What does it cost to import a car to Portugal?
Our fee is fixed and depends on your import type. Find yours below. Further down you see what the total is made of, and how much ISV real cars paid.
Moving here, or moved in the last 12 months?
Tax-free import
€750
About €1,030 to €1,045 with all fees, no ISV once approved
- How long
- Usually 6 to 12 weeks until your Portuguese plates
- Paperwork
- Proof that you lived abroad in the 6 months before you moved, such as bills or payslips
Already living here, or bought the car recently?
Import with taxes
€450
About €730 to €745 with all fees, plus the ISV for your car
- How long
- Often 2 to 3 weeks until your Portuguese plates, or faster with our Extra fast service (+€150)
- Paperwork
- Less. You can do this before you move, or without moving to Portugal at all. It works for any car from the EU with a COC, including company cars
From outside the EU, or an older or altered car?
Non-EU or special import
€750 plus documents
A special approval comes first. That goes for a car from the EU without a COC too. Documents only as your car needs them:
- Customs declaration (DU), outside the EU only
- €150
- IMT approval
- €165
- Technical data sheet, depends on the brand
- About €280
- Certification by the brand's representative
- About €180
- How long
- From outside the EU: special approval often 2 to 3 months, then customs often another 2 to 3 months
Free, no account needed. Your personal quote within 1 working day, and no obligation until you pay your first invoice.
What's in our fixed fee?
Checking your documents, preparing and pre-filling the paperwork, requesting the documents your car needs, booking the inspection, the application to customs and all the follow-up, the registration with IMT (we handle it; the €90 fee for priority registration is charged separately), your client portal, where you follow every step, and usually one person to email.
What's not in our fee?
The inspection (about €90), the plates (€20 to €35) and the vehicle registration card (€55). You pay those directly, and they're in the totals. Via us you also pay the priority registration with IMT (€90) and the power of attorney (€22). For an import with taxes, the ISV for your car comes on top. You see every cost below, in What your total is made of.
What your total is made of
Four parts. Our fee is fixed, two parts are about the same for everyone, and the vehicle import tax (ISV) depends on your car. If both import types are possible for you, we tell you which one costs less.
The other costs: via us you pay the vehicle registration with IMT with priority (€90) and the power of attorney (€22). You pay the inspection (about €90), the plates (€20 to €35) and the vehicle registration card (€55) directly.
How much ISV will you pay?
The vehicle import tax depends on your car: its CO2, engine size, fuel and age. Electric cars from the EU pay none. Your personal quote shows the amount for your car before you decide. How ISV is worked out
Your car makes the difference
Three real cars from the EU that came in with taxes. Our fee and the other costs were the same for all three; only the ISV was different, because it depends on the car. The tax amounts are from their case, the fees are today's.
When we'd recommend something else
- Tax-free, when the ISV is under about €300
We then recommend an import with taxes: it's cheaper, and faster.
- Converting a van into a camper during the import
We strongly advise against it. If it's already registered as a camper in the country it comes from, it can come in as a special import.
- A car from outside the EU, with taxes
The ISV is higher, and import duty and VAT come on top: on a €30,000 car, that's about €10,000. In case 46 we advised buying the same car in the EU instead.
When each cost comes
Nothing is due before we've checked your documents and confirmed the costs.
Today
Your estimate and your quote: free
Your quote stays valid for 30 days, and there's no obligation until you pay your first invoice.
Once your documents are checked
Your first invoice
Half our fee, plus the €112 paid via us.
On the booked day
The inspection, about €90
You pay it at the inspection centre.
When customs approves
The ISV, with taxes only
Customs issues a payment document (DUC). You pay it with a Portuguese bank account, online or at a Multibanco machine, under "Payments to the State". We send you the document and the steps. With lower amounts we can also pay it for you.
Once your car has its plate number
Your second invoice
The other half of our fee, nothing else. You pay for the plates (€20 to €35) where you have them made, and later for the vehicle registration card (€55).
With a special or non-EU import, the first invoice also has the costs for the documents your car needs, such as the IMT approval and the technical data sheet.
Your questions about the costs
- Why does tax-free cost more?
- There's a lot more to check and to follow up: proof that you moved away and lived abroad, your papers in Portugal, and a request to customs that usually takes 6 to 12 weeks instead of 2 to 3.
- Why isn't the ISV in these prices?
- It depends on your car: CO2, engine size, fuel and age. Electric cars from the EU pay none. Your personal quote shows the amount for your car before you decide.
- What isn't included?
- Our fee doesn't include the inspection (about €90), the plates (€20 to €35) or the vehicle registration card (€55). You pay those directly. It also doesn't include the priority registration with IMT (€90) or the power of attorney (€22), which you pay via us. All of these are in the totals above. Also not included: your insurance, and the annual road tax (IUC) that every car in Portugal pays once it's registered.
- What if customs works out a higher ISV?
- We look at it with you, and we challenge it when we think it's wrong. Customs makes the final decision. In case 54 customs put a 9-seat van in the wrong tax group, and we had it corrected, with the discount it was entitled to.
Question not listed? Ask us directly. We reply within 1 working day.
See your own total, line by line, before you decide.
"The communication was perfect and everything was handled very well on the specified dates."
Free, no account needed. Your personal quote within 1 working day.