Guide · Portugal

Driving a UK-registered car in Portugal: the 20-working-day rule, what ISV, homologation and inspection cost, and what to do instead

Residents must declare a UK-registered car to the Portuguese tax authority within 20 working days. What registering it costs, and the alternative.

Last reviewed October 2026

How long can I keep it on UK plates?

It depends on where you live. A visitor whose home is in the UK, including a second-home owner, may use a UK-registered car in Portugal for up to six months; that allowance is only for people who live outside the EU. Once you live in Portugal (the vehicle tax code's test is 185 days or more in a calendar year, with your personal and work ties here), that no longer applies. A car you bring with you when you move must be declared to the tax authority (AT), with a vehicle declaration (DAV) filed on the Portal das Finanças, within 20 working days of entering the country. If it came in while you were a visitor, the DAV is due within 10 working days of the end of the visitor period. The GNR and PSP check foreign-plated cars, often in joint operations with the tax authority: a GNR operation in Alcochete and Montijo on 7 April 2026 seized six vehicles for ISV offences, and a nationwide GNR and AT operation on 14 October 2026 checked 7,091 vehicles, with foreign-plated cars among its targets, and seized 26. Police who find an undeclared foreign-plated car notify the owner to file the DAV within two working days. Using a taxable vehicle without meeting the legal obligations, or missing the declaration deadline, is punishable by a fine from €250 that can run into tens of thousands of euros, and once an ISV offence is recorded the car and its papers are seized or immobilised until the tax is paid. A UK-plated car kept in Portugal for more than 183 days in a calendar year is also liable for IUC. On the UK side, the registration doesn't lapse, but lawful use does: UK road tax needs a valid MOT and insurance, and the DVLA treats a car kept abroad for more than 12 months as permanently exported.

Can a right-hand-drive car be registered?

Right-hand-drive cars can be registered in Portugal; there is no ban. At the type B inspection the car is checked against its papers, the headlamps must be set for driving on the right (adjusted or, where that isn't possible, replaced) and the speedometer must read in km/h. Most UK cars have a dual scale or a digital setting. Portuguese buyers pay noticeably less for right-hand drive, so expect a harder sale if you register it and sell it here later.

What registering it involves

IMT homologation: request the national homologation number (form Modelo 9). With an EU certificate of conformity (CoC) or a matching national homologation the fee is €45. Without one, IMT needs the approval from the country of origin and charges €165, and the manufacturer may have to confirm on the Modelo 9 that the car matches.
A type B inspection for a new registration (inspeção para atribuição de matrícula) at a category B inspection centre, which checks the car against its papers and issues the Modelo 112 certificate, valid for 90 working days.
The DAV on the Portal das Finanças, with the CoC or homologation number, the Modelo 112 and the V5C. The AT calculates the ISV, which must be paid within 10 working days, and assigns the Portuguese registration number; the V5C goes to IMT within 10 days.
Registration of ownership at a Conservatória do Registo Automóvel or online within 60 days of the number being assigned, then number plates and Portuguese motor insurance. After that come IUC every year and the periodic inspection (IPO), which is annual for a car over eight years old.

What it costs

ISV, the registration tax, has two parts. Engine size: for cars over 1,250 cc, €5.61 per cc minus €6,194.88. CO2, on the NEDC table: for petrol, €52.56 per g/km minus €5,903.94 between 116 and 145 g/km; for diesel, €175.73 per g/km minus €18,924.92 between 121 and 140 g/km. A diesel pays €500 more unless its papers show particulate emissions below 0.001 g/km. These rates have not changed since 2024.
The age reduction: since 1 January 2025 a used car from another EU country gets a single reduction on the whole ISV, from 10% at up to one year old to 80% at over 10 years (65% at seven to eight years, 70% at eight to nine). UK cars have been treated as cars from outside the EU since 1 January 2021 and get no reduction at all.
Example (illustrative CO2 and value): 2018 VW Golf 1.5 TSI petrol, 1,498 cc, 116 g/km NEDC, worth about €10,000. ISV about €2,400 (about €840 if the same car came from another EU country).
Example (illustrative CO2 and value): 2018 Ford Kuga 2.0 TDCi diesel, 1,997 cc, 135 g/km NEDC, worth about €12,000. ISV about €9,800.
Example (illustrative CO2 and value): 2018 Range Rover Sport SDV6 diesel, 2,993 cc, 185 g/km NEDC, worth about €33,000. ISV about €26,800.
On top: €45 or €165 to IMT, €93.52 for the type B inspection (2026, with IVA), registration, plates and any headlamp work. Then IUC every year: on the 2026 tables about €150 for the Golf, €280 for the Kuga and €810 for the Range Rover.

Moving home with the car?

If you are moving to Portugal, there is an ISV exemption for people moving home. It needs you to be over 18, to have lived abroad for at least six months, and to have owned the car in the country you are leaving for at least six months before the move, bought there under normal tax conditions. You apply through the DAV, with form 1460.1, within 12 months of moving. It covers one vehicle per person, and the AT says it can be granted once every ten years. It doesn't remove the IMT, inspection and registration fees or IUC. For 12 months after the car gets Portuguese plates it may not be sold, rented or lent, or the ISV becomes due in full.

The alternative: sell it back to the UK

The obvious comparison is driving it back to the UK yourself. Lisbon to Calais is about 2,000 km by road: two or three long days at the wheel, plus fuel, tolls, the Channel crossing (or the drive to Santander or Bilbao and the ferry from there), the journey back and then the job of selling the car in the UK. It only works while the MOT and UK insurance are valid, and once you are past the 20 working days, the drive itself is use of a car that should already have been declared in Portugal. We collect it free from your address on a transporter, handle the export paperwork, and pay you in pounds sterling (£) by bank transfer on collection day.

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Common questions

Can I estimate the ISV before deciding?

Yes. Take the engine size and CO2 figure from the V5C or the certificate of conformity and apply the two ISV tables, or use the ISV simulator on the Portal das Finanças. For a UK car, don't apply the age reduction: it only applies to cars with plates from another EU country.

Why does a UK car pay more ISV than the same car from Spain or France?

Because the age reduction in article 11 of the ISV code applies only to cars with permanent registrations from other EU member states. The disputes over it rest on the EU rule against tax discrimination between member states: the EU Court of Justice ruled against Portugal on 2 September 2021 (case C-169/20), and Portugal applied one reduction to both parts of the tax from 1 January 2025. Portugal's Supreme Administrative Court has said (2024, 2026) that whether the older rules discriminated depends on the evidence in each case. Since 1 January 2021 the AT has treated UK cars as cars from outside the EU, without the reduction.

If I keep the car on UK plates, do I pay IUC?

If it stays in Portugal more than 183 days in a calendar year, yes: IUC also applies to vehicles not registered here. And if you live in Portugal, keeping it on UK plates is not an option beyond the 20 working days.

What if the MOT has expired?

Not a problem. We buy cars with an expired MOT, no UK tax or a SORN, and collect them by transporter.

Rules, rates and thresholds change. This guide is a general summary as of October 2026, not legal or tax advice — check the current position with the registration authority before relying on it.

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