Slovakia
Importing a car into Slovakia
A used car reaches Slovakia from an EU state with no customs declaration. From there the process runs through two authorities rather than one, and the largest item turns on a figure that is in the advert but rarely read as a cost: engine power in kW.
- Registration authority
- Okresný dopravný inšpektorát (ODI)
- Customs
- Finančná správa Slovenskej republiky
- Technical inspection
- Technická kontrola und emisná kontrola
- Last reviewed
Where the car comes from decides the effort
From an EU state
From an EU member state there is neither a customs declaration nor import VAT, as long as the car is used. If it stays under the threshold for first registration or mileage it counts as new for tax — then VAT is declared in Slovakia. Recognition of type approval at the district office is needed either way.
From a third country
From Switzerland or Liechtenstein it is a genuine import: declared to the tax and customs administration, duty on the customs value, import VAT on customs value plus duty. After that the route matches an EU car, except that recognition of type approval often becomes an individual approval with a report.
The process, in order
The order is not arbitrary. Pull a step forward and you usually end up repeating it.
01Before buying: note the kW and first registration
The fee for entering the keeper is assessed on engine power in kW and on the car's age, counted from its first registration anywhere. Both figures are in the seller's papers. Note them before buying and you know the largest administrative item; otherwise you learn it at the counter.
02Have the type approval recognised
Before the traffic police become competent at all, the district office must recognise the car's type approval or approve it individually. With a European certificate of conformity that is an application; without one it is a procedure with a report, its own appointment and its own wait.
Handled by: Okresný úrad, road transport department
03Have the sworn translation made
The foreign registration document and the purchase contract must be translated by a court-appointed translator in Slovakia. The translation is bound to the original and sealed — that is the required form, and appointments fail on it more often than on the content.
Handled by: Súdny prekladateľ (court translator)
04Technical and emissions tests
The car is tested before registration, and twice: the technical inspection at a testing station, the emissions test at a separately licensed bay. In Slovakia the two are distinct procedures with distinct certificates, often at different sites.
Handled by: Stanica technickej kontroly and an emissions testing bay
05Settle recycling and insurance
Anyone placing a vehicle on the Slovak market for the first time must ensure it can later be recycled; for private individuals that runs through a contribution to the environmental fund. Compulsory insurance must also be in force at registration.
Handled by: Environmentálny fond (environmental fund)
06Have the keeper entered
With the approval, the translation, both test certificates and proof of insurance, the traffic inspectorate enters the keeper. Both parts of the registration certificate and the plates are issued.
Handled by: Okresný dopravný inšpektorát
What gets added
Without amounts, and deliberately so: official rates change, and a stale figure is worse than none. What is here is the basis of assessment — enough to calculate with, once the current rate is known.
- Fee for entering the keeper
- Assessed on: Engine power in kW and the car's age from first registration; the older the car, the further the amount falls below the starting value for its power band. The table is in the fees act.
- Approval at the district office
- Assessed on: An administrative fee for recognising type approval where a certificate of conformity exists; without one, the individual approval procedure with a report, costing a multiple.
- Technical and emissions tests
- Assessed on: Two separate tariffs, by vehicle and drivetrain type; the emissions test is never included in the price of the technical inspection.
- End-of-life vehicle contribution
- Assessed on: Per vehicle placed on the Slovak market for the first time, levied for the environmental fund.
- Does not apply: Does not apply where the importer is itself listed in the producer register — for private individuals that is the exception.
- Sworn translation
- Assessed on: By length for each document; the court-appointed translator's tariff.
- Customs duty, import VAT and VAT
- Assessed on: From a third country, duty on the customs value and import VAT on customs value plus duty; within the EU, VAT only, and only for a car that counts as new for tax.
- Does not apply: Does not arise at all for a used car from an EU state.
The papers
Miss one of these and the appointment is wasted.
- The original foreign registration document, complete with all its parts.
- Certificate of conformity (COC), or the report from the individual approval procedure.
- Sworn translation of the registration document and the purchase contract.
- The technická kontrola certificate and the emisná kontrola certificate.
- Proof of the end-of-life vehicle contribution.
- ID, proof of residence or registered seat, and proof of compulsory insurance.
Where the sum tips
- Power in kW. The entry fee is assessed on it and on age, not on the purchase price. A cheaply bought, powerful car of middling age costs considerably more to register in Slovakia than a weaker one — and the difference is invisible when comparing two adverts, because it appears in neither.
- The order of the authorities. The district office approves first, then the traffic inspectorate enters the keeper. Take the papers to the police first and you lose an appointment at an office that has no competence for that step.
- The two tests. The technical inspection and the emissions test are separate procedures with separate certificates. Bring only one and you have not passed the inspection — you have done half of it.
- The translation made in the country of sale. What counts is the work of a court-appointed translator in Slovakia, bound to the original and sealed. A foreign certification does not meet the form.
How long it takes
As an order of magnitude: two to four weeks from transfer with a certificate of conformity and complete papers, because the district office and the traffic inspectorate come one after the other. Without one, with an individual approval and a report, rather two to three months.
The technical inspection
Technická kontrola und emisná kontrola
Two separate tests with two certificates: the technical one at a testing station, the emissions one at a separately licensed bay. Before an imported car is first registered both are due, however recent the foreign test may be.
Common questions
Why is registration dearer for a powerful car?
Because the fee for entering the keeper turns on engine power in kW and falls with the car's age. The table is in the fees act; the individual amount changes with each amendment, the basis does not. For the buying decision that means kW and first registration are two figures that belong ahead of the price.
Which authority does what?
The district office approves the car technically; the police traffic inspectorate enters the keeper and issues the plates. Both are separate applications at separate places, and the order is fixed.
Is an Austrian or Czech inspection recognised?
Not for the first registration of an imported car. Both the technical and the emissions test are due domestically before the entry, however long the foreign test still has to run.
What if there is no certificate of conformity?
Then recognition becomes an individual approval procedure with a technical report. It costs a multiple of the administrative fee and takes weeks rather than days. On an older, cheap car it regularly eats the price advantage — so the question belongs before the purchase.
This overview is not a substitute for information from the competent authority. Rates, fees and deadlines change; the office that registers the car is always the binding source.