Aaronlava

Hello all, this is our first post on the forum, and hopefully some of you will be able to help us with some solid information.

We are a young couple who currently live in Switzerland (UK Citizen and Swiss Citizen) and are immigrating to Portugal this October, we recently purchased a car here in Switzerland, thinking it would be possible to bring the car with us when we take residency in Portugal, but the information im reading is very varied and we are reading a lot about people who have been charged tax's up the the cost of the vehicle itself, something we wouldn't like to pay if it really is that high.

What options do we have? Is it worth bringing the car? Is there really a huge cost to bring a car with us?

The car is a 1.4 Honda Jazz Limo - Automatic.

Our other option was to just drive down with our belongings and then return the car to Switzerland for Christmas, is this also possible?

I look forward to your responses and hope your all doing well!

Best wishes,

Aaron

Loafing Along

There are several threads on this forum about importing a car but a key detail is that if you wish to do a registration transfer which is tax free you must have owned the car for at least a year before you bring it into Portugal. Otherwise there will be quite high duties to pay. This simulation site from the Portuguese tax authorities will give you an idea of the duties you may have to pay :https://aduaneiro.portaldasfinancas....muladorISV.jsp

MikeJ

Sounds like a plan might be: drive the car over from CH with all your stuff and use it until you go back to CH for Christmas. Then you could either leave the car in CH until your year of ownership is complete or drive it back and forth every 90 days until then. Depends if you can live without the car.

However, I believe you would have to own the car as a resident in CH and so you could not commence your residency in PT until you are nearly ready to bring your car over.

mfesharne

Each adult new immigrant is allowed to import one motor vehicle free of import tax IF (note the big IF) the vehicle meets the required criteria which is:

The vehicle must have been registered to the importer for at least 12 months previously (in the country it's coming from), the importer must provide a Certificate of Conformity or if the vehicle was manufactured pre CoC they will accept a downloaded copy of the original sales brochure that shows the tech spec of the vehicle.

The vehicle must be standard or any changes to the vehicle must be listed on a letter from a main dealer or manufacturer listing all changes from standard stating & that all said changes from standard are acceptable replacements.

The matriculation process must be started within 6 months of the applicant getting his/her Residencia. Whilst you can do the matriculation process yourself, it's much easier if you have a local agent do it for you & current (at time of writing (August 2016)) cost is usually about €400 plus the one off matriculation inspection of about €125 + annual road tax.

Road tax is calculated on engine size & emissions and priced as a new car on the date of matriculation not on year of manufacture. If you do go the tax free import route, you are not allowed to sell the car for 5 years unless you repay the tax you've avoided on a pro rata basis ie 20% per year.

If you pay the import tax it's calculated on age of vehicle, engine size & emissions not on value & is often VERY expensive, especially for cars with large engines/high emissions & some cars can cost in excess of €20k.

You're allowed to keep a foreign registered car in Portugal for 180 days maximum before you either matriculate it or remove it back to the country it came from for a further 180 days.

If you have a foreign registered car in Portugal, it must be taxed, tested & insured in it’s country of registration all the time it’s in Portugal & if the GNR catch you with an overstaying vehicle or without tax, test or insurance, they can & often do, permanently confiscate the vehicle which they will then sell or destroy.

Importing and Registering Classic Cars in Portugal
Classic cars can be driven freely into Portugal providing they are for personal, temporary use and have the necessary vehicle taxation, insurance, and documentation.
Those wishing to import a classic car permanently into Portugal may drive the car for four days before registering it with the customs (Alfândegas).
Vehicle tax (Imposto Automóvel) must be paid for all classic cars
Vehicles made before 1960 are taxed at a lower rate
Classic cars brought into Portugal on a permanent basis must meet the following legal requirements:
Be classified by the International Classic Car Federation (Fédération Internationale des Véhicule Anciens, FIVA)
Have a Classic Car Certificate (Certificado de Automóvel Antigo) from FIVA or ACP AKA a classic car passport.
Have a Technical Logbook/Manual (Ficha Técnica) from FIVA or other competent organisation. They will accept an ordinary workshop manual or ecopy of such.
Have a colour photograph of the vehicle which also goes in the FIVA classic car passport
Have a vehicle Logbook (Livrete) and Owner's Document (Título de Propridade) issued in the name of the owner/driver from the country of import.
Have the original and latest commercial purchase receipt (Factura Comercial)
Have an Authority to Circulate Document (Guia de Circulação) issued by Customs (Alfândegas) which is issued on arrival
Vehicles from the USA, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, India or the UK must meet European Union homologation approval standards if the vehicle is more than 30 years old. This means headlights, running lights & indicators etc might need to be changed.
Vehicles over 30 years old may be classified as having cultural and historic interest to Portuguese State Heritage and might not need to undergo any kind of homologation adaptations such as catalytic converters etc.
As a European Union member state Portugal adheres to the Mutual Recognition Scheme which means that the IMTT needs to be sure that any vehicle imported into Portugal is suitable for use on Portuguese roads. The driver/owner must provide documentary evidence from FIVA or the manufacturer of any physical alterations made to the vehicle.
Import duty
A classic vehicle may be imported into Portugal tax-free provided:
The vehicle is for private use only.
The vehicle has been used by its registered owner in their former country for at least 12 months previously.
The owner has submitted a copy of passport, driver's licence, residency (or application), tax details (fiscal number).
A certificate of cancellation of residence issued by the person's consulate. The consulate may charge you for this but if you use an agent to do the matriculation this document may sometimes not be required.
The Portuguese Classic Cars Club (Clube Português de Automóveis Antigos) has a lot of useful information (in Portuguese).
Clube Português de Automóveis Antigos (Head Office)
At: Rua Duque de Saldanha 308, 4300-094 Porto
Tel: 225 377 699 / 225 362 128
If coming from/importing your classic or non classic vehicle from a non EU country, you need to list it on the certificate of baggage (in the name of the registered owner) that you must obtain from the Portuguese Embassy or High Commission in the country you’re coming from BEFORE you leave & to do that, you will need:
Registration document of the vehicle (that shows the car has been registered in your name for at least 12 months)
Export Clearance Certificate
Employment letter or letter from bookkeeper stating you were employed
Signed declaration stating that you are going to Portugal for good.
Drivers licence
Passport that shows your residence permit in the country you’re coming from.
Online calculator for both import & annual road tax here: IUC - Imposto Único de Circulação 2017
NOTE: Classic vehicles can sometimes be exempt from the annual road tax fee if you can get it registered as a car of historical interest to Portugal & to do that, you need to join & remain a member of ACP & ACP/ Classicos who will inspect the vehicle & then issue an annual certificate that you then present to the fiscal office every year.
This however does only allow limited mileage but the upside is it also allows for very inexpensive insurance. I only pay in the region of €36 per year for a classic car with a 5.9 litre engine.

Loafing Along

Yes and the Customs here will ask for your proof of active residency in CH through the production of the last 12 months of utility bills so coming and going every 90 days may present a problem as your utility consumption will fluctuate

Jane371

Wow they dont make this easy...... We have been told that we are looking at £9000+ for a 11 plate XC90 SUV ! WHAT !! crazy

Jane371

Ummm quick thought..... what about lease hire ? In the UK you can find some crazy good deals when you lease a car over 12 months, surely the deals are even better in the Algarve

Loafing Along

My 10 year old BMW has an imputed tax of €18,000 !! Only payable if I try and sell it in the next five years, reduces 20% a year. Few months ago had two customs officials, unannounced, on my doorstep to check the car and check I am actually living here.

Pilou

How can they really check?? With the RNH status you can become legal resident when you live only a couple of months in Portugal. As soon as you have a house in Portugal you can become resident. This is incorpoarated in their law. Most other countries require at least 183 days per year.

We plan to stay 4 months in Portugal (become resident RNH), 4 months in France and 4 months in Spain. So when they come at our door, a big chance that we are not there!

What about our Spanish car? You need to change plates when you live more than 183 days in Portugal. What about only 4 months but as a Portugese resident? Do we need to import the car??

Loafing Along

My car was "transferred" from Spain where we previously lived and I did the process as we became resident in Portugal. As a part of the transfer process you are obliged to be a Portuguese resident and their visit was to confirm we actually complied. After checking the car I had to show local utility bills for the previous months. Yes I wondered what would have happened if we had not been at home.
The explanation given for the inspection was that the tax allowance was high ...

Jane371

What ! The time and money they must put into chasing and checking cant be worth it long term surely lol - maybe just hire a car long term.. ummmm

RichardHenshall

I think you may be misunderstanding how the NHR scheme works.

Art 16 includes the condition that "O direito a ser tributado como residente não habitual em cada ano do período referido no n.º 9 depende de o sujeito passivo ser considerado residente em território português, em qualquer momento desse ano" which loosely translates to "The right to be taxed as a non-habitual resident in each year of the period referred to in paragraph 9 depends on the taxpayer being considered as resident in Portuguese territory at any time of that year".

To be non-habitually resident you must be resident and if resident you must drive a Portuguese car.

Pilou

I have read a bit about the NHR scheme and it is an interesting law! But I am still learning and far from an expert.
A long time ago I worked as an international tax lawyer and I still like to read about income tax ......
But I don't know anything about VAT items and laws concerning import/export taxes.

I also think we need to import the car, but when I read info about importing a car it states when you are more than 183 days per year in Portugal. Better add 'or when you are a resident'.

But to be safe, we will import our car (within 6 months) and change our driving licence (within 2 yrs in our case).

In most countries you are a resident when you live there more than 183 days a year. Portugal's law is different. The only thing that people should avoid that another country can claim you are a resident because you live there.

Red Eric

Is it?

Where did you get that from?

Pilou

Several tax law firms have info on internet. One of them you can find here:

www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/pt/Documents/tax/RNH%20Flyer%20Pensioners%202015%20new%20brand%20vf inal.pdf

And the info from the Portugese Tax Authority:
irs16