Supremegermalene

WTF??!!!!

Is that including ALL costs? How on earth can they justify that?

Sorry I haven't typed up a full list of destructions yet but as a rough guide here are my costs:

• Certificate of Conformity (from Ford UK) £80.50
• Residencia from Immigration/Camara €7
• Atestado de Residencia from Junta €8
• Renounce UK residency in British Consulate £44
• Necessary forms from Tesouraria at Customs €5 (guess)
• Proof of no income in PT from Financas x 3yrs €8.16
• Special matriculation MOT €68
• Registration certificate from IMTT €33
• New plates €15 (max)
• New Headlights (maybe not necessary) £145
• Petrol to and from Faro €40
• Photocopying (I did my own on printer) €5

Total cost €189 + £269.50@todays exchange = €299 = €488

Now, I'm almost certain that €750 will not include your certificate of conformity or headlights should you need it, nor the MOT, new plates and won't include petrol so based on my figures (though others could be more or less) take off €373 for those costs which leaves you with €115 which means they are making €635 per car for filling in 2 forms and a bit of legwork.

Unless they guarantee no taxes (which they really can't) I just wouldn't be prepared to pay that...I only went to Faro three times, once to get the list from customs as to what they required, to pick up the forms from the Tesouraria and we then went to IMTT to get the Modelo 9 form filled out and a homologythingy number given...then I returned to hand in all the necessary paperwork and they gave me temporary DAV form to drive on, I posted them some more info then I returned to pick up my registration number DAV form, took that to IMTT and paid to get my registration certificate. Then I had my plates made up in a shop practically next to IMTT.

PLUS, a lot of the things like getting residency you'll still have to do as you have to be there in person, same with your atestado de residencia and I would have thought you'd need to be at Financas to get your tax return history unless you appoint the company your fiscal rep....what exactly do they do? Some photocopying and hand the paperwork in to customs it would seem is all? Can anyone who as used an agent confirm what they actually do as would be helpful to hear from both sides...

G

peemgee

Thank you SGM. That makes interesting reading and perhaps a little ammunition.

I didn't know we needed a Certificate of Conformity, both cars are new and one is a Land Rover imported from Germany (LHD with LHD lights). The other is a Fiat (RHD) and I have already changed the lights to LHD.

Another matter you mention is 'Proof of no income from the Financas'. Two years ago I rented the house out for eight weeks, declared the income and paid PT tax. Will this have any bearing on Matriculation?

Many thanks for your input

Supremegermalene

If both cars are new then you'll have to pay the (import) car tax, you have to have owned them in the UK for at least 12 months, no getting round it, and you can't buy them in the UK move here then apply for residencia once the 12 months is up as you'll have been driving them on PT roads for most likely more than 6 months so if you get stopped you'll get done.

They want bills right up to applying for residencia (well only allow travel time so maximum about 3 weeks), I think mine was quick and straightforward as I actually had a final bill sent to my PT address here so it was clear cut that I had left the UK and cut all ties there. They told me they want to stop people that are living between the countries evading the car tax here, by not buying here, whereas if you up sticks from one country and come to another it's a different story you are not evading tax you are moving country. (if you get me)

Having paid tax on a house rental a couple of years ago, I don't know, you'd think it would be a little enough amount to not count but 8 weeks holiday rent on a nice house is a years income for a normal PT person, if for example you rent at €1000 a week...

I'm not sure you'd get away with not paying the tax, in which case paying £750 a car to an agency is just throwing money away. Unless, the guarantee you will qualify for isencao, which as I said, I doubt they can.

G

peemgee

Thank you G. May I send you a private message
M

Supremegermalene

Of course!

G

swindon6

Hi,

I just wondered if everything was finalised properly and you got your matriculation done. You mentioned posting the full details of how it was done, it would be really helpful, when you get a moment if you could just outline the order in which you did things. We have been in Portugal for just over three months and want to apply for residency (the five year one) and matriculate our car. Many thanks for your help.
R

Theantikid

So glad to hear your wobbly wheel has got a bit of air in.
Well done.

Supremegermalene

Hi well I did it the following way, if you have been here 3 months you'll have to get a move on as it takes a while to-ing and fro-ing to all the departments, I'd almost allow one visit a day as you can guarantee it will take longer than expected! Also, you'd have to explain a break (if there is one) between your last UK bill and applying for residency in PT.

Before moving I contacted Ford about the Certificate of Conformity, they sent me an email address which automatically bounces back instructions on what's needed to request it and how much it costs.

As soon as I got here I stopped in Faro customs to ask what was needed, they didn't take any details but gave me a list of what they required, it is in Portuguese but I can type it up if you would like it (scanner not working). They also sold me a DAV form which is necessary to fill out when you submit your application (Customs Declaration form). You also need a Pedido de Beneficio form which is basically your request to not pay the tax. I then popped around to IMTT (like DVLA) in Faro to get a Modelo 9 form which is what you need for your MOT. You can download this online though if you wish.

Then you need to go to your local Junta de Freguesia to ask for Atestado de Residencia, which will state the date you moved into your property. They may ask for 2 local witnesses to prove it. We didn't need witnesses but took a letter from our lettings agency confirming the date of occupancy though. This gets signed by the president, it can take days depends how busy he/she is.

I then went to the Camara about residency, they sent me to the Estrangeiros e Fronteiras office to sort that out. Different depending on where you are though as some people do it at their local Camara. You'll need to take the Atestado de Residencia from the Junta plus passports and any other documents you may have such as a fiscal number, anything to support your address and residency status. Mine was really straightforward but hubby is PT so we weren't asked any questions just had to sign some papers and it took 15 mins! Make sure the date of residency matches the date on the Atestado if you can. If not make it as close as possible.

Next was the British Consulate, the scary bit. You tell them you want to bring in a car to PT without paying tax, they will print off some forms for you to fill in about dates of entry to PT and exit from UK (this bit is hazy)...you have to renounce UK residency and go into a room, swear on the bible that you are telling the truth about your transfer of residency (i.e. you don't just have a holiday home here) which is quite nerve wracking. The lady that dealt with me kept saying 'you do understand the implications of this don't you?'. I wasn't quite sure what she meant by that though! There could be various reasons for saying it...but I did check that if I decided to move back to the UK I had every right to reside there and wouldn't have any problems which they confirmed. They then give you a certificate to prove you are no longer a British resident.

On to the Financas, you need to take an IRS ticket and once you are called up ask for a Declaracao de IRS dos ultimos 3 anos. They will want to see your fiscal number obviously and maybe another proof of address/ID i.e passport.

Next stop was the IPO (MOT) test centre for the MOT. Again, quite scary (well the one in Almadena is I've since been advised Portimao is kinder!). You will need all your car docs, your fiscal number, your passport and the Modelo 9 form for them to fill in and stamp to say your car is ok.

All done, you now need to go to customs with 12 months worth of gas/electric bills showing consumption - these must run up to the date of you moving and I also had a final bill sent to my PT address which was extra confirmation I had actually left my UK property. You will need two photocopies in A3 size of your log book opened out, all pages, you need photocopies of your passport, your Fiscal number (all pages), your Atestado de Residencia and Residency certificates, in fact I'd photocopy every piece of paper you have two times.

Once everything submitted Customs will give you a document which allows you to drive for 3 months. After this period if you haven't heard from them you are supposed to go to somewhere to get it extended (I didn't need to do this). They then write to you if they have any queries and I think I then got a phone call to say my registration number had been allocated and I needed to go back to customs.

Back to customs, they then issued me another form showing my registration number. Took this form to IMTT again to register the registration number with them. They then send it to the Conservatoria de registos which deal with all ownership registrations...cars, houses, etc.

You can take the form given to you from Customs straight to a shop next to IMTT to get your new plates made up and put them on your car.

After 2 weeks go to the Conservatoria and pay for your car registration document which is then sent to you in the post (€50 for a teeny tiny bit of paper!!).

Within 90 days of registration you must then pay your road tax at the Financas office, be aware it will be new rates based on car CO2 emissions so much on a par with the UK.

One thing, make sure your PT address matches on everything...mine didn't as my Fiscal number was registered to my father in law's house as I've had it for years....so I had to change that and then go back to Financas again to get my proof of no earnings printed out again.

Think that's it! It might not be the best way of doing it, if anyone has any other advice feel free to add...

G

swindon6

Many thanks for your detailed response. It is a great help.

It would seem though to be pretty time consuming and we may not be able to follow your methods for various reasons.

I have spent hours online researching all the various forums etc., and found this article posted from the Algarve Resident from way back in 2007.

http://www.algarveresident.com/story.asp?XID=12929

Basically it says that a new law came out in 2007 which allows foreign cars not matriculated to pay Portuguese road tax.

Can anyone throw any further light on this?

R

TELL

The law changes so often in Portugal that I would not take an article from 2007 seriously.
As far as the law is concerned it is your country of vehicle registration that matters. Tax, mot insurance etc to be safe should be done in the UK.

gedscottish

If you don't have the time then maybe it would be worth paying an agent 500 euros to do it for you(still save thousands compared to buying here)

Regarding the car tax thingie... I just read it and it says "if the car has not been marticulated & been in portugal for more than 180 days....."

Well if its been in Portugal for more than 180 days, whats the point in buying road tax on for the Police to take your documents of you & leave you with the alternative of "marticulate or remove it from Portugal" oh and hump you will a big fine...I mean if your gonna get humped....don't you want kissed 1st?! Seriously...waste of money paying tax when its pretty irrelevant on a car thats on a foreign plate!

Rosiedane

Hello everybody, we are new to the forum and we need some help with this maticulation thing. We are moving to central Portugal on November 1st and would like to find an agent to sort out the matriculation for us as we speak very little Portugese as yet. Could anyone give us the name of a decent agent in central PT please?
Many thanks in advance.