Classic car (import) update

[travelling-man]

Just thought I'd give you an update on my classic Jeep and ask a question or three:

I imported my 1980(ish) Jeep from South Africa last year. As part of that process, it was recalled to Customs in Aveiro for a further inspection. The car passed with flying colours and Customs declared no import tax to pay.

Then I took it for MOT/Homolgation/Matriculation inspection that it passed (after a change of exhaust system).

I've just been sent the paperwork with the new portuguese registration number and year of manufacture etc.......... so can get the number plates made and I'm told the new Portuguese registration document will be posted to me in a few weeks time. The number plate incidentally, shows the year of manufacture are 82 - 01 indicating 1982 January.

Now for the questions:

If the year of manufacture shows as 1982 and internet research shows cars older that 25 years old are exempt from road tax......... why am I being told I need to pay E650 a year road tax?

Also, if I mothball the car in my garage and don't drive it on the public roads must I still pay that annual road tax?

Last but not least, if I convert the car to GPL/LPG and have it's emissions remeasured (these will be considerably lower once converted) should the road tax drop to a lower bracket?

[canoeman]

Don't believe there is any concession on road tax for Classic cars,
"Vehicle tax (Imposto Automóvel) must be paid for all classic cars
Vehicles made before 1960 are taxed at a lower rate"

One of the major downsides of Matriculating is that Road Tax is charged at the rate of the year/month of Matriculation not the year of First registration.

You need to go back and query and hope that someone has made a mistake, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Road tax, as owner your liable for Road Tax whether on road or not, no SORN here.

GPL think you need to check very carefully R&R for import of classic, by converting it's no longer a classic so you might be liable to pay import duty.

[travelling-man]

Strewth..... they don't make it easy do they!

[canoeman]

No would you want it any other way
Problem your dealing with 3 separate agencies

Customs handle and define what if any import tax you might pay and adherence to importing regulations.
IMTT responsible for vehicle registration, so the ones you need to tackle
Financas responsible for road tax, non payment or late payment is treated as a Fiscal offence.

You or your agent really need to go and see IMTT and find out the exact position and registration date, did your agent not point this out or is he surprised?

If you've got online access to your Tax a/c worthwhile checking whether ownership has already been registered to your Fiscal Number, it would also confirm the IUC (Road tax) due.

[travelling-man]

The agent seems fairly effecient in most ways but doesn't seem to know anything about the differences between classic and modern cars........ I'll maybe call the classic car museum and talk to one of their people to see what they say.

At the end of the day, I guess if I have to pay it then that's what I'll do.......

[canoeman]

Just if you can get IUC to year should be about 86€ a bit different to 650€

[travelling-man]

Well worth trying then...... I'll pass the info onto the agent and see what he has to say.... Thanks!

[oronero]

Anymore info regarding importing classic cars and more importantly whether the annual IUC costs is based on year of import and not year of build...I have a 1977 TR7 V8 rally car and I would like to bring it with me.

Is this also applicable to old motorcycles as I have a 1990 Ducati that I would also like to bring.

I gather that if you are bringing in track/race bikes that are not registered for road use than there is no import tax nor worries about matriculation etc. or am I wrong?

[travelling-man]

I can only tell you about my personal experience.

They allowed me to import the car duty free. The registration process took about 6 months & cost E600 + E30 for permission to use a non standard sized number plate..... I reckon the registration process could have been done faster but my agent was as much use as a chocolate teapot and I'd never use him again.

PT says cars over 25 years of age are free of road tax. They acknowledged the age of the car on the number plate but as far as the road tax was concerned, IMTT count those 25 years from the date of registration rather than the age of manufacture.

I contacted FIVA and was told that I should appeal but that so far, none of the many appeals that have already taken place have succeeded...... So I didn't even bother. I'm sure that if I tried to appeal, I'd have to do it in Portuguese which I don't yet speak and I sure as hell wasn't about to ask the agent mentioned earlier to do it for me.

The good news is that the PT version of the AA tell me that I can submit my car to them for inspection & if it passes, they can register the car as being of historical importance & it then becomes free of road tax again.

I haven't done that yet because I'm waiting to find time to do a couple of small jobs to the vehicle before I submit it.

FWIW, the road tax amount is based on engine size & emissions. If I'd known that before I left RSA, I'd have fitted the car with a catalytic converter & had an LPG conversion done. If I'd found out after I arrived, I'd have had a cat fitted before the emissions test, but no-one, including my fidiot agent, told me that....... consequently, I had to pay the very highest band of road tax which is a tad over E773 a year.

Also FWIW, my car has the 5.9 litre AMC360 V8 engine in it.

They also made me take off my sidepipes and replace them with a standard system...... I still haven't been able to find out if ALL sidepipe systems are banned here or if mine was just too noisy...... and I have to admit, they were helluva noisy.

If I can't find out what is and isn't legal, I'll (at some point) cut them open, put in full length (quieter) baffles and put them back on the car and wait to see what happens.

So in short, you should be able to get your car in duty free (assuming it's been registered to you for sufficient time) but they will catch you on road tax..... However, if you fit a cat, it should reduce the amount of road tax they do catch you for.

I think bikes have the same rules as cars BUT as I understand it, they only allow one vehicle per person to come in tax free.

Good luck!

[oronero]

Thanks for that feedback, I thought that I had read somewhere that vehicles of historical importance or with a competition pedigree where exempt from import tax.

If that is the case then I will save the personal import allowance for one of the other vehicles that I have.

The motorcycles are are all homologation specials or race bikes, so perhaps they also can be exempt...I must get in contact with the Portuguese Ducati club to find out some more.