# Vehicle Import Exemptions



## Captainbeaky (Feb 13, 2016)

Hi All.

I've been doing a lot of research tonight on this ( with considerable help from the translator in google chrome) to try and unravel the conflicting advice I've seen (especially about the classic vehicle exemption).

In a nutshell - There is a "First one free from the EU" rule (YAY!) , but there is no specific ISV exemption for classic vehicles (DOH!)

In detail:- The tax system changed in 2007 (in Law 22A/2007 - https://dre.tretas.org/dre/214713/ )
This repealed the previous Law ( Decree 40/93 https://dre.tretas.org/dre/48878/ )
40/93 had the “Classic car” clause in it - but 22A completely dismantles the old law, and 
removes the classic car exemption.

The shiny new customs website explains the ISV rules surprisingly well here:- 
Site da DGAIEC - Descrição Imposto Sobre Veículos

There is even a good little simulator too here:-
https://aduaneiro.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/jsp/main.jsp?body=/ia/simuladorISV.jsp

The "first car free from the EU" rule still applies, and it can be a classic - but there are applicability rules, and there is no additional exemption (until 5 or 10 years it seems)

Before anyone complains - don't shot the messenger! I'm not too happy either!!
We have three 6.2 litre classics - and they would cost €26k each!!!
(this needs re-thinking...)

Also - this is by research, not actual experience - I'll update you on this as I go...

Curiously, the new tax rules seem to indicate that small (sub 1200cc petrol) low-CO2 cars would be relatively cheap to import - a few hundred euros.

I'm going to check this out - because I will need a small runaround as soon as I get there, and a small LHD Yaris is for sale nearby....

Anyway, that's all for now!

Mike.


----------



## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

I was also told by somebody at a large car club last year that the exemption for Classic cars was no longer and that this had happened a while back.

However I thought that this was wrong as somebody on the Forum, Travelling Man, had imported his classic into Portugal after that law was passed and he appears to have the exemption of road fund licence, I cannot remember if he paid duties to bring the car in as a classic.

It is something I need to look at in more detail soon.


----------



## Captainbeaky (Feb 13, 2016)

Yup - the person you spoke to was correct.

I had the same confused picture - every time i spoke to someone, I got a different picture - ranging from "hey - it's free!" to "€26,000 please..." - even from the people I talked to in the classic car show in Madeira.

Also don't confuse road fund licence (IUC) with import duty (ISV) - this further confuses things when you talk to someone and don't have a grasp of the language!

There is a possible reduction for classic car road fund licence - it has to do less than 500 km a year - I wonder how many people actually measure this, and how many cars slip through this (and best of luck to them).

It's also possibly the reason that some people have so much trouble!

Such a vehicle would still attract the import duty (unless it was one of your "free" cars) - unless the administrator wasn't fully aware of the rules.

The rules on the customs website are very clear, but I wonder just how clear they are at the sharp end in regional tax offices - it seems like you play the game, and see what happens sometimes!

At the risk of a €26k bill, ill make darn sure I have all the right info...


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

I bought my classic into Portugal (tax free) in January 2012 and although I had to be 110% sure all paperwork was absolutely correct I had no trouble doing so....... to do that I had to provide a FIVA car passport, ecopy of the workshop manual, registration document showing I'd owned the car in the country I came from for more than 12 months, a vehicle inspection document & as no Certificate of Conformity was available a downloaded copy of the original sales brochure showing the tech spec of the vehicle.

I also voluntarily supplied a letter from my local Jeep dealer saying the car had non standard wheels, exhaust & carb but these were all acceptable replacements for the standard items and that none of the engines for those vehicles were ever given an engine number.... Also a letter from my local traffic dept saying they had allocated a fictitious engine number for their records and that I had affixed an engraved plate to the bulkhead showing that fictitious number. 

Then I used an agent to handle the matriculation for me and despite my tellng him he should register it as a classic, he didn't and that resulted in my having to pat €776 for the first year of PT road tax. 

After that, I joined ACP/ACP Classicos at a cost of about €120 per year........ but that gives me an annual letter saying the car is of historical interest to PT and therefore exempt from road tax...... last time I renewed that was about 8 weeks ago & it was accepted without question.

If I were doing it again, I'd have ACP Classicos do the matriculation which would probably cost more but would have saved the cock up with the first year of road tax. 

As for the 500 km maximum per year, I've never had it checked but doubt I do that much anyway. 

Another advantage of ACP Classicos membership is I also get cheap insurance for the vehicle and only pay €38 per YEAR for a 5.9 litre V8.

Oh and the matriculation process has to have been started within 6 months of import.

Some people insist it's not a tax on import but no matter if you call it an import tax or a blue banana or anything else, it's a compulsory charge you have to pay to the Govt for importing the vehicle and the only way to avoid it is to fit the criteria mentioned......... and if you can't, I wouldn't be in the least surprised in the €26 mentioned is what they take from you. 

The tax free import is available to each new adult immigrant for one car, once only.


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Forgot to say I imported mine from South Africa not an EU country and to meet the classification of classic vehicle it has to be at least 25 years old and more or less original spec...... for example, it cannot be converted to LPG etc.


----------



## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

Hi Travelling-man, forgot to ask if this car, the Jeep, was the one that you used the once in a lifetime free from import documentation costs on or did you bring in another for the free from registration costs...did you not bring in two vehicles?


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

I only bought one vehicle in and it was my 1982 Jeep Cherokee/Wagoneer station wagon and it came in tax free on the new immigrant allowance. 

One thing I forgot to mention is that the staff in my local fiscal office are always ultra helpful to me with everything from prior notice/reminders to finding me an English speaker so there's no confusion and in return, I always offer them free use of my car (with me driving) for weddings etc. 

They've never taken me up on it but I have no doubt the offer rather 'greases the wheels of bureaucracy' 

Oh and as an aside, the value of the car has increased immensely here compared to SA values.

If I'd sold it there before I left, I'd have got something in the region of (equivalent) €3k...... here, it's twice been valued at €30k.


----------



## oronero (Aug 24, 2012)

Thanks for refreshing my mind.


----------

