# Car tax



## DREAMWEAVER1

Can anyone explain briefly how they determine the amount of annual car tax one should pay,I can make a comparison between 3 similar sized,but differently aged,vehicles and the amount paid varies from €65 to €230,the newer car pays most,the older car with a larger engine pays the least.




David


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## canoeman

Do you mean Road Tax IUC or car tax on new or imported ISV?

This site will give you both Tabela Imposto Único Circulação (IUC) 2014 - Tabela Imposto Único de Circulação - Imposto Sobre Veículos e Imposto Único de Circulação 

2015 also there


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## DREAMWEAVER1

Sorry for any confusion,I was referring to Road Tax ,I would like to import a car and only be liable for €65 though!!!!





David


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## canoeman

Doubt that's possible as whether you import under "free" ISV or as a personal import then regardless of the *age* of vehicle it is Road Taxed IUC as the year of matriculation, if you import 2015 then IUC is calculated *by rates for that year not the year of first registration*


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## travelling-man

C/M has it right as usual.

I imported my classic 1982 Jeep Wagoneer 3 years ago and the agent matriculated it as a normal car instead of a classic because he's a fidiot and I ended up having to pay €776 road tax that first year. 

After that, I was able to have it registered as a car of historical interest to PT and it then became exempt from road tax but as he says, the annual road tax is from the year of registration here in PT not the year the car was registered in it's home country.


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## DREAMWEAVER1

travelling-man said:


> C/M has it right as usual.
> 
> I imported my classic 1982 Jeep Wagoneer 3 years ago and the agent matriculated it as a normal car instead of a classic because he's a fidiot and I ended up having to pay €776 road tax that first year.
> 
> After that, I was able to have it registered as a car of historical interest to PT and it then became exempt from road tax but as he says, the annual road tax is from the year of registration here in PT not the year the car was registered in it's home country.



By your last statement TM,it therefore follows that the older the vehicle the less the Road Tax,I bought my 2005 Portuguese registered car last year,this years Road Tax is €65,2 friends have similar sized cars,but bought new,in Portugal last year,1 paid €230
Road Tax,my vehicle has the largest engine cc.


David


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## siobhanwf

Road tax changed in 2007. Any cars registered AFTER that date are obliged to pay the higher tax rate. So basically if you are thinking of buying a 2nd hand car here in PT anything register prior to 2006 will have a much lower tax rate.


If you bring a car from the UK and matriculate it here it is the date of matriculation here in Portugal that counts not that of first registration in the UK


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## travelling-man

Siobhan also has it right as usual. 

The amount of car tax one pays is dependent on engine size/Co2 & age.


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## canoeman

DREAMWEAVER1 said:


> By your last statement TM,it therefore follows that the older the vehicle the less the Road Tax,I bought my 2005 Portuguese registered car last year,this years Road Tax is €65,2 friends have similar sized cars,but bought new,in Portugal last year,1 paid €230
> Road Tax,my vehicle has the largest engine cc.
> 
> 
> David


IUC is calculated on CC, petrol or diesel and the year of matriculation, the link I gave gives you all details so easy enough to calculate what you should have paid each year, I find it very odd that you would have paid such dissimilar amounts, 65,20 1 year and 230 another year


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## oronero

I have been looking at this over the last few months and my conclusion is that unless you are bringing a car over that is less than five years old and preferably left hand drive, it is not worth it.

Having said that if your car was built prior to 1984 then this also may be worthwhile to bring in.

My reason for the above statement is that if your car is less than thirty years but more than five years old the cost in the new rate of tax (based on the year of matriculation) will negate any savings made by purchasing a more expensive domestic equivalent car, over a few years.

The only exception to this may be careful planning and forethought, namely purchasing a new or almost new european lhd model car and registering and owning it for a year prior to moving to Portugal.

The main difference between the Portuguese and UK vehicle market seems to be that UK vehicles appear to depreciate must faster once they have passed roughly five years of age.

Unless you have a large amount of money to spend on a top end vehicle, such as a Ferrari, Porsche, top of the range Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover etc. then the savings are negligible. Purchasing any of the above from say Germany that are a couple of years old may save you a few thousand Euros, perhaps a little more as these vehicles depreciate more when compared to the Portuguese market. See here for German car sales mobile.de - Germany's Biggest Vehicle Marketplace Online. Search, Buy and Sell Used and New Vehicles

The main problems appear to be that you really need to buy a car that is no more than two years old as it will then be taxed at almost the same rate as a Portuguese domestic car of the same year, this will make it easier to sell on later after you have owned it five years or more. A two or three year old model will mean that deprecation has not really kicked in yet to make a huge saving but I guess a saving is a saving. Having spent money on your top-end vehicle and owning it for the required five years in Portugal to sell it free of import duty the question you need to ask yourself is how difficult will it be to find a buyer who wants to purchase said vehicle?

As an example a 2008 Audi R8 on 'Stand Virtual' can be bought for 70,000Euros, the equivalent car in Germany can be bought for 35,000Euros. Remember that the Portuguese vehicle will be paying road tax that was set in 2008 and if you were to bring in the car advertised in Germany you would be paying the 2014 rate or 2015 as of the end of next week. An almost new Audi R8, 2014 model, will cost you around 149,000Euros in Germany at the moment.

So on paper it would seem that you can make a saving by buying an almost new car from Germany, but heck spending over 100,000Euros to save a few seems like madness to me unless you are awash with money. I am sure that the above is true for more mundane and normal vehicles within the reach of mortals, however the savings will also be smaller...ultimately is it really worth it? I am not so sure.

Perhaps you should look to buy the classic car that you always wanted, just make sure that it is over 30 years old, no import duty, no road tax and available in LHD format from the German site above at a price normally cheaper than Portugal...Good luck!


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## canoeman

You'll only *not* pay IUC at current rates if the car was 1989 or before and was classified as historic interest, which also has restrictions to yearly mileage, anything post 1990 you will pay IUC at the rates set for year of import.

You might save money by importing but should you want to sell then buyers won't be keen on high IUC on older cars


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## travelling-man

Further to Oronero's extremely valid points, a good condition late 70s or early 80s Mercedes SL can be bought in Africa or the US for a few thousand dollars, it can be shipped for about another USD3k, matriculated for a few hundred and here, it'll be worth something in the region of €25k+ and once here, if you do the paperwork right, it's exempt from road tax.


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## robc

I would not disagree with onorero but one other thought.
PT cars that I looked at even relatively new (sub 2 years) prestige marques have been abused here in PT.

Given that it is cost neutral to purchase in say Germany, I would always go there, so it seems do a lot of our Portuguese friends when they replace.

Rob


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## oronero

robc said:


> Given that it is cost neutral to purchase in say Germany, I would always go there, so it seems do a lot of our Portuguese friends when they replace.
> 
> Rob


Is it still cheaper to purchase a fairly new car abroad if you are a resident already, given that you have ISV to pay or does it work out the same as buying locally but with better choice?


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## robc

I am looking at replacing one at the moment. If you are, as we are, looking at maybe more than 12 months old but less than 5 years then German Import is €000´s less depending on the model chosen. (I am looking at an X5 sd)

HTH

Rob


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## oronero

robc said:


> I am looking at replacing one at the moment. If you are, as we are, looking at maybe more than 12 months old but less than 5 years then German Import is €000´s less depending on the model chosen.
> 
> HTH
> 
> Rob


So on that basis with some careful planning it is possible to move to Portugal with a two or three year old european sourced vehicle and save the ISV element if you manage to own it for 12 mths prior to becoming a resident of Portugal.


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## canoeman

That's always been the case, it's about planning and meeting requirements, it's cheaper to import a vehicle into UK than Portugal, you pay VAT & Road Tax and must commence import procedure with HMRC within 14 days of import , search Gov UK there's a specific "page" with all info. When eventually imported in Portugal IUC will still be calculated at year of matriculation.

In Rob,s case as a Resident though he will still pay "import Duty, IVA and IUC will still be calculated at year of matriculation, if he's considering replacing one of 2 cars he's also imported "free" of ISV should remember that he has to repay ISV saved pro rata should he sell it


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## robc

canoeman said:


> That's always been the case, it's about planning and meeting requirements, it's cheaper to import a vehicle into UK than Portugal, you pay VAT & Road Tax and must commence import procedure with HMRC within 14 days of import , search Gov UK there's a specific "page" with all info. When eventually imported in Portugal IUC will still be calculated at year of matriculation.
> 
> In Rob,s case as a Resident though he will still pay "import Duty, IVA and IUC will still be calculated at year of matriculation, if he's considering replacing one of 2 cars he's also imported "free" of ISV should remember that he has to repay ISV saved pro rata should he sell it


Agree with all that CM says, it is not just about saving money on a car that you matriculate when entering Portugal, be sure that it is a car you like as you will potentially have it for a long time and to replace or buy another one is going to cost.

Rob


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## canoeman

If you import on free of ISV scheme then your not allowed to sell for 1 year and have to repay ISV saving if sold within 5 years of import, so it's not only if you like it but whether the car has 5 years life, someone I know had a major breakdown and ended up doing Portuguese version of SORN as if he'd scrapped he'd have had to repay ISV

Import as a Resident and pay ISV then one of benefits is that there is no restriction placed on selling


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