How to bring your own car to Portugal

First check whether importing makes sense for your particular car

Before shipping the car, work out the main tax — ISV (Imposto Sobre Veículos, the tax paid when a car is first registered in Portugal). For cars with a combustion engine it is often what decides everything: on cheap cars it can “eat up” most of the budget, on new and powerful ones it can be very large.

ISV depends at the very least on the fuel type, engine size, CO2 emissions, the age of the car and, in some cases, on environmental parameters. For electric cars ISV is usually zero. The rules for hybrids have changed, so the calculator needs to be checked against current parameters, not old discussions.

If the car is coming from outside the EU, IVA (VAT) and customs duty may be added on top of ISV. Special rules apply to cars from some countries and under certain regimes, but these need to be checked separately before buying and before shipping.

And even before working out the tax, it is worth deciding what kind of car you actually want to keep here: a diesel in Portugal has its own costs (fuel at the pump is dearer than petrol, the IUC tax on newer cars is higher, and the particulate filter doesn't like short trips), a hybrid and an electric car have their own conditions, starting with a socket at home. This is covered in the guide “Which car to buy in Portugal”, together with tables of the annual tax and servicing prices.

“If it’s still in the RF, then bringing it in and clearing customs is no longer possible, the EC issued clear explanations of the sanctions that cars that entered before 19 December 2023 can be cleared if there’s a transfer of residence. And in general imports were banned back on 7 October 2022 (8th package). And for the tax-free one you have to prove ownership of at least six months in the country of origin and you can only apply within a year after changing residence from the country of origin to Portugal (may not coincide with the date the residence permit was issued). Information as of April-June 2024, year did the tax-free customs clearance through ACP.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

myptaxes10.11.2025

Make sure you have the right to register the car in your name in Portugal

The final registration needs a person in whose name the car can be registered in Portugal: usually this means a NIF tax number and a link to the local tax system. In practice the car is registered to a resident or to someone who can complete local registration.

If you are counting on tax-free import when transferring your residence, that is a separate regime with its own deadlines and conditions. It is not the same as an ordinary import: what matters there is how long you have owned the car, when you changed residence and exactly where you are bringing the car from. If the car is from Russia, the matter is further complicated by sanctions restrictions — here it is especially important to double-check the current rules before you start.

“Dunno really. There are calculators like that around the internet for working out this tax (ISV). It depends on the type of vehicle, engine size and CO emissions. For an electric car, for example, it’s zero. Go ahead. Get transit plates and decide what to do with it next. Take it out of the EU maybe. Only a tax resident will be able to register it here.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

Portugal 🇵🇹 TravelAsk chat15.06.2026

Gather the car's documents before shipping

You will usually need: the car's registration certificate, the purchase document or invoice, the Certificado de Conformidade — CoC (EU certificate of conformity), and if the car was brought by car transporter or trailer — the transport document from the carrier.

If there is no CoC, it is usually requested from the manufacturer or a dealer. Without it the procedure usually becomes longer and more expensive, because instead of simple registration you may need national approval or extra steps with IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes, the transport institute).

If the car is being driven here, work out in advance what plates and what insurance it will be driving on until it is registered.

“It was about requesting a copy of the certificate of conformity (Certificado de Conformidade) from the manufacturer/dealer, which seems to cost from 155 to 400 euros. The website at the link [link] says that registration with such a certificate costs 45 euros, and without it - 165. Actually, my assumption was that you could hand the process of customs clearance/legalising the car over to the relevant specialists without giving them the CoC. They’ll get national approval themselves and, possibly, it’ll even be cheaper...”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

ru_Portugal_pt09.08.2022

Bring the car to Portugal and keep every trace of the transport

The car can be brought by car transporter or driven here. If it came on a transporter, don't lose the carrier's document: it is often asked for in the registration paperwork. If the car arrived without such a document, it can later be harder to prove the route and the date of import.

If you are buying a car from a company in another EU country, in practice it is often sent straight to Portugal without transit plates, and the paperwork is done here. But this must be agreed in advance — with the seller, the carrier and the insurer.

“For example, a 2019 Mercedes E300de with 86 thousand km, The final auction price was 18,300.00 €, excluding VAT, Then the following is added to the price: Current bid 18,300.00 € Country fee 140.00 € Auction fee 300.00 € My commission for processing the order and customs clearance 600.00 € Delivery to the collection point in Setubal 765.00 € + VAT PT 23% Total 24,730.00 € - the final price, including homologation, submitting documents to customs and assigning plates, ISV tax is paid on top, in this particular case it’s € 689.35, as well as inspection B and the IMT fee - about €130 Delivery times depend on ”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

autolife_pt08.09.2023

“You can buy it out from the company, send the car on a transporter without transit plates to Portugal. Here you’ll have to pay VAT, ISV, pass an inspection and pay the registration fee. I can’t set out the details and required documents in detail, but you can find out from any service that brings cars from Germany for example - the process is the same, they mostly buy cars from dealerships, which are also companies.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

Motorbike chat 🇵🇹31.01.2025

Get type approval / a homologation number, if it is needed

After arrival, homologação (homologation, confirmation of type conformity) is usually done. In practice people often request the homologation number first, especially if the car is imported and the next step is the inspection and customs.

Everyday guides often get the order wrong, but in recent practical cases people first go through the homologation and inspection stage, and only then submit the customs declaration for ISV. If there is no ready European approval for your model, this step may take longer.

“If doing it yourself, then you open a company, choose CAE codes with motor trade activity (for example, “sale of cars”), hire an accountant, send registration requests to platforms like Openlane, wait (I waited 4 months for Openlane to approve), then you choose a car, place bids, get approval from the seller, pay, take delivery of the car, receive the documents by post, order the COC (if there isn’t one), request a homologation number, pass the inspection, submit the declaration to customs, pay ISV, print the plates, go to IMT to hand in the docs, and then the final registration of ownership at”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

autolife_pt24.03.2024

“First you need to do the homologation, then pass inspection B, then submit the declaration to customs (online) and pay ISV, IMT will assign the matricula, After that take the original documents to IMT and register ownership at IRN”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

autolife_pt10.03.2025

Pass the Inspeção B (special inspection for an imported car)

An imported car usually needs not the ordinary periodic inspection but the Inspeção B (category B inspection for import/legalisation). At this stage the car's details are checked for subsequent registration.

After the inspection you receive documents that will be needed for the customs declaration and further registration. In some cases Modelo 9 also comes up — depending on how the procedure for your car goes and what the particular authority asks for.

Submit the DAV to the Alfândega / Autoridade Tributária and pay ISV

Next the DAV (Declaração Aduaneira de Veículo, the customs declaration for a vehicle) is submitted through the tax and customs system. Once the declaration is accepted, ISV is calculated, and it must be paid.

This is the key payment. For cars from the EU, in the normal situation it is usually just ISV and the paperwork. For cars from outside the EU, IVA and duty may be added. After paying, keep the confirmation: it will be needed later.

Important: the way ISV is calculated has changed. For imported used cars there have been changes to the tables in recent years and discussions about a partial refund of overpayments under the old calculations. If you imported a car earlier or paid recently, it sometimes makes sense to check whether the calculation has changed under the new rules.

“But how to get back ISV paid twice I still can’t figure out. They paid twice against one payment slip. And even customs don’t know how to refund an amount paid by mistake.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

autolife_pt16.06.2025

Get the assigned number and complete the procedure through IMT

After the DAV has been accepted and ISV paid, the car is assigned a matrícula (registration number). Next the set of documents is usually taken to IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes, the transport institute) to complete the administrative part of issuing the Portuguese registration.

This is the stage where people often get confused about what IMT does and what IRN does afterwards. In recent practice, after customs and the assignment of the number, people go to IMT with the original documents, and then register ownership in the next step.

Register ownership at IRN and get the DUA

The final step is to register ownership at IRN (Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado, registries and notaries). After that the car shows as registered to you, and the DUA (Documento Único Automóvel, the single vehicle document) is issued.

In older descriptions this step was sometimes mixed up with IMT, but in practice people more often split it in two: first the transport part and the number, then recording ownership at IRN. If an intermediary submits the documents, they usually handle both stages as a package.

Order number plates and don't forget about IUC

Once the number has been assigned, the physical number plates are made and fitted to the car. After registration is complete, the car can legally be driven as a Portuguese car.

Separately, don't forget about IUC (Imposto Único de Circulação, the annual road tax). This is no longer an import tax but an annual payment for owning the car. For electric cars it may be zero; for others it depends on the car's specifications and the date of first registration.

“Here’s from another country. ⭐️ Turnkey customs clearance Documents required: 1. Registration document 2. Document of purchase of the car 3. EU certificate of conformity 4. Transport document, if the car was transported to Portugal on a lorry/trailer - provided by the carrier. Costs: Fixed (included in the price of the service): 1. Inspection - €79.37 2. New registration document - €45 3. Registration of ownership of the car - €55 4. Number plates - from €15 to €20 5. EU certificate of conformity from €100 to €250 Variable (paid extra): 1. ISV - Vehicle tax from €0 to infinity here ”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

left4portugal13.04.2023