Importing an electric car or plug-in hybrid
Fully electric: no ISV and no IUC. Plug-in hybrid: a reduced rate, under conditions. The rest of the route stays the same.
By Gerardus Koetje · Updated on
Fully electric
A car that runs exclusively on electricity falls outside ISV. So you do not need the exemption when moving, and that exemption's conditions, such as the ban on selling, do not apply to you.
The annual tax has the same advantage: fully electric vehicles are exempt from IUC.
What you do have to do
No tax does not mean no procedure. The car still has to get a Portuguese registration, and for that you go through the same steps:
- the IMT's homologation declaration and the inspection at a category B CITV: Homologation and inspection;
- the DAV, within 20 working days of arrival: Filing the DAV;
- the registration certificate from the IMT: Portuguese registration;
- registration in your name at the IRN: Registration in your name.
Assume that you file the DAV even when no ISV is due: the government page on registration names the DAV as a fixed step for an imported vehicle, and a registration number only comes once customs has finished its part.
Plug-in hybrid
For the law a plug-in hybrid is not an electric car. It falls under ISV as usual, but can qualify for a reduced rate: 25% of the tax from the ordinary table.
The conditions are in article 8 of the ISV code and were changed at the end of 2025. They concern a minimum electric range and a maximum CO2 emission. Whether your car meets them depends on the values on the COC. Check that before you decide, and verify it in the Portal das Finanças simulator.
If the car does not meet the conditions, you pay the ordinary rate, with the reduction for age from Understanding ISV.
For a plug-in hybrid too: if you move to Portugal and meet the conditions, you can simply request the exemption when moving and pay nothing.
Ordinary hybrid
Article 8 also has rates for other hybrids. We have not checked those in detail; go by the simulator.
The COC matters even more here
With electric cars and hybrids everything turns on the technical data: the drive, the electric range, the CO2 emissions. Those are on the COC. Make sure you have it before you leave.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay ISV on an electric car?
No. Fully electric cars fall outside ISV and are exempt from the annual IUC. You do go through the rest of the route (DAV, homologation, inspection, registration, ownership registration). A plug-in hybrid is not exempt; see Electric and hybrid.
Facts and sources on this page
Every highlighted value in the text comes from an official source that we read ourselves.
outside ISVFully electric vehicles fall outside the scope of ISV.
Source: Código do Imposto sobre Veículos (CISV) (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 2.º n.º 2 a) · Checked on
exemptFully electric vehicles are exempt from IUC.
Source: IUC — Imposto Único de Circulação (Portal das Finanças) (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Checked on
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
25%A plug-in hybrid that meets the conditions of article 8 (among them at least 50 km electric range and low CO2 emissions) pays 25% of the ISV from the ordinary table. Plug-in hybrids are therefore not exempt.
Source: Código do Imposto sobre Veículos (CISV), version including Lei n.º 73-A/2025 (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 8.º n.º 1 d) · 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.