Bring your own car from another EU country to Austria and register it
5 tasks in suggested order
1. Check the deadline for using foreign plates
If your main residence is in Austria, you may generally use the vehicle with foreign plates only for one month from the first time it is brought into Austria. Taking the vehicle out of Austria does not restart this period. A further month is possible only if you can credibly show that Austrian registration could not be completed in time.
Official source: oesterreich.gv.at
2. Check the COC and arrange entry in the approval database
If the vehicle has EU type approval, a new Austrian type approval is generally not required, but the vehicle data must be entered in the Austrian approval database before registration. Depending on the case, this is handled by the general importer or the provincial technical inspection authority. Without EU type approval, individual or exceptional approval may be required. First contact the Austrian manufacturer representative (general importer) for your brand. If there is none, it is not authorised to enter the data, or it does not act without delay, the technical inspection authority of the provincial government in the federal state of your main residence handles the entry. The official procedure therefore names the general importer or the provincial inspection authority, not just any brand dealer.
Proof of ownership (for example invoice, purchase contract or foreign vehicle papers in your name), COC paper; power of attorney if represented.
Official source: oesterreich.gv.at
3. Declare and pay NoVA
For a private import from another EU country – including a car you already own and bring when moving – NoVA must be dealt with before Austrian registration. Private individuals generally self-assess the tax, declare it using form NoVA 2 and pay it to the competent tax office. For used vehicles already registered in the EU, special rules depend on the date of first EU registration and the vehicle’s current value. Open the official BMF NoVA calculator using the “BMF NoVA-Rechner” link directly below this step. The result is a guide only; the correct NoVA declaration and payment remain decisive.
Official source: BMF NoVA-Rechner
4. Take out Austrian liability insurance and register the vehicle
Once the approval database and NoVA steps are complete, take out motor liability insurance valid in Austria and submit the required original documents to an authorised registration office for the competent district. The registration certificate and Austrian plates are issued there.
Official source: oesterreich.gv.at
5. Check deregistration and export formalities in the current country of registration
Vehicle registration procedures are not harmonised across the EU. Check with the competent official authority in the country where the vehicle is currently registered whether deregistration, return of plates or documents, or export/temporary plates are required before or in connection with Austrian registration. Do not assume that Austrian registration automatically completes these formalities.
Official source: Your Europe – Europäische Union
