Importing a car from Germany to Portugal

Updated 25 October 2026 · Legaliza na Hora

Three things to confirm before you transfer any money

• The seller has the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil II. That is the A4 document that goes with ownership. Without it, as a rule, the car cannot be registered in Portugal. Teil I alone is not enough. Ask for a photograph of both parts.
• There is a COC, or the car is in its original specification. Modifications that are not covered by the certificate of conformity complicate the approval stage, and sometimes push the car into individual approval.
• The date of first registration and the mileage. These two decide the ISV and whether there is VAT to pay in Portugal.

With those, plus the CO2 figure and the engine capacity, we can calculate the ISV before you buy. Send us the advert.

The VAT trap

For VAT purposes an EU vehicle counts as used only when, at the time of sale, it is more than six months old and has travelled more than 6,000 km. A car that fails either test is treated as new, and Portuguese VAT becomes payable on top of everything else. A nearly new, low-mileage German car can therefore carry a bill that the advert gives no hint of. Check the date of first registration and the odometer against the documents, not against the listing.

Reading a German advert

What it costs in total

The service price covers our work, the national approval request, the DAV, the applicable IMT fee, initial ownership registration and sending the registration certificate to your address. The full breakdown is in what it costs to import and register a car in Portugal.

Why the sums often work

A used car previously registered in another EU state gets an ISV reduction for age, up to 80% once it is more than ten years old. The same model sold new in Portugal paid the tax in full, and that tax sits inside the price of Portuguese used cars. On a 2020 BMW 320d the difference in ISV comes to €4,045.09. That gap, minus transport and our fee, is the real saving. It is also why the calculation has to happen before the purchase. Read how ISV is calculated.

If you are not Portuguese, or not living here yet

Nationality does not change the route. What matters is where you have your normal residence and where the car will be kept. You will need a Portuguese tax number to be the registered owner, and the car will need Portuguese plates if it is going to stay here with a resident. If you are in the middle of moving your residence to Portugal and the car is already yours, look at the exemption route first: our service with an exemption application costs €596 including VAT, and the decision belongs to the Tax Authority. See the transfer of residence guide. If you are resident here already and buying a German car as an ordinary purchase, the exemption does not apply.

The steps

1. Send us the advert, or photographs of both parts of the Zulassungsbescheinigung and the COC. We calculate the ISV and tell you the total.
2. Buy the car and collect both parts of the registration document and the invoice in your name.
3. Bring the car in, driven on German export plates or on a truck. Keep the transport document: it proves the date of entry, which the DAV deadline runs from.
4. Approval at the IMT, type B inspection near you, then DAV and ISV.
5. Portuguese number issued, plates if you ordered them, then ownership registration and the registration certificate posted to you.

Under the general rules the DAV is due within 20 working days of the car entering Portugal. Before the Portuguese number exists, read driving on foreign plates in Portugal.

What is not included

• ISV, and Portuguese VAT if the car counts as new.
• The €93.52 type B inspection.
• Transport from Germany and insurance.
• A missing certificate of conformity, priced by make. See COC prices by make.
• Number plates, optional at €35.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources: Autoridade Tributária, ISV and VAT on vehicles, IMT.