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The DAV: the customs declaration for your car
Within 20 working days of arrival you file the DAV online. It is where the ISV is calculated or your exemption processed, and where the registration number appears.
By Gerardus Koetje · Updated on
What the DAV is
The DAV, in full Declaração Aduaneira de Veículos, is the customs declaration for a vehicle. It is the central document of the whole route. On the DAV customs determines the ISV, or processes your request for exemption. Once that is settled, the Portuguese registration number is assigned and appears on the DAV.
The deadline
A private individual files the DAV within 20 working days after the car enters Portugal. Working days: weekends and public holidays do not count. That is about four weeks, and in that time the homologation declaration and the inspection have to be done as well.
The deadline runs from the arrival of the car, not from your own registration in Portugal. So keep something that shows the date of entry, such as a toll receipt, a fuel receipt or the ferry ticket.
Where you file the DAV
The DAV is filed online, through the Portal das Finanças. The route according to the government:
- Log in to the Portal das Finanças with your NIF and password.
- First register for the Sistema de Fiscalidade Automóvel: go to Alfândegas and then Credenciação and fill in the form. Only once that registration is accepted do you get access to the DAV.
- Go to Serviços Aduaneiros, then IEC / ISV, then Declaração Aduaneira de Veículos (DAV), and choose DAV – criar DAV.
- Fill in the declaration and submit it. If you request the exemption, form 1460.1 goes with it.
- Note the DAV number the system gives you. With it you can view, print and follow the declaration later.
Do step 2 as early as possible. The registration has to be accepted before you can go on, and that waiting time comes out of your 20 working days.
What to have at hand
- the foreign registration certificate;
- the homologation declaration or the Modelo 9 from the IMT;
- inspection certificate model 112;
- the original COC from the dealer or the manufacturer (Portugal does not accept a VTG);
- the invoice or sales declaration of the purchase, if you have it;
- for the exemption: the supporting documents from ISV exemption.
Where most people get stuck: the colour in box 40. The DAV asks for a colour number, not a colour name. Enter your number plate on Understanding ISV and we give you the right number.
After filing
The original registration certificate. Within 10 days of filing the DAV you hand in the original foreign registration certificate to the IMT. You keep the other originals for four years.
Paying, if ISV is due. If you get no exemption, customs determines the amount. You pay within 10 working days of the notification.
The registration number. As soon as the ISV is paid or the exemption is recognised, the Portuguese registration number is assigned. It then appears on the PDF of the DAV.
Driving. With only the DAV you may drive for 60 days. Within that period the request for the registration certificate must be filed. See Portuguese registration.
One vehicle, one declaration
The DAV is per vehicle. If you bring a motorcycle or a camper as well as the car, each vehicle has its own declaration, and the exemption when moving applies once every ten years.
Frequently asked questions
How soon do I have to declare the car after arriving in Portugal?
You file the DAV within 20 working days after the car enters Portugal. Before that declaration you already need the IMT homologation declaration and the inspection, so start on those in the first week. See Filing the DAV.
May I drive the car while the import is in progress?
After filing the DAV you may, according to the IMT's government page, drive for 60 days with only the DAV; the registration request must be filed within that time. Keep the DAV and your insurance certificate in the car, and ask your insurer beforehand whether cover continues during this period.
What if I missed the 20-working-day deadline?
File the DAV as soon as you can and contact the customs office. We could not establish from an official source what the consequences of a late declaration are in your situation, so we do not state them here. The deadline for the exemption is a different one: that request must be in within 12 months of your move.
Facts and sources on this page
Every highlighted value in the text comes from an official source that we read ourselves.
20 working daysA private individual files the DAV (customs declaration for vehicles) within 20 working days after the vehicle enters Portugal.
Source: Código do Imposto sobre Veículos (CISV) (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 20.º n.º 1 a) · Checked on
form 1460.1You request the exemption online in the Portal das Finanças, with form 1460.1 (Pedidos no âmbito do Imposto Sobre Veículos) together with the DAV.
Source: Pedir a isenção do ISV quando se vem morar para Portugal (gov.pt, updated 27-03-2026) (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 61.º · Checked on
model 112For the declaration you need inspection certificate model 112, issued by a category B inspection centre (CITV). If the CO2 emission is not on the COC or in the homologation register, the centre measures it.
Source: Etapas na regularização fiscal de veículo proveniente de outro Estado-membro (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Checked on
10 daysYou hand in the original foreign registration certificate to the IMT within 10 days of filing the DAV.
Source: Etapas na regularização fiscal de veículo proveniente de outro Estado-membro (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 20.º n.º 5 · Checked on
four yearsYou keep the other original documents of the declaration for four years and show them when customs asks.
Source: Etapas na regularização fiscal de veículo proveniente de outro Estado-membro (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Checked on
10 working daysISV must be paid within 10 working days of the notification of the assessment.
Source: Código do Imposto sobre Veículos (CISV) (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 27.º n.º 1 · Checked on
60 daysWith only the DAV you may drive the car for 60 consecutive days. The registration request must be filed within those 60 days.
Source: Pedir a matrícula para um veículo importado (gov.pt, updated 04-09-2026) (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes) · Legal basis: Decreto-Lei n.º 102-B/2020 · Checked on
once every ten yearsThe same person can get the moving exemption once every ten years, counted from the assignment of the registration; each request covers one vehicle.
Source: Código do Imposto sobre Veículos (CISV) (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 48.º n.º 1 · Checked on
12 monthsThe ISV exemption on moving must be requested within 12 months of the date you transferred your residence to Portugal.
Source: Pedir a isenção do ISV quando se vem morar para Portugal (gov.pt, updated 27-03-2026) (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 45.º n.º 2 a) · Checked on
Guide: Importing your car into Portugal
Do it yourself, in the right order
The pages on this site explain the rules. The guide is the workbook: what to do in which week, which papers to take to which office, where to click in the Portal das Finanças and what to do when an application is rejected.