What changes with a car from Portugal.
Portugal is simple on paper: one registration document. Being next door makes it easy to neglect the rest of the file.
What to be clear about
- One document: the Portuguese Documento Único Automóvel (not to be confused with the customs DUA).
- If the purchase is by contract (no company invoice), transfer tax (ITP) must be paid.
- New vehicle: a vehicle is treated as new if it has under 6,000 km or under 6 months since first registration. In that case VAT is due instead of ITP.
- If you buy from a company, its invoice must be verifiable in the EU VIES system: check the seller VAT number before paying.
Frequent mistakes
- Assuming a short journey solves itself: plates, insurance and papers are checked anyway.
- Paying before checking that a company invoice verifies in VIES.
- Assuming the car has European type approval. Check box K of the registration document: it shows the type-approval number (like e1*2007/46*...). If it is empty or dashed, the car has no European type approval and cannot be registered as it is: an individual vehicle approval (homologación unitaria) is needed. We offer it: €1,500 plus VAT.
Real timing
With complete documents, green plates can be ready in 24 hours; once the vehicle has a valid ITV (roadworthiness test), the process takes another 24 hours. If something is missing or there is an incident, timing is confirmed case by case.