The ISV exemption: bringing your own car to Portugal
Importing a car into Portugal normally means paying ISV (imposto sobre veículos), the vehicle tax. When you move your residence here, you can ask for your own car to be exempt. The request is free.
Short answer. If you lived abroad for at least six months and owned the car there for at least six months, ask for the exemption in the Portal das Finanças within 12 months of moving your residence. Afterwards you cannot sell, rent, lend or transfer the car for 12 months.
The conditions
- You are over 18.
- You lived outside Portugal for at least six months.
- You owned the car there for at least six months.
- You bought it there with its taxes paid and without a tax benefit.
- One car per person.
How to ask
In the Portal das Finanças: Serviços Aduaneiros > IEC / ISV > Declaração Aduaneira de Veículos (DAV), with form 1460.1. Keep the DAV reference.
Deadlines and the lock-in
- Ask within 12 months of moving your residence to Portugal.
- After the exemption and the Portuguese plates, you cannot sell, rent, lend or transfer the car for 12 months.
Not an EU citizen? One more thing
A car registered in Portugal is a "tax relationship". While your tax address is still abroad, you must appoint a fiscal representative, or join the Finanças electronic notifications, within 15 days. See the NIF guide.
And the licence you drive it on: exchanging a foreign driving licence.