# Car Matriculation Nightmare - Any suggestions please?



## TAO22 (Dec 30, 2010)

Hi All,

I have a real dilemma with my car importation which I hope you all might have some suggestions/ideas on please.

I have just received my 5 year residency here  and intend to start a small business. However, I need to import my car which is a Renault Scenic 1.9 diesel for the business to pull the trailer I will be using. My solicitor initially advised me that the vehicle had to be kept by me for 1 year after import here in Portugal...fine I said...but what about having to have owned it for 12 months or more in the UK? No problem said the solicitor...it's only 12 months in Portugal after import!

Anyway something didn't feel right about this but being a solicitor I assumed he had checked, double checked and of course he was right! (Next week I planned to have a tow bar fitted here in Portugal and the week after drive to the UK and collect my trailer and import both car and trailer). 

Today I queried it with him yet again and asked him to reconfirm as I still had a nagging feeling he was wrong.....and to my horror he came back to me saying he had 'misinformed me' and in fact I had to (as I had originally thought) have owned the car for 12 months in the UK!!!

Naturally I will be looking for a new solicitor  but in the meantime I wondered if the following sounded viable...

To take my car (Renault) back to the UK...and bring my other car (Tigra) over for the 5 months until November when I can then matriculate my Renault as I will have then owned it for 12 months?

I can import the trailer with little problem as this will have a seperate number plate here anyway. Insurance I still need to look at this week so any suggestions on trailer/business insurers here would be greatly appreciated.

The only other option I can think of is to sell my Renault then buy a Portugese vehicle capable of towing...but that said, this will work out extremely expensive and also my Renault is ideal for both the business and personal use so I am very reluctant to part with it.

HELP! Does anyone have any ideas please of how or what I can do to overcome this obstacle? 

Many Thanks
A now very confuddled ex pat


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

To import your car without paying ISV tax you must have owned vehicle for at least 12 months and been a Resident in UK for that 12 months,you have to prove ownership and UK Residence, you must then start the Matriculation process within 6 months of leaving UK and registering Residence here.

If you didn't start the process within this time, you will NOT be able to Matriculate and will actually be told the vehicle cannot be kept in Portugal longer than 183 days in any 12 months. Penalties are steep.

I honestly don't see how you can get around it as you say you are now Resident here you therefore can't prove the necessary UK Residency. 

You could import vehicle as a personal import, but Matriculation process must be started within 20 days of import. The tax is very dependent on age, c.c, emissions etc. 
You should also bear in mind that the car would be Road Taxed as a new vehicle not the age of car.

You don't say where you are but in my experience Customs apply rules and regulations to the letter.

The 12 months misinformation you where given, is when you matriculate without paying ISV you cannot sell the vehicle for 12 months.


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## nandnjudge2 (Oct 5, 2008)

The only suggestion that I can make is why did you not use a matriculation agent from day one, they are the specialist , they take the worry out of importing a car no matter what the circumstances are. Don't forget with these agents it is also who you know rather than what you know , they have all the right contacts and speak the same language. With all the right documentation it can be done in under one week, I recently imported a Smart car from the UK, the whole transaction took 3 days through an agent their cost being Euros 400


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## TAO22 (Dec 30, 2010)

Hi CanoeMan

Thanks for the response to my question. 

I still have an address in the UK (family house) which I use for all my UK affairs still ie, UK bank account mail etc. I came here to Portugal at the end of last year with a friend and drove from the UK in my car, the trip was an across Europe holiday and I had intended to return to the UK in April. However, I decided to stay and applied for the residency in the begining of March. The residency was just granted to me by the local camera and the date on the residency certificate is 29.02.11. 
I was advised I had to apply for it to obtain ambulent licences for my business from the camera. The solicitor is an english speaking local one who has been used by other English and Dutch friends here and came recommended. As I have only small amounts of Portugese at this stage this seemed like a better option. 
Now I have the dilemma with the car, but after the advice above the only realistic options seem to be either to pay the import tax, sell the car and buy a Portugese one or to hope there is an ex pat with a suitable vehicle who wishes to exchange?

As regards matriculation agents, does anyone know a reliable one in the Portalegre, Alentejo region please or how I may find one here even?


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Really think you need to go back to basics, and check any information you have been given. Registering Residency for example is a 5 minute process and should not take 2 months or bear a date prior to the March you mention.
Back to car, you certainly can't Matriculate without paying ISV, all applications are handled by the Regional Headquarters of DGAIEC, in your case Setúbal, maybe they would recommend an agent.
Avenida Jaime Rebelo
2904-536 Setúbal

Tel: 265 521 300
Fax: 265 234 156

This simulator will help you decide if it is worthwhile paying ISV, but if your car is right hand drive would you really want to tow a trailer or could you even get insurance?
Declarações Electrónicas

If as you say you intend to run a catering?? business, you would make yourself a target for the GNR and customs, by pulling a commercial trailer with a R/H vehicle, you would have to make certain that you where totally legal and all paperwork licences etc 100% correct.


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## TAO22 (Dec 30, 2010)

Hi Canoeman

Thanks so much for this information. I am certainly going back to basics as needless to say I am not confident now that any information the solicitor has given me is valid or correct.
On a similar note, he advised me that the catering trailer was subject to different regulations and I could import that free of charge as it doesn't have an engine but I am now wondering if the 12 months ownership will also apply to that (the solicitor again said not!). Any ideas on this one as I'm wondering if it comes under the same regulations as a caravan?


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

No real idea on trailer I'm afraid because I'm not certain it would be classified as a trailer, a good agent should know, maybe you should contact the Government department ASAE first to get information on licences, complaints book etc, before worrying about bringing a trailer from UK that you might not be able to use

ASAE 

Think you said at some point that this was to be a part time sort of business, I do wonder whether this lawyer has mentioned the complexities and different requirements of running a business here compared to UK for instance Catering reguires health and hygiene certificates could you take and pass a Portuguese exam? you might find you'd need to make it a full time business to cover overheads.


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## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

nandnjudge2 said:


> I recently imported a Smart car from the UK, the whole transaction took 3 days through an agent their cost being Euros 400


Interested in one of those too - would you mind letting us know what the other costs were, (tax and duty) these cars have quite a small engine and low emissions. Is yours Diesel or Petrol ?


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## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

You will find it for sale in the classifieds, Mr Bife.


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