your full documentation should only be shown to verified buyers and as part of the process.
Listing at an asking price. The market responds with silence and days on the market; the index tells you where the real demand lies.
Selling uncertified what could be sold certified. If your licence is currently generating or has previously generated income, certify it before listing; if it’s dormant, every month it sits in a drawer costs you value.
Failing to calculate the net after tax. An offer 5 per cent higher with the wrong structure may result in a lower net figure.

Two special cases with their own rules: newly granted licences and their non-transferability periods and inherited licences.

What if you don’t want to sell just yet?

There’s a serious alternative: letting and keeping the asset. Monthly rent — the market currently ranges between €1,500 and €2,200 depending on the province — and a licence which, with a tenant paying the rent, will sell for a better price tomorrow (what rental income does the lease generate). With these two figures in front of you — today’s sale price versus the rental income over 24 months — the decision usually becomes clear.

Start with the figure: value your licence and, whenever you like, list it. And if this page has caught you on the other side of the table, the definitive guide to buying explains the process from the other perspective.

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Sources: VTC360 index (July 2026, sample published for each figure) · public register of transactions VTC360 · fees and process published in how it works. This guide is revised with each monthly update of the index.