Case Study 16 – Daihatsu M4 from Germany

This import turned out to be more complicated than expected! It started off simple, but when our customer approached us, the 12-month deadline for tax-free importation was getting close.

The car itself—a 2008 Daihatsu M4—was completely standard, with no modifications. The main issue was that the customer wanted a tax-free import, which made sense given the high CO₂ emissions. If taxed, the import would cost over €700, which is a lot for such a small car.

Racing Against the Deadline

The customer had collected almost all of the necessary documents—except for the deregistration document from Germany.

Since she needed to travel back to Germany to get it, this would take another two months. However, she wanted to start the customs process immediately to meet the 12-month deadline for tax-free imports (she would go to visit family in Germany, so she didn’t only go to get the document).

We submitted the customs application, but as expected, customs requested the missing deregistration document.

When our customer finally returned from Germany with the document, there was a major problem. The document was dated with the current date, instead of the date when she had actually moved to Portugal in 2023.

Despite our previous guidance on how the document should be issued, it turned out that she had never formally deregistered from Germany. Because of this, customs required her to prove six months of residence leading up to the date on the document—not when she actually moved. Muito complicado!

Missed Deadlines & Unexpected Setbacks

While this was happening, customs had sent a letter to our customer with a another deadline. Unfortunately, she only saw it after it had already passed. At this point, it was too late—the car could no longer be imported tax-free.

Finding a Way Forward

With the tax-free import no longer an option, the process seemed stuck. The documents didn’t match up, and there was no way to make them work.

Luckily, we were able to change the process to an import with taxes. This required a signed letter from our customer and, of course, extra time and a €700 tax payment.

Financial Struggles & Delays

Since our customer was not financially prepared for the €700 ISV tax, making the payment immediately was difficult.

To help, we initiated the process, but customs would not move forward until the tax was fully paid. Unfortunately, communication with customs was slow, and weeks were lost waiting for responses.

By the time she had gathered the funds to pay the tax, the case had been pushed aside by customs. It was no longer a priority, and the approval took much longer than usual.

Final Outcome

In the end, everything worked out. We managed to:

• Adjust the process to a taxed import, despite the initial plan.
• Spread out the payments to ease financial pressure.
• Overcome customs delays to finally get the car imported.

Would we have done anything differently?

Knowing what we know now, it would have been faster and easier to import with taxes from the start. The process could have been finished in just a few weeks.

However, at the time, we didn’t know that our customer had never officially deregistered. She had told us that she only needed the document. Given that information, we still believe we made the right call.

However, in the future, we will be more careful and ask more specific questions to ensure that customers have truly deregistered before attempting a tax-free import.

Key Takeaways

• Start your import process early. Don’t wait until the last months of your 12-month deadline. If documents are missing, you may not have enough time to fix the issue.
• Make sure you are officially deregistered from your previous country. If you aren’t, it can completely disrupt the tax-free import process.
• Pay attention to customs deadlines. If you take too long gathering paperwork, customs may set a deadline—and missing it can mean losing the chance for tax exemption.
• If you can’t provide the required documents quickly, expect long delays. Missing paperwork can prolong the process significantly.