M03E - Car Tax (IUC)

IUC tax is an annual tax charged to the owners of all motor vehicles (light and heavy, passenger and freight), motorcycles, recreational boats and aircrafts and can be done between the first day of the month prior to the month of registration and the end of the month of the Portuguese registration. You must pay IUC for the first time when you buy a new car or import a used one, within 90 days of the date of the Portuguese registration.

In 2026 you will still pay your car tax in the month of registration.

From 2027, the IUC tax will no longer be paid in the month of registration but there will be a transitional rule for the IUC tax in 2027. 

In 2027 the IUC tax will have to be paid in:

• One single instalment in October if the tax is ≤ €500

• Two instalments in July + October if the tax is > €500

• There is also the option for full payment in July

The objective of the transitional rule is to avoid situations in which taxpayers would have to pay the IUC for 2026 and 2027 in a short period of time.

The Government says that, for the year 2027, there will be a special temporary rule to keep things “fiscally neutral”. In everyday terms:

• If you cancel the registration of your vehicle during 2027, before the anniversary of its registration, you can ask for the IUC bill for 2027 to be cancelled.

So, if you scrap the car, export it, or otherwise cancel the registration early in the year, you shouldn’t have to pay IUC for that year.

From 2028 all IUC tax will be paid in: 

• One single instalment in April if the tax is ≤ €100

• Two equal instalments in April + October if the tax is between €100 and €500

• Three equal instalments in April + July + October if the tax is greater than €500 

The person that owns the vehicle on the 31^st of December of the previous year will be responsible for the payment. This tax is payable each year on each motor vehicle that you own. Even if the car is parked in the garage or not circulating, the tax remains mandatory as long as the registration remains active.

First registration

Normally, IUC covers the whole calendar year (1^st of January to 31^st of December).
Except in the year the vehicle is first registered in Portugal. In that first year, the tax period starts on the date the vehicle is registered and ends on 31^st of December of that same year. In other words: If you register a car on 10^th of April, your IUC for that year only covers 10^th of April -> 31^st of December, not the whole year. 

The law also says that in the year you register the vehicle, you get a partial exemption based on how many full months have already passed since 1^st of January.

Example: If you register a car in July, six full months (January–June) have already passed. So you get an exemption for those six months and you only pay IUC for the remaining months of the year.

Re‑activating a cancelled registration
If you bring a vehicle back into circulation after its registration was cancelled:

• You must pay the IUC within 30 days of re-activating the registration.

So, if you “un-cancel” the registration, the tax becomes due quickly.

IMPORTED VEHICLES

The rules for calculating the amount of IUC payable for used imports
If a used car was first registered in an EU or EEA country (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway):

• Portugal must use the date of that first foreign registration to determine the IUC category (A/B/C/D/E) and the emissions rules that apply.

• This is because of EU law on non‑discrimination and free movement of goods.

If the first registration was in an EU or EEA country (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway), it is the date of that registration that must be considered when calculating the IUC.

If the first registration was not in the EU/EEA:

• Portugal uses the Portuguese registration date as the “first registration” for IUC purposes.

• This includes Switzerland, because it is not in the EU or EEA.

From 2027 payment deadlines will change and no longer be in the month of registration (see above).

You will need both your Car documents (See Bulletin M/06/E) and your fiscal number and Identification (See bulletin P/01/E). At the Treasury in your local Finanças you will provide these documents and may pay your tax and receive your receipt (the stamp to put in your car window will no longer be provided and only a proof of payment is necessary) or you can do it online through the Finanças portal (see further down for the instructions).

The amount of tax varies according to the cubic capacity of the engine (CC) and for cars registered after 1^st July 2007 the CO2 emission will also be taken into account. New cars purchased in Portugal will have the CO2 emission stated in their specifications and imported cars will be subject to a technical inspection which will determine the CO2 emission.

The CO2 test – called the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) – was designed in the 1980s and became outdated and the European Union has therefore prepared a new test, called the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) that applies from September 2017.

• Before September 2017, all cars at dealerships had CO2 values based on the old NEDC test (the New European Driving Cycle).

• During the period of transition from NEDC to WLTP that started in September 2017, cars approved before then will continue to have CO2 values as measured under the NEDC test only.

• However, when a new car type is certified under WLTP after September 2017, its official vehicle documents (the Certificate of Conformity) will have CO2 emission values from both the new lab test as well as the old one.

• From 2020 all new cars must have WLTP-CO2 values

Exclusively electric passenger cars are exempt from IUC - this exemption does not cover hybrids. 

Plug-in hybrid vehicles continue to benefit from a 75% reduction on the value of the IUC, but they are not fully exempt and for electric cars with a purchase value of more than 62,500 euros an additional fee of 10% applies on the value of the IUC.

The payment of the car tax can be done via internet. 

Please find further below information on how to pay this tax online.

RATES

The following tables give you the rates for 2025 and remain unchanged for 2026,

Table of Tax for vehicles matriculated before the 1st July 2007:

* When the IUC is less than €10.00 there is a waiver of payment (Article 16, paragraph 6 of the IUC Code).

Diesel additional tax for vehicles registered before 1st of July 2007:

Vehicles matriculated from the 1st of July 2007:

Vehicles matriculated in Portugal after the 1st July 2007, will have a CO2 component on their annual tax, to find out what your tax is from the table above you must add the tax relating to the engine power to the tax related to the CO2 component. 

As an example, we took a 2.000cc, registered in Portugal on 21st July 2019, with a CO2 emission of 142: CC tax €127,35 + CO2 tax €97,63 = €224,98 x 1.15* = IUC €258,73

There is an addition to this tax, a coefficient according to the year of matriculation in Portugal: 

• Cars from 2007 - Coefficient of 1.00
• Cars from 2008 - Coefficient of 1.05
• Cars from 2009 - Coefficient of 1.10
• Cars from 2010 onwards - Coefficient of 1.15

Diesel additional tax for vehicles registered after 1 July 2007

Motorcycles, mopeds, tricycles and quadricycles (cat. E)

IUC code

Last change: º 82/2023 - 29/12​

^OE2026

Instructions on how to obtain the document to pay your car tax from Finanças website.

Paying Car Tax via the Finanças website.

1. Follow the link above to go to the website. 

Follow the steps marked below to pay your car tax online. (if you do not yet have a password for the website, you must first register with Registar-se - how to do this can be found in our Factsheet FS30)

2. Click on NIF and you will get to the screen to log in using your fiscal number (NIF - Nº de Contribuinte or CC/CMD (Chave Movel Digital/Cartão Cidadão) and your “Senha de Acesso” (Password) 

A pop-up screen will appear. If you have an accountant filing your IRS or dealing with your accounts, do not press ADERIR, but choose the option CONTINUAR LOGIN:

3.  Scroll down to IUC » Entregar Ano Corrente

4. Choose the category that you want to search 

The bullet points are:

• Light Vehicles and Motorcycles Search:
• Search for Mixed Goods and Light Vehicles with a gross weight of more than 2500 kg
• Search for Recreational Craft and Aircraft

5. You will then be presented with the details of the vehicles which Finanças have on record as being owned by you. Scroll down to ‘Consultar’. Tick the box which applies to the vehicle which you wish to apply for and click on the button marked ‘Emitir’. 

6. Again scroll down on the next page and click on ‘Emitir para Pagamento’ to obtain the payment details

7. If you are sure you want to get the payment details you click again on ‘Emitir’ on the next screen

8. You now get to the screen where you can print the payment details. Click on ‘Imprimir Documento’

9. This will then provide you with the PDF document with payment details.

10. You can pay by Multibanco, Internet banking, and of course by post (CTT) or at Finanças. If you choose to pay by Multibanco or Internet banking, you will need to use the number in the box marked ‘Referência para Pagamento’ and if you pay by post or at Finanças you should provide copies of the PDF for their reference

Multibanco payments
Print a copy of the Payment Certificate which was presented in PDF, so that you have the payment reference with you. At the Multibanco machine select Pagamentos and follow the instructions on the screen, choosing the ‘Pagamentos ao Estado’ option and then insert the number stated on the PDF form.

Internet banking
If you choose to pay by internet banking, in the box marked ‘Tipo Pagamento’ select ´Pagamentos ao Estado’. If the drop down menu does not yet give you ‘IUC’ as an option, as for example with BPI Internet Banking, choose ‘Outros Impostos’ which should take you to the required section and ask for the type of payment you wish to make, which is Imposto Único de Circulação. This is where you will need the reference number from the PDF form.

If you are abroad and do not work with online banking for your Portuguese bank, you can pay the IUC by bank transfer. Below is a section from the Portal das Finanças that explains how to do that:

If you go for bank transfer, please provide your bank with the information set out below so that the bank, when carrying out the transfer, can send such information to the Tax Administration, as it is essential for the identification of the payment:

• TIN: 600 084 779

• Name of the creditor: Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira

• Bank account number: 83 69 27

• IBAN: PT50 0781 0019 00000008369 27

• Bank name: Agência de Gestão da Tesouraria e da Dívida Pública – IGCP, E.P.E.

• Swift code: IGCPPTPL

• Your tax identification number - NIF - contained in the payment document

• And the reference for payment: Each reference corresponds to a specific number for payment, which is set out in the document. 

Please note:

• You must make a bank transfer for each payment document.

• The payment is recommended to be made at least 2 working days before the deadline.