The car is the thing you were not planning to think about. It drove you over the Alps, it has your child's seat in the back, and now Italian law gives it a deadline. If you register as a resident, a car with foreign plates has three months to become an Italian car. Here is how to import a car to Italy without paying more than you must.
What does the three-month rule say about foreign-registered cars?
Article 93-bis of the Highway Code says that, once you have established your normal residence in Italy, a vehicle registered abroad must receive Italian registration within three months. The clock starts when you register at the Comune, so note the date (residence in Italy). The fine for ignoring it is €400 to €1,600, the registration document is withdrawn and the car is impounded. Without Italian registration, or an authorised exit from the country, within 30 days, it can be confiscated.
British guidance says the same in a different shape: you cannot drive a foreign-registered car once you have been resident for 90 days or more.
Do not confuse this with the allowance for visitors. The one-year period applies to non-residents only.
How do you import a car to Italy, step by step?
The procedure is called nazionalizzazione del veicolo (re-registration under Italian rules).
- Check the VAT position. A private person importing their own car for private use generally owes no VAT in Italy. You first file a request with the provincial office of the Agenzia delle Entrate, which checks the exemption conditions and then passes the vehicle data to the Motorizzazione. Since 2020 this check also applies to a private buyer of a used car in another EU country; the Agenzia has 30 days, or 60 if there is a risk of VAT fraud, so allow for it.
- File the istanza unificata (single request) at the Motorizzazione, the PRA (the vehicle register kept by ACI) or an STA, an authorised agency counter.
- Hand over your foreign plates and registration papers.
- Collect your Italian plates and the Documento Unico (DU), which is both registration certificate and title.
- Insure the car in Italy with an authorised insurer, since third-party cover (RC auto) is compulsory.
- Pay the yearly bollo and book the revisione.
You will need identity and codice fiscale (guide), your Italian address, the vehicle's details (registration number or chassis number, date of first registration abroad, import date, last inspection) and proof of payments.
The paperwork seems short until a detail does not fit: a car bought used from a dealer, a company car, a vehicle registered in someone else's name, a lease. If you want to check which route fits your car before you lose a week at a counter, Moovy, Hello Expat's AI assistant, can walk you through it and list what to ask the STA.
How much does the registration cost?
For a car coming from another EU country, the national Motorizzazione tariff is €10.20 in fees, €64.00 in stamps, and €41.78 for rectangular plates (€41.37 for square ones). On top of that: PRA fees, the IPT (the provincial transcription tax) and an agency fee if you use an STA. The IPT depends on engine power and the province. The ministerial base is €150.81 up to 53 kW; above 53 kW, €3.5119 is multiplied by the car's total kW. A province may raise the amount by up to 30%, and ACI publishes each province's surcharge. The province of Aosta has its own Motorizzazione tariffs; in Sicily, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the provinces of Trento and Bolzano, ask the local office.
What recurring costs follow?
- Bollo auto: the yearly regional car tax, set by each region; it depends on kW and emission class and is due to the region where you live.
- Revisione: technical inspection four years after first registration, then every two years, at the Motorizzazione or an approved garage.
- RC auto: minimum legal cover is €6,450,000 per accident for personal injury and €1,300,000 for property damage. Ask your previous insurer for a claims-history statement; since 24 July 2025 the EU model applies. Without a statement from your previous insurer, IVASS says your policy starts in class 14 of the Italian scale. If a family member living with you is insured in Italy with no at-fault claims in five years, you can often take over their bonus class. IVASS points to a free public comparison tool online, the Preventivatore pubblico.
Add these to your monthly picture with cost of living in Italy.
What if the car comes from the UK or Switzerland?
It counts as an import from outside the EU. You need a customs declaration and may owe duty and VAT. For a car of British origin, the EU-UK agreement removes the duty but not the VAT, according to the customs agency. You then present the customs papers to the Motorizzazione for registration. If you move your normal residence from the UK, the customs agency describes an exemption for personal belongings, under conditions (at least 12 months of residence outside the EU, goods used for at least six months, prior authorisation); its page does not mention cars expressly, so ask whether yours qualifies. Amounts depend on value and customs classification, so ask the Agenzia delle Dogane before you buy or ship.
What are the traps?
- Thinking you have a year. As a resident you have three months.
- Driving a relative's foreign car. If you are resident and the car is not in your name, you must carry a document signed by the owner with a certain date (data certa), and use beyond 30 days a year must be entered in the REVE register.
- Forgetting your insurance history. The bonus does not transfer by itself.
- Comparing only prices. Excess and recourse clauses (rivalse) differ.
- Paying bollo to the wrong region.
You will also need a valid licence: see driving licence in Italy.
Do you pay VAT when you import a car to Italy?
For a private person who moves with his or her own car and keeps it for private use, VAT is generally not due in Italy. The Ministry's procedure starts with a request to the provincial office of the Agenzia delle Entrate, which checks the exemption conditions and then sends the car's data to the Motorizzazione. For a used car bought in another EU country by a private individual, the Agenzia's decision of 17 July 2020 lists the file: proof of purchase and payment, the vehicle data already sent to the Motorizzazione, and a copy of the seller's ID if the seller is a private person. Older guidance from 2009 spoke of self-certification; since 2020, a private buyer goes through this check too. The F24 IVA immatricolazione auto UE form concerns the national buyer of a new or used vehicle acquired on the parallel EU market; cars bought new directly from a manufacturer are excluded.
If your situation is not simply "my own car, used, from another EU country", have it confirmed by the Agenzia delle Entrate, the customs office or an Italian accountant before you buy or ship the car, and keep every invoice and the original registration papers.
What about special cases: borders, islands and enclaves?
- Cross-border workers. If you work in a neighbouring country (Switzerland, France, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino…) and drive a car registered there, you need no Italian plates, but you must register it in the REVE register within 60 days of buying it.
- Campione d'Italia. Residents are exempt from the obligation under article 93-bis, paragraph 5.
- Livigno. Like Campione, it sits outside the EU customs and VAT territory, so a car coming from there is treated as an import and goes through customs before registration.
- Someone else's foreign car. If you are a resident and the car is not in your name, carry a document signed by the owner, with a certain date, showing the title and duration of use. Beyond 30 days of use in the year, the use must be entered in the REVE register.
Which paperwork should you gather before the counter?
The single request asks for your identity and codice fiscale, your Italian address, and the car's details: plate or chassis number, date of first registration abroad, date of import and date of the last technical inspection. Bring the foreign registration certificate and plates, a copy of your ID, receipts for fees and taxes, and, depending on the case, the Agenzia's VAT paper and a certificate of conformity; the ministry does not cite the latter, so ask the STA whether your model needs one. If you use an agency, ask for a written quote including its own fee, the PRA fees and the provincial tax, so that the total is clear before you hand over your plates.
When you want to compare the price of owning a car with other options, put it next to your housing costs in cost of living in Italy. If you decide not to import a car to Italy at all, remember that you also avoid the yearly bollo, the inspection and the insurance.