IUC in Portugal: The 2026 Car Tax Guide in English

IUC (Imposto Único de Circulação) is Portugal’s annual road tax, owed every year by whoever is registered as the owner of the vehicle. It is not a windscreen sticker and no paper bill arrives in the post — you are expected to know your deadline and pay through the Portal das Finanças. That combination catches a lot of newcomers, so here is the whole system in one place: when to pay in 2026, how the amount is calculated, how to actually pay, and the payment-calendar reform that starts in 2027.

When do I pay IUC in 2026?

In 2026, IUC must be paid by the last day of the month in which your car was first registered — if the matrícula date is 14 March 2019, your IUC is due every year by 31 March. The liability falls on whoever is the registered owner when that anniversary month arrives, which matters when buying or selling a used car mid-year.

There is no paper reminder. The Autoridade Tributária issues the payment document (DUC) electronically — you’ll only see it if you check the Portal das Finanças or have Portal notifications switched on. “I never received anything” is not accepted as an excuse, and it is the single most common way foreign residents end up paying a fine on an otherwise small tax.

What changes in 2027 and 2028?

Parliament approved a reform of the IUC payment calendar in February 2026 — only the dates change, not the amounts. The timeline:

Year	Rule
2026	Unchanged — pay in your registration-anniversary month
2027 (transition)	Everyone pays on a one-off transitional calendar: a single payment in October if your IUC is €500 or less; split across July and October if it’s more than €500
2028 onward (new regime)	Fixed dates for all: single payment by end of April (≤€100); two instalments in April and October (€100–€500); three instalments in April, July and October (>€500). You can always choose to pay everything in April

How much is IUC for my car?

The registration date on the matrícula decides everything.

Category A — cars first registered before July 2007. The tax is based on engine size and fuel, and the amounts are small: a 1.4 petrol from 2004 pays €62.40 in 2026; anything registered before 1981 is exempt entirely. Most Category A cars pay between €12 and €160.

Category B — cars first registered from July 2007 onward. The tax combines an engine-size component and a CO₂ component, multiplied by a registration-year coefficient, plus a diesel surcharge:

IUC = (engine component + CO₂ component) × year coefficient (+ diesel adicional)

2019 diesel 1.6 (1,598 cm³, 120 g/km WLTP): (€63.74 + €65.15) × 1.15 + €10.07 = €158.29

2016 petrol 2.0 (1,998 cm³, 150 g/km NEDC): (€127.35 + €97.63) × 1.15 = €258.73

The engine component runs from €31.77 (up to 1,250 cm³) to €435.84 (over 2,500 cm³); the CO₂ component from €65.15 (low emissions) to €363.25+ (over 250 g/km NEDC); the year coefficient is 1.15 for anything registered 2010 or later. High-emission cars also pay an extra CO₂ surcharge, and diesels add €5.02–€68.85 depending on engine size. In practice, a typical post-2010 family car lands between €130 and €300 per year.

Fully electric cars pay nothing — battery-electric vehicles are exempt from IUC. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids get no exemption and are taxed as normal Category B cars. If the calculated tax comes to less than €10, it isn’t charged at all.

The 2026 tables kept the same values as 2025 — and you can skip the table-reading entirely: run your car through the IUC calculator (cilindrada, CO₂, year and fuel in, your exact amount out, in English). The full official tables live on the Portal das Finanças.

How do I pay IUC online (in English)?

1. Log in to the Portal das Finanças with your NIF and password.
2. Search for “IUC” (top search bar) → Pagar — or navigate to Serviços › Veículos › IUC › Emitir DUC.
3. Select the vehicle and the tax year — the Portal generates a DUC (payment document) with a reference number.
4. Pay by Multibanco / MB WAY / homebanking (“Pagamentos ao Estado” with the DUC reference), directly online with a card, or in person at a CTT post office or Loja do Cidadão.

Paying from abroad works fine — the Portal is accessible internationally and any Portuguese-bank homebanking or MB WAY app can settle the DUC reference.

What if I just bought — or imported — the car?

Two different taxes get mixed up constantly:

• ISV (Imposto Sobre Veículos) is the one-time registration/import tax you pay when a car first gets Portuguese plates.
• IUC is the annual tax that starts once the car is registered — due every year in the anniversary month of that Portuguese matrícula.

For used cars bought in Portugal: the person registered as owner when the anniversary month arrives owes that year’s IUC. Always confirm the IUC for the current year is paid before completing a purchase — and make sure the ownership transfer is actually registered, or the tax (and any fines) keep accruing to the seller’s NIF while notices go nowhere.

For imported cars: after ISV is settled and the car receives its Portuguese matrícula, IUC becomes due annually from then on, keyed to the Portuguese registration month. If you moved your fiscal address recently, make sure it’s updated — Portal notifications follow the address on record.

What happens if I pay late?

Late payment brings interest plus a tax-office fine (coima) that scales with the delay and the amount — small if you correct it voluntarily within days, and in the worst case up to double the tax. On top of the money, an unpaid IUC blocks routine things later: the annual inspection (IPO) and any ownership transfer will surface the debt. If you think you’ve missed a year, check Serviços › Veículos on the Portal — it lists every vehicle attached to your NIF and any outstanding DUCs.

Is my car exempt?

The main exemptions: fully electric vehicles, cars registered before 1981, vehicles adapted for (and owned by) people with a disability degree of 60%+ (one vehicle, subject to conditions), and certain classic cars with a recognised historic-vehicle certificate. Amounts under €10 are not charged. Hybrids, LPG and low-emission petrol/diesel cars get no IUC exemption — their advantage shows up in the CO₂ component instead.

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Wondering how the rest of Portugal’s tax system lands on you as a resident? The net-salary calculator covers IRS and Social Security in plain English, and if you’ve just arrived from the UK, the UK-to-Portugal tax guide walks through the first-year picture.