How to import a car from the Netherlands to Portugal, step by step

In short

1. Look the car up by its Dutch plate in the RDW open data: first registration, fuel, CO₂ and engine size, the details the ISV calculation starts from.
2. Agree the export price in writing, including who keeps the BPM refund.
3. Export the car at the RDW (€12), ideally in your name, and get the export certificate.
4. Move it: by truck, or on Dutch export plates (valid for 14 days in the Netherlands), after checking that they are recognised and insured on the whole route.
5. In Portugal: inspection, the DAV within 20 working days, ISV, then IMT, ownership registration and plates.

Is it cheaper in the Netherlands?

Compare like with like. Dutch asking prices include Dutch VAT (21%, or only on the dealer’s margin under the margin scheme) and, for cars first registered in the Netherlands, the Dutch registration tax (BPM) already paid. Part of that BPM can be refunded on export, to the last holder of the Dutch registration; buying the car does not by itself give you that right. The table shows the most listed models in the Netherlands and in Portugal from today’s data.

Median dealer asking prices for the most listed models, all years and mileages together. Gross prices, VAT included as advertised in each country. Data as of 3 Nov 2026. The like-for-like index compares groups with the same year, mileage band and fuel, against the pooled eight-country market (= 100). Differences in specification and condition can remain. Raw medians mix different groups and do not show the saving on an individual car.

What it costs: a worked example

This plug-in hybrid pays little ISV because it meets the 25% rate for plug-in hybrids (electric range of at least 50 km and CO₂ below 50 g/km) and is over four years old. A petrol or diesel car of the same size would pay much more. See the ISV guide.

Step 1: check the car by its plate

The RDW, the Dutch vehicle authority, publishes technical data for every Dutch-registered car as open data. Our Dutch plate lookup uses it to prefill the calculator (first registration, fuel, CO₂ and engine size); confirm the CO₂ value and its test cycle against the certificate of conformity. The RDW’s own free kentekencheck adds a mileage verdict: logisch (readings go up), onlogisch (a lower reading was recorded later, which can mean tampering or an input error) or geen oordeel (not enough data). Owner details are never public.

Ask the seller for:

• The registration card (kentekencard) and the registration code (tenaamstellingscode), a confidential 9-digit code normally needed for the export (the current registered holder can export at an RDW desk or inspection station without it).
• The certificate of conformity (CoC). The RDW does not issue replacement CoCs; the manufacturer does.
• The invoice with the VAT treatment, or a purchase agreement for a private sale.
• APK status: a valid APK inspection is needed to drive the car on Dutch roads after export.

Step 2: agree the price, the VAT and the BPM

• Normal VAT (BTW, 21%) or the margin scheme (margeregeling): for a used car you collect, you pay the agreed gross price either way and no Portuguese VAT is added.
• Private seller: no VAT.
• Nearly new car (6 months or less, or 6,000 km or less): sold at 0% Dutch VAT for delivery to Portugal; you pay Portuguese VAT. The seller may ask for a VAT-sized deposit until you prove the Portuguese registration.

The BPM refund. For a car registered in the Netherlands on or after 16 October 2006 on which BPM was paid, the last holder of the Dutch registration before deregistration can claim part of the BPM back, if the conditions are met (export status at the RDW, not a damaged vehicle that is excluded, permanent registration in another EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, and the car actually moved there). The foreign registration must be evidenced, and the claim filed, within 13 weeks; refunds under €50 are not paid. Buying the car does not by itself give you the right to the refund, so agree in writing who claims it and what the price includes.

Step 3: the Dutch export

At an RDW inspection station, an RDW desk or an RDW-authorised export business, with ID, the registration card and normally the registration code. You receive:

• a vrijwaringsbewijs (proof that the Dutch registration in the holder’s name has ended),
• the registration card with a corner cut off, and
• the export certificate (exportbewijs, registration certificate part II).

Keep the card and the export certificate together: Portugal needs both. The RDW fee is €12; authorised businesses charge their own rates. The yellow plates go and the car gets white export plates with black characters, valid for driving in the Netherlands for 14 days with insurance and a valid APK; that does not by itself make them valid in other countries. Overpaid Dutch road tax (MRB) is normally refunded automatically from the export date; amounts of €5 or less are not refunded, and the oldtimer transitional scheme has no export refund.

Or ship it by truck and keep the CMR note: its delivery date counts as the car’s entry into Portugal.

Step 4: inspection, DAV and ISV in Portugal

1. Inspection for registration at an authorised category-B inspection centre: €93.52 including VAT (mainland rate) in 2026.
2. DAV on the Portal das Finanças within 20 working days of the car entering Portugal, with the registration card and export certificate, the invoice, the CoC or homologation proof and the inspection certificate. Deposit the original Dutch registration document with IMT within 10 days of submitting the DAV.
3. Pay the ISV with the DUC within 10 working days of notification of the assessment.

Details in the DAV and registration guide.

Step 5: Portuguese registration and plates

• IMT registration request (Modelo 9) within 30 days of customs validation: €45 with a CoC or national homologation.
• Initial ownership registration within 60 days of the Portuguese number being assigned: €55 at a registry desk.
• Plates, insurance before driving, and the first IUC.

Documents checklist

Worked examples are calculated by the same engine as the calculator, for registration on 1 Dec 2026.