Buying a vehicle in an EU country other than Austria
table of content
General information
When buying used vehicles, VAT is payable directly to the dealer abroad. This means that no VAT is due in Austria.
When buying new vehicles, it is not usually necessary to pay VAT to the dealer abroad, but a purchase tax will be payable in Austria.
In both cases, before registering the vehicle in Austria you must pay the standardised consumption tax (NoVA) (→ USP) to the tax office (→ BMF)German text.
You should receive the following documents from the seller:
- purchase contract or summary invoice
- vehicle documents (original copy of the foreign approval document)
- completed warranty card, service record book, operating instructions
- foreign type-approval, vehicle registration document or similar
- EU certificate of conformity (COC document)
Tip
If the vehicle is being purchased privately, it is advisable to have an attestation of signatureGerman text drawn up for the purchase contract in the country of purchase (e.g. by a court or notary).
As the EU is a Customs Union, no customs duties are payable when importing vehicles (e.g. cars or motorcycles) from other EU countries.
Further information
- Tax office competencies (→ USP)
- Vehicle acquisition from member states of the European Union (→ BMF)German text
- Procedure (→ BMF)German text
Responsible for the content: Federal Ministry of Finance