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importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Old Aug 6th 2020, 9:58 am
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Default importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

I have a bog-standard small car (2012). Considering changing it before I love it to Portugal. How does taxation vary depending on type of car?

NB I wouldn't be buying anything expensive.
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Old Aug 6th 2020, 4:23 pm
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

https://aduaneiro.portaldasfinancas....ternal/sfaisv/
Age, cc ,co2.
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Old Aug 6th 2020, 4:31 pm
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

If you have owned the vehicle for more than 6 months, and can prove it, before your move to Portugal, you can import it as part of your goods and chattels with no import tax to pay, but you do have to rematriculate it to Portuguese plates so with a UK car that can cause complications but is not impossible (one car per person of the household can be brought in).
Perhaps someone can confirm if this arrangement is for all new residents or only under NHR scheme?
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Old Aug 6th 2020, 5:42 pm
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Thanks! Does it matter which type of car you bring in? Are there tax advantages for old or new cars, or small ones?

Thanks Sagalaut - the link doesn't work for me though., as I need a senha, which I can't get until I'm resident in Portugal!
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Old Aug 6th 2020, 6:52 pm
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

There are 2 taxes.

One is the one-off registration tax or ISV, applied to vehicles when first registered for use on Portuguese roads and which you can get an exemption from if you've owned the car for 6 months in your country of residence prior to moving to Portugal. I can't see how you can qualify for the exemption if you're registering residence during this year and you want to bring in a car that you don't yet own, but I'll let you and the customs authorities sort that aspect out between you if you try to go that route.

If not exempt, the calculation for that is affected by cylinder size, fuel type and emissions - there's a simulator here

The other tax is the annual circulation tax, which is less for cars first registered prior to July 2007 although it's a bit complicated to go into the full set of variables. There's a simulator for that here

Electric vehicles are subject to neither ISV nor IUC.
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Old Aug 7th 2020, 7:54 am
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Thanks, Eric, esp for the simulators!

I'm not intending bring the car in until 5 or 6 months after I move (next spring), so still feasible to change cars if it's a good idea. I see pre-2007 vehicles are a lot cheaper for annual tax, which seems a bit counterintuitive as they pollute more, but I guess Portugal has decided to do this for old/poor people who can't afford to update their car (which is fair enough, of course)? Basically if I were to change it I'd sell my 8 yr old Hyundai and but something like a 15 yr old Micra for very little here. Not sure it's worth the hassle, though!

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Old Aug 7th 2020, 1:10 pm
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Originally Posted by suiko
Thanks, Eric, esp for the simulators!

I'm not intending bring the car in until 5 or 6 months after I move (next spring), so still feasible to change cars if it's a good idea. I see pre-2007 vehicles are a lot cheaper for annual tax, which seems a bit counterintuitive as they pollute more, but I guess Portugal has decided to do this for old/poor people who can't afford to update their car (which is fair enough, of course)? Basically if I were to change it I'd sell my 8 yr old Hyundai and but something like a 15 yr old Micra for very little here. Not sure it's worth the hassle, though!
Yes - what they did was not impose what would effectively have been a retroactive change on existing vehicles, but instead introduce an incentive for people to consider the impact when buying a newer vehicle. Obviously, over time, those older vehicles reach their end of life and are replaced.

The government has been reluctant to extend what appears in the current light to be a favourable regime for older vehicles to those being newly imported - hence, for a long time, even pre-2007 personal imports being treated as though they were brand new for IUC purposes. The PT government line was that it didn't want Portugal to become a "dumping ground" for 2nd hand vehicles from other countries. It's seen rather differently by the EU Commission and the ECJ, who have insisted that Portugal treat all vehicles first registered within the EU pre-2007 in the same manner, whatever the regime they're imported under. Portugal also fell foul of those institutions on the matter of ISV on imported vehicles, which the EC / ECJ deemed wasn't taking proper account of depreciation in value of older vehicles, hence recent changes on that front also.

Anyhow, that preamble over , on reflection I may have been rather hasty in saying a pre-2007 vehicle could save you money on the annual circulation tax. It only applies to vehicles being brought in from EU / EEA member states and by the time you are ready to bring your car in, the UK, on current trajectory, will be well and truly out of the EU and with only the most tenuous of relationships via (at best) only the skinniest of trade deals, mainly encompassing goods. So not even at the level of Switzerland, which is frequently bundled together with the EEA on such matters - and cars brought in from Switzerland do not benefit from that arrangement.
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Old Aug 7th 2020, 11:42 pm
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Pre 2007 cars don't cost all that much if you just buy it in Portugal; for all the work of importing one, your gain would be slight and you'd have a RHD car.
I know people say they don't mind and all, but it's really safer and easier to drive when you can see oncoming traffic. and the resale value of a RHD car here is nil.

If you can do your own repairs and don't drive a lot of miles, an older car can be a good choice.
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Old Aug 8th 2020, 7:04 am
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Can't do any repairs at all, I'm afraid Can hardly even mend a bike puncture. How much do mechanics charge n Portugal? I imagine imported parts are more expensive than UK?

Good point about resale value.
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Old Aug 8th 2020, 7:56 am
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Originally Posted by suiko
Can't do any repairs at all, I'm afraid Can hardly even mend a bike puncture. How much do mechanics charge n Portugal? I imagine imported parts are more expensive than UK?

Good point about resale value.
Mechanics are a lot cheaper than the UK. Typical about Euro 25,- an hour at an non-franchised garage . Parts no significant price difference. Definitely go for a local, older car if that suits your price range .
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Old Aug 8th 2020, 8:04 am
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Thanks. How much could expect to pay for a 15 year old Micra with low mileage, for example?
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Old Aug 8th 2020, 8:36 am
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Originally Posted by suiko
Thanks. How much could expect to pay for a 15 year old Micra with low mileage, for example?
This is the site to look on :

https://www.olx.pt/ads/q-viaturas-us...ess%5D=private

Gives you a good idea. No idea about a Micra but for Euro 3 - 4,000. you will pick a good second-hand car
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Old Aug 8th 2020, 9:49 am
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

also look here, equivalent to Autotrader in uk Here you can out in make/model/age/ whereabouts (most cars for sake are either in Lisbon or Porto areas for obvious reasons.

www.standvirtual.pt
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Old Aug 8th 2020, 9:59 am
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

Secondhand cars are very expensive in Portugal, as an example in the UK I have a 2007 Vauxhall Astra Twintop convertible, in Portugal that is sold as an Opel Astra cabrio. The best I would be able to get privately in the UK for my immaculate model, low mileage car, unblemished car would £1500. In Portugal as advertised in standvirtual the same car is €9800 and thats the cheapest with almost double the mileage and dirty diesel to boot.
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Old Aug 8th 2020, 10:34 pm
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Default Re: importing a car - any particular tips for lower tax?

It all depends..
Many people keep their cars inside and the roads are never salted.
I have 2 20 year old cars with no rust between them.
Paid 4,000 euros for the fist one when it was only 10 years old, turbodiesel.mitsubishi.
Petrol cars are cheaper.
I bought the Mercedes last year for E3,000. In great condition runs good but high mileage.
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