Importing, Registering, and Insuring a Car When You Buy Abroad (2026)
Published on: June 16, 2026
Quick answer: Once you become resident in a country, you generally cannot keep driving a car on foreign plates, you must re-register it locally, often within 30 days. If you are genuinely relocating, Transfer of Residence relief usually waives import duty and VAT on a car you owned for 6+ months, but it does not automatically cover the separate local registration tax (ISV, IEDMT, BPM), which is often CO2-based and can rival the value of an ordinary used car. For most ordinary cars the honest answer is to sell at home and buy locally; importing pays off mainly for newer, ToR-exempt, or specialist vehicles. Insurance must match the car's registration country, and low-emission zones can lock an older car out of the city even when the paperwork is perfect.
Almost no one plans for the car. You buy the place abroad, organize the furniture, sort the residency, and then realize the vehicle on the driveway is still wearing foreign plates, technically illegal to drive, and quietly accumulating a tax bill. The cross-border car problem is one of the most common practical headaches for second-home owners and new residents, and one of the most avoidable.
This is the playbook: when you can bring a car tax-free, when you absolutely cannot, the registration taxes that can cost more than the vehicle, the deadline that catches everyone, and how insurance works when the car lives in a different country than you do.
The single most important rule: residents can't drive foreign plates
If you become a resident of a country, you generally cannot keep driving a car registered somewhere else. This is the rule that surprises people, and it is enforced.
The principle across the EU is "normal residence": once your main home is in a country, your car's home has to be there too. Spain is blunt about it, it is illegal for residents (those in the country more than 183 days a year) to drive a car on foreign plates, and you must re-register it. France gives you a hard deadline, and the case law is unforgiving: drivers stopped months after moving have been fined precisely because they registered themselves as resident but never re-registered the car.
So the threshold question is not "can I bring my car?" It is "am I becoming a resident?" A genuine second-home owner who stays a tourist (under the residence threshold, on the home country's plates and insurance) is in a very different position from someone establishing residency, who must localize the vehicle.
The exemption that saves you thousands: Transfer of Residence
The good news for people genuinely relocating: most EU countries (and the UK) offer a Transfer of Residence (ToR) exemption that lets you import one personal vehicle without paying import duty or VAT, provided you have genuinely owned and used it before the move.
The standard conditions, which recur across jurisdictions:
- You owned and used the vehicle for at least six months before moving.
- You import it within twelve months of transferring your residence.
- It is for personal use, not resale.
- You can document genuine relocation, a fixed-term assignment that doesn't show intent to permanently move can disqualify you.
Portugal's version is a clean example: a new resident who owned the car for six months can bring one vehicle within twelve months of moving and pay zero ISV, zero VAT, and zero customs duty, only inspection and paperwork fees. Spain mirrors this through the Modelo 05 (pre-authorization) and Modelo 06 (vehicle declaration) process for the registration-tax exemption.
The critical catch, and it is a big one: the duty/VAT exemption does not automatically exempt you from the local registration tax. That is a separate instrument with its own application, and it is where the real money is.
The registration taxes that can exceed the car's value
Beyond duty and VAT, many countries levy a vehicle-specific registration tax, often based on CO2 emissions, that can be brutal on an imported car:
| Country | Registration tax | Notes for 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Portugal | ISV (engine size + CO2) | Age discount of 10%โ80% under current rules sharply cuts the bill on older cars. ToR-qualifying movers can be exempt. |
| Spain | IEDMT (CO2-based, four bands) | Some autonomous communities add a regional uplift. ToR exemption available via Modelo 05/06; owning the car 6+ months before the move is the key test. |
| Netherlands | BPM | Notoriously high; a major reason imported cars are uneconomic. |
| Norway | Engangsavgift (one-off) | Very high; one of the steepest in Europe. |
| Italy | Registration + provincial taxes | Plus full homologation/type-approval requirements. |
Because these taxes can rival or exceed the value of an ordinary used car, the honest conclusion for many relocators is the same one customs brokers reach: sell the car at home and buy locally. Importing makes financial sense mainly for newer vehicles, cars you qualify to bring tax-free under ToR, or vehicles with sentimental or specialist value.
The non-EU import: the expensive version
If you are importing from outside the EU into the EU (a US car into Spain, say), and you don't qualify for the ToR personal-belongings exemption, the full stack applies: customs duty (typically around 10%), import VAT (23% in Portugal, with similar rates elsewhere), and the local registration tax on top. That combination routinely makes non-EU imports uneconomic unless the ToR relief applies, which is exactly why eligibility for the residence exemption is the whole game.
Right-hand-drive vs left-hand-drive, homologation, and a Certificate of Conformity are additional non-EU hurdles. Budget for an inspection (the ITV in Spain, the equivalent roadworthiness test elsewhere) regardless of route.
The deadline everyone misses
Re-registration deadlines are short and the clock starts the moment you establish residence:
- Spain: register and change plates within 30 days of arrival.
- France: re-register within one month of establishing main residence.
- Others vary, but assume weeks, not months.
Miss it and you risk a substantial fine, and in some cases immobilization of the vehicle. The practical move is to start the paperwork before you arrive, or in your first week, not after you've settled in.
Emissions zones: the modern trap on older cars
Even a perfectly imported and registered car can be locked out of where you actually want to drive it. Low-emission zones now overlay the import rules across European cities, London's ULEZ, Paris's Crit'Air system, Germany's Umweltzonen, and Spain's ZBE zones, and they restrict older, higher-emission vehicles regardless of whether the paperwork is in order. If your second home is in or near a major city, check the local zone rules before deciding to import an older car; you may clear customs only to find you can't drive it downtown.
Insurance: the part people forget
Insurance follows registration. Once the car is registered locally, you insure it locally, you generally cannot keep a home-country policy on a now-foreign-registered car. Two scenarios:
- You relocated and re-registered: buy a local policy in the country of registration. Your home-country no-claims history may or may not transfer; ask, because it materially affects the premium.
- You're a tourist second-home owner keeping the car on home plates: your home-country policy must explicitly cover extended periods abroad. Standard policies cap foreign use (often 90 days); confirm the limit, because a quiet lapse leaves you uninsured at your second home.
A useful rule: the car's insurance country should match the car's registration country. Mismatches are where claims get denied.
Frequently asked questions
Can I just keep driving my car on its original plates at my place abroad?
Only if you remain a non-resident (a genuine tourist under the country's residence threshold) and your home insurance covers the time abroad. Once you become resident, you must re-register the car locally, usually within 30 days to one month.
How do I avoid import duty and VAT on my car?
Use the Transfer of Residence exemption: own and use the car for at least six months before moving, import it within twelve months of relocating, keep it for personal use, and document a genuine permanent move. Note this exemption may not cover the separate local registration tax.
Is it cheaper to import my car or buy one locally?
For most ordinary used cars, buying locally is cheaper once registration taxes (ISV, IEDMT, BPM, etc.) are counted, which is why many relocators sell before moving. Importing pays off mainly for newer cars, ToR-exempt vehicles, or specialist/sentimental ones.
What's the biggest mistake people make?
Missing the re-registration deadline. The clock starts at residence, not at leisure, and Spain's 30 days / France's one month is enforced with real fines.
Will an older imported car be allowed in the city?
Maybe not. Low-emission zones (ULEZ, Crit'Air, ZBE, Umweltzone) can ban older vehicles even when the import is fully legal. Check the local zone rules before importing.
See the whole cost of ownership, not just the price
The car is one of a dozen practical costs that never appear on a listing but shape what owning abroad actually feels like. JanusHermes lets you compare properties across 50+ countries with the local context attached, and reach vetted local agents who can point you to the right customs brokers and registration help as part of the move, explore listings and country intelligence on JanusHermes.
This guide is general information, not legal or customs advice. Rules change with national budgets, confirm current figures with the relevant customs authority and a local broker.
A note on the numbers: where no source is named, the market figures in this article (prices, yields, costs) are indicative estimates compiled from publicly available market data and industry reporting at the time of writing. Markets move and rules change, so treat them as a starting point and verify current figures with official sources before acting on them.
