Driving licence and car

Steps

1. Your licence: keep your European licence (EU, EEA, Switzerland). To exchange it (if it expires, if it is valid for more than 15 years, or if you wish), apply for an Estonian licence from the Transpordiamet, online or at an office, generally without a test.
2. Your foreign car: a vehicle used in Estonia must be registered there within 5 working days after it is put into service in the country, generally after import (Transpordiamet rule; a technical inspection before registration is compulsory, and for a vehicle coming from outside the EU customs clearance documents are required).
3. Pre-registration inspection: present the car at a Transpordiamet office, with its foreign registration certificate. The "compliant" report is valid for 12 months.
4. Registration tax (registreerimistasu): payable before the first registration of a passenger car or a van in Estonia. Calculate it with the Transpordiamet calculator.
5. Register the car at an office: you receive the registration certificate and the plates. The State fee is €130 (€120 online) plus €65 for the pair of plates (Statutory Fees Act, Articles 14272 and 14273); the registration tax (registreerimistasu) is paid before the registration of a car or a van.
6. Insure it with third-party liability cover from an Estonian insurer as soon as it is registered.
7. Annual tax: the EMTA sends you the notice in e-MTA; pay half on 15 June and the rest on 15 December (or everything on 15 June). If your car is registered in Estonia for the first time during the year, the notice arrives within 15 working days after registration, the tax is calculated pro rata to the remaining days, and it is due on 15 December (registration from 1 January to 30 September) or on 15 June of the following year (from 1 October to 31 December).
8. Periodic technical inspection: first time 4 years after first registration, then every 2 years up to 10 years, and every year after that, at any approved station.

Documents

• For the licence exchange: identity document, valid medical certificate (family doctor or occupational doctor, unless the register already has valid data), photo and signature (or those in the register less than 5 years old), foreign licence (it is returned to the country that issued it), proof of payment of the State fee.
• For the inspection and registration: foreign registration certificate (both parts if there are two), identity document, proof of purchase or ownership, power of attorney if someone else presents the car, customs documents for a car coming from a non-EU country.
• To register in your name: a right of residence or a residence permit in Estonia (otherwise, a representative is entered as authorised user).

Costs and timelines

• Licence exchange: State fee for issuing an Estonian licence. The Transpordiamet guides (2024) indicate €23 online (€50 for an urgent order) and €33 at an office: amounts confirmed by the Statutory Fees Act: €33 (€23 online), €63 or €50 urgent.
• Annual tax on a passenger car (2026): base €50, plus a CO2 part (per gram above 117 g/km under the WLTP standard: €3 from 118 to 150 g, €3.50 from 151 to 200 g, €4 above), plus a mass part (€0.40 per kilo above 2,000 kg of maximum mass, capped at €400; threshold of 2,200 kg for a plug-in hybrid). An age coefficient reduces the tax after 5 years. Scale for electric cars and vehicles with no WLTP data: see the Act or the EMTA calculator.
• Family reduction (2026): up to €100 per minor child (18 included), automatic, for cars and vans.
• Registration tax: base, CO2 part and mass part, reduced with age up to 15 years then a coefficient of 0.20; on average less than 10% of the vehicle's value according to the Transpordiamet. Its rates will rise in 2028 and in 2031. If a car aged 10 years or less leaves the country, part of the tax can be refunded on request; nothing below €300.
• Changes: since 1 January 2026, minibuses with 8 or 9 seats are taxed at the van rate (cheaper). From 2027, vehicles with suspended registration will also be taxed. The rates above are those of § 12 of the Motor Vehicle Tax Act, in its version in force from 31/12/2025 to 30/12/2026; the rates published by the EMTA prevail.
• Insurance not taken out: if a registered car is not insured, the fund (LKF) automatically applies compulsory insurance ("automatic MTPL insurance"), with an excess of €640 per claim payable by the owner or user of the vehicle; driving without insurance is punished with a fine.
• Tyres: winter tyres compulsory from 1 December to 1 March for cars (up to 8 seats), vans (up to 3.5 t) and trailers of 0.75 to 3.5 t (Transpordiamet). Only unstudded winter tyres bearing the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol (3PMSF) are accepted, and they can stay fitted all year. Tread depth of at least 3 mm for a winter tyre (the Transpordiamet advises changing it at 4 mm). Studded tyres: from 15 October to 31 March, and from 1 October to 30 April when the road and weather are wintry, with no authorisation to apply for.

Common pitfalls

• Exchanging an old licence too late. European licences valid for more than 15 years must be exchanged by 18 January 2033 at the latest. A licence expired for more than 5 years requires tests.
• A licence obtained without residing in the country. If your licence was issued while you did not reside in that country, the Transpordiamet may require the tests.
• Paying someone else's tax. For a second-hand car, it is the owner registered on 1 January who pays the whole year's tax; the buyer pays from the following year. Check this point in the price.
• Leaving a car uninsured "because it is not being driven". A registered car must be insured permanently, except for at most 12 months after the end of the contract if it is not in circulation.
• Forgetting the reflector. As a pedestrian, at night, you must wear a reflector (helkur), it is the law (see EE-VIE-TOUS-001).
• A foreign car kept too long. If you live in Estonia, the rule is to register in Estonia; special cases (foreign company car, EU students exempt from registration tax) are to be checked with the Transpordiamet.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: licence valid until expiry, exchange without a test in the general case. A car registered in another EEA country remains insured by an insurer of that country as long as it is registered there.
• Swiss citizens: same rule as the EU for the licence (the Transpordiamet groups Switzerland with the EU and EEA).
• British citizens (Scotland included): the British licence comes under the 1968 Vienna Convention: valid for 12 months from the start of your residence, then exchange generally without a test if it complies with the Convention (or with a compliant international licence). A licence obtained while you were already residing in Estonia is not valid.
• All: students who reside permanently in another EU country may be exempt from registration tax under conditions (car registered and held in their country, no commercial use).