# Is there a Portuguese equivalent to SORN?



## Captainbeaky (Feb 13, 2016)

Hi there,

What happens with respect to car tax if your car is off the road for an extended time?
For example, it's a classic under restoration or if it is more of a pile of parts than a complete car?

In my case, I want to import my very rare Land Rover 90, but it's sort of in bits, and certainly couldn't pass the MOT out there ( so I couldn't matriculate it), I want to rebuild it myself, but it'll take longer than six months....

At what point is it a car, and will be subject to continuous road tax?

Anyone done this, or know how it works?

Thanks,

Mike.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

You'll be facing a number of issues here....... Firstly, I'm not sure if it can be SORNed or not but the ACP Classicos (Portuguese AA Classic Car Club) will be able to tell you.

Secondly, if you want to import it tax free as a new immigrant, you need to begin the maticulation/registration process within 6 months of bringing it in & part of that is a very detailed MOT style inspection. - You also have to meet other criteria as well such as FIVA certificate which is a car passport (if importing as a classic) and it has to have been registered to you in the country of import for at least 12 months. 

The good news is if you can import it & get it matriculated, you can then with the help of ACP Classicos get it registered as a car of historical interest to Portugal and then it becomes exempt from all road tax and also get VERY cheap insurance for it., 

That's what I've done with my classic 5.9 litre Jeep and it saves me paying €776 per year in road tax & gives me an annual insurance premium of about €36.


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## Captainbeaky (Feb 13, 2016)

Thanks for that.

The 1960's classics will be tax free to import anyway, as "vehicle of historic interest " and will undergo a less stringent set of tests, due to their age.

It's my 1998 Landrover I am thinking of.
It's not a classic, but it's rare, and I like it a lot - I want to take my time rebuilding it - I will also be converting it to LHD at some point.

I can start the matriculation process within 6 months - that's not a problem - but is there a time limit in finishing the process?

And what do people do if their car is off the road for an extended period ( like a classic rebuild that can take years) - getting an MOT isn't possible, so what happens when you can't get an MOT, and thus can't pay the tax?


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Once you begin the matriculation process it's up to the traffic dept how long it takes but going from memory, my agent took 3 or 4 months from start to finish.

Don't be too sure about being able to import a classic tax free simply because it's a classic...... I'm no expert but think it's considerably more complicated than that but the people to ask would be ACP Classicos or possibly an agent who handles imports and/or matriculations....... The same for what happens if the car is off the road & can't be taxed/MOTd.......... but FWIW, I had a loooong wait for spares a couple of years ago & I had to have my local garage take it to the overdue MOT for me. 

The car was about 8 months overdue which meant it then had to be MOTd again 4 months later because the test date always remains the same.


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