NSG666

Does anyone have experience of bringing a bike from the UK to Portugal?
I have a 17yr old Honda Blackbird that I've owned from new and has only done 16,000 miles and just wondered what sort of costs beyond a new headlamp are involved for getting it PT registered. Realistically though I think I'll end up having to sell it here in the UK.

Alan PT

This site has great info on all aspects of importing, registration and taxes. It's mostly in Portuguese, but you can auto translate. Here's the motorcycle page: https://impostosobreveiculos.info/im...a-em-portugal/

The UK now being out of the EU does make it more complicated and expensive, but the costs for motorbikes are generally lower than for cars and you do have a limited window where you can import a vehicle that you already own without some of the taxes when you first move here

Importing vehicles to Portugal is a very well documented process and there's lots of companies to help with the documentation or with a full import service. This is because many Portuguese import vehicles to save on cost vs Portugal (mostly from Germany)

NSG666

Thanks Alan I'll have a good look through.

I'd done a search on the forum prior to posting and it didn't throw up anything relevant. After I'd posted I searched Google and it threw up a thrread on this forum where Pilotabroad had gone through the process Dec 2020 / Jan 2021 and he made it sound fairly straightforward, less involved than importing a car and fairly inexpensive.

Pilotabroad

That'll be me then!

It wasn't too bad, a bit of running around, a bit time consuming. In hindsight the very last part where I had the final paperwork checked/approved/submitted was with a local agent who said they would of done the whole process for 400-450 so for the sake of 200 max saving I'll use them to do it all next time.
Not sure what other agents charge but if Caldas da Rainha is within easy distance I'll happily give you their address there.

Rambling archer

Can't remember who it was on the Forum, but I seem to remember that whoever it was, was importing a vehicle and got in touch direct with the Customs Office at Peniche which covers a huge area round there, and found them very helpful. Importing our vehicle (a 4x4 from Spain) we used an Importing Agent based in Pombal and though we had to keep them on their toes, they did take care of a lot of inter-govt paperwork that we felt we were not up to doing and we found it worth the fee.

Alan PT

We ended up paying a total of 1900 for our small car earlier this year, but that was for a "key in hand" service - negotiate with dealer, transport the car from the North of Germany, do the import, inspection, all the paperwork, we just had to sign a few forms they sent through and organise our insurance to pick the car up

That was after a bit of negotiation with a couple of firms (the quotes started off almost 1000 higher!) and whilst it seems like a lot, the total cost still ended up being almost 10% cheaper than we were looking at paying here and is a much better spec. Could we have done it cheaper - yes, I'm sure we could, my guesstimate is that there was probably still a good 500 euro margin in there for the importer. But we unexpectedly needed to replace our lease car at short notice and didn't have the time to learn and carry out all the process ourselves, so it was worth it

I'm assuming that your 400-450 estimate was just for the paperwork? Or did that also include organising transport and inspections (obviously not the cost of them!)? Either way, it seems like a good quote, I did hear someone else recommending an agent in Caldas, interested if it's the same one, do you have the name?

Pilotabroad

Yep that was me also

Pilotabroad

That was purely the paperwork, authorisation, calls etc BUTTTT they can fast track appointments faster than Joe public.
It was the price for a motorcycle which is much less than a car.

I don't have it to hand but will search if anyone requires.

NSG666

Thanks Pilotabroad and others who have contributed since my last post.

We are looking at central PT so Caldas would be workable.

I have come across another spanner in the works that seems to be particular to motorbikes though. I contacted a bike transport company to get a price to get it shipped across but got a reply to say that they can no longer do it since Brexit. Apparently this got overlooked when trade deals were done and if a transport company takes a bike from the UK to the EU then all taxes and import duties etc are applied - this is/was also the case if you got your mate to take the bike in a van for you to link up with him later. It was also a grey area in what would happen if you took the bike over in your motorhome as it might get treated as goods! Most of these transport companies are/were aimed at bikers wanting to holiday in the EU but to save their holiday riding time had the bike shipped then flew out to ride it either riding it back or getting it shipped back. The link is below for anyone interested.

Things might change so I can ship it but otherwise I'd have to ride it and as I live near Leeds that would be a long boring journey to do alone so I probably won't bother. In fairness if I knew I'd definitely use a bike over there I'd have bought a BMW GS(A) which would be more appropriate and much cheaper to buy here than in the EU but if it's just going to sit in the garage I'd rather have my £3k bike than a £15k one!

Action Needed to Protect Motorcycle Transportation into the EU | National Motorcyclists Council (uknmc.org)

Alan PT

Taxes and duties would be applied in your case anyway, as you are permanently importing and need to register the bike in Portugal. But it could be a bit of a pain if you have to deal with this paperwork in France or Spain first, then redo in Portugal

You could always go on a short holiday to France, riding your bike, ride off the ferry and then change your mind, decide to head down to Portugal and have the van shipped there by someone... Perhaps even a friend who happens to have gone on holiday with his van at the same time...

Nothing illegal there, going on holiday is allowed, changing your mind on route and length of stay is allowed, if you happen to decide to keep the bike in Portugal when you get there, then the bike will be properly imported and registered in Portugal

Pilotabroad

When I processed mine I merely had to say that I had brought it over prior to the cut off for brexit and state that it had therefore been in Portugal illegally (beyond 6months) and pay a fine of approx 80euros.
The helpful guy at Peniche tax office RA mentions suggested this but did also say that if after Brexit then it would of just been a higher tax (think 400) as would be classed as imported from outside EU.

Having had a group of friends come over on bikes last September I know what you mean about the fear of transport agents though it seems as though its just a fear as none have actually tried yet to see what happens.

One option maybe to ship it to the ferry, ride aboard and disembark, show passport, load again 5mins down the road.
Another option is to let/pay someone to ride it as I know others have done that with cars... Especially easy during student holiday time as a cheap way for them to get here

NSG666

Cheers Alan but I thought I'd be exempt from tax as I'd be bringing it in and getting it registered etc in PT within the 12 month window - obviously not if I swapped it and tried to bring one in that I'd owned less than six months prior to moving?

NSG666

Thanks again all for the input.

Alan's post made me check on the tax exemption eligibility criteria and I realised I misunderstood part of it. It says that "You have 12 months from the date you arrive in PT to apply for tax exemption." I'd taken that to mean that you have 12 months in which you can import the vehicle and apply (similar to personal possessions and baggage certificates) but now I'm not sure what the time window is for physically getting the vehicle there.

It also throws up another potential issue. I think that I have read that once you become a PT resident then you cannot legally drive a vehicle you own that is not PT registered unless it is covered by a hire agreement. I know that you become tax resident from day one (assuming you then go beyond the 183 days) but when do become a 'resident' for this particular rule to apply? I guess the visa just gives you ther right to reside in PT while you apply and you are not a resident until confirmed by SEF? If it's not like that then theoretically you would be illegal as soon as you drive your UK vehicle in to PT to live rather that holiday.

Another can of worms that I now need to go off and research as we are planning on bringing the car over!

Alan PT

Ah, yes, sorry, wasn't sure if you were using the 12 month window exception, that should be fine, it applies even for 3rd party countries: https://impostosobreveiculos.info/im...uk-to-portugal

Alan PT

Ignore "tax resident", that's not what is normally meant by residency and yes, a visa only gives you the right to be in the country, it doesn't make you a resident. You will be resident once you have your 5 year residency doc from SEF.

Are you sure that you want to bring your car over as well? It's a PITA to have a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side for the country you live in...