Import duty on personal goods?

My understanding is that you have to have done that within 6 months or a year of moving to Portugal. But  I'm looking forward to hearing others' input. I'm also looking for feedback from others on shipping a car from the U.S. to Portugal. The cars are cheaper in the U.S. and have more features/options (and some models are available in the U.S. that are not readily available in Portugal). Living in California, where the emissions on cars are very strict already, there will not be as many changes to make it meet Portugal emission standards.

I'm looking for feedback from anyone that has actually shipped their car to Portugal fairly recently and if they found it was worth it, lessons learned, etc. (did they ship it with their personal belongings, or ship it separate, etc.). If you know of any groups or sites that talk about this, please let me know. The info has been hard to find.

Hi, Welcome 

Please read this
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=925016

I hope I have been helpful concerning your doubts.

Link under review above:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=925016

This is reply to the question if anybody has had any recent experience in importing a car into Portugal and "is it worth it?".  In short, importing a car form the US into Portugal is probably only worth it if you are prepared to go through hell to have that very car and no other car will do.  The explanations and reasonings can go on for pages.  The topic is complex, but very good and helpful information can be found here: https://impostosobreveiculos.info/

Here is our story

1.  We imported a 1982 Land Rover from the UK to the Azores in September of 2020 while the UK was still "treated" as a EU member and were happy to pay $3,000 shipping cost because we were told  (by Portuguese Customs officials for as long as we meet the requirements in 2. below) we could import the car tax-free.

2. We had to prove that a) the owner had owned the car for a minimum of 6 months prior to importation (the bill of sale is sufficient proof), b) the vehicle's owner had resided in the UK for a minimum of 12 months (this could be phone bills, utility bills, receipts from grocery stores, etc.).

3. Then we had to go through a long process of what the Portuguese "DMV" (department of motor vehicles) calls "homologation".  In essence this is similar to a car registration.  However, in the US (and in the UK) the car's registration states only the year, make and model of the car and color, I believe.  In Portugal, the "registration" lists a hundred things including the type and size of engine, the tire size, etc.  Let's call this document the "car's booklet".  This booklet can be relatively easy to create if the Portuguese DMV database has all the technical specifications for the particular vehicle you are trying to import.  But if they don't have all of the technical information in their database, then issuing the booklet can take a long time (4 weeks in our case) and can cost you some money (150 Euros in our case).

4. Once this document was finally created, the car had to pass inspection. Note that he inspectors will look at the Portuguese car's booklet and will check everything that is on it including, of course, emissions and performance of everything related to safe operation including brakes, tire condition, etc.

5. We failed the first inspection instantly because the vehicle had mismatched tires (not allowed in Portugal), which on top of that were not the type and size specified in the car's booklet.

6. New tires for a vintage Land Rover are not readily available on a small island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.  It took a month.  And then off to inspection again equipped with brand new all-matching OEM tires.  Failed again.  This time it was an oil leak (so minor we had never noticed it) and wrong headlights (vehicles in the UK, apparently, have different headlight lenses and therefore different light pattern because they are driven on the "wrong" side of the road.

7. Eventually, the car passed inspection and was finally qualified for importation.  But at that time (February 2021) Brexit was real, the UK was not a EU country any longer and the Portuguese Customs officials presented us with a 15,000+ Euros import tax and gave us a choice: 1. Pay the tax 2. Abandon the vehicle to the Portuguese State or 3. Ship it back (which is what we did).

I was thinking about importing my 2016 Range Rover Sport with only 15,000 miles.
Man what a shame, I love my car but I don't think I will be able to bring it to Portugal...

@likejsa  have same question on shipping belongings and car (fully loaded and still cheaper) from Oregon). In my research, expats have one year to ship these before fees (duties, imports fees are assessed?). Would like to get this answered from a legal standpoint.

Same question on shipping personal belongings, including a car (fully loaded and still cheaper) from Oregon. In my research, expats have one year to ship these without imports, duties, other fees are assessed? Would like to get some answers from a legal standpoint, though.

You should check on the cost of vehicle modifications that you will have to make in order for your vehicle to meet European standards.

@jagstype4 I am looking for an answer to this question as well, particularly for my 2018 30K-mile Volkswagen. Quote for shipping with a few home items included is acceptable for my budget. I plan to ship it shortly after I get my 2-yr residency permit (which will be well within the first year of my move to Portugal)....but if the costs re importing is significant, I may choose not to ship it.  Interested to hear a recent experience on this.  Thank you.

Why would you ship a car? It definitely won't be legal in Europe without probably expensive modifications. Cheaper to sell and buy there 

I bought my car in portugal. depending on the model you go for buying here can be at least 10k - 15k higher than importing your own

i would recommend importing your own car which has no import taxes as long as you

can prove that you've owned it for more than 6 months and its registered to your place of residency 

on hindsight i should've imported a spanish hybrid / ev as the import costs are far lower/virtually negligible with hybrids / ev and cars are A LOT CHEAPER in spain

@Mydeliveries

It all depends, I would say. For EU citizens importing is relatively easy, but one still has to do the calculation based upon the individual vehicle. Import from outside the EU can be complicated and really not worth it.

I bought a stock standard Seat Leon in Portugal soon after my arrival and I am happy with my decision. Bringing my 4x4 vehicles from the ME would have been a nightmare, despite owning them for years.