Importing a car into Austria: what the NoVA does to the price

The Normverbrauchsabgabe, NoVA for short, is a one-off levy due when a car is first registered in Austria. On a car bought domestically it has long been inside the price; on an import from abroad it is added on top. That is the mistake almost every back-of-the-envelope comparison makes: it compares an Austrian price that includes the levy with a foreign one that does not.

It is not an import duty in the customs sense. There is no border clearance and no customs post; nobody stops you on the drive. The levy is declared to the tax office after the car has been brought in, and it is checked at the latest when you try to register — until then the car stays blocked in the register.

Alongside the NoVA there is a second tax point that only affects young cars: if a car counts as new for VAT purposes, VAT is declared in Austria regardless of what was paid in the country of sale. The tax office states the thresholds for first registration and mileage.

Two quantities determine the NoVA: the value of the car net of VAT, and its CO₂ output. The CO₂ figure produces a percentage, from which a fixed deduction is subtracted; above a CO₂ threshold a surcharge per gramme is added, and there is a floor at the bottom. The formula, the deduction and the threshold are set out in the Normverbrauchsabgabegesetz and published by the federal finance ministry.

That threshold is not fixed — it moves downward on a schedule, and for an import that is the real news. A car that was just under the line last year can be over it this year. Anyone copying a calculation from a forum post is working with the old threshold.

Which CO₂ figure applies is stated in the car's certificate of conformity. For cars tested under the current procedure that is unambiguous; for older cars carrying a figure from the previous procedure there is a conversion. That too lives with the finance ministry, not here.

For a private import the basis is the car's common value net of VAT, not automatically the figure on the contract. Anyone buying below market value — from a neighbour, out of an estate, from someone in a hurry — cannot assume that price will be the basis of the levy.

Conversely, a high price paid for a car with substantial defects is no obstacle to a downward correction, provided it is documented. Photographs, a workshop estimate and the inspection report are the evidence that counts. Collect them before the car is repaired, not after.

Buying through an Austrian dealer, the dealer handles the NoVA and either shows it on the invoice or builds it into the price. Importing yourself, you are the person liable: the declaration goes to Finanzamt Österreich, on the prescribed form, together with the contract, the certificate of conformity and the foreign registration document.

The deadline starts when the car is brought into the country, not when it is registered — that is the trap. Someone who collects the car in spring and registers it in summer may have missed the filing date long before. The tax office will tell you the exact date; ask on the day you bring the car across.

Austria keeps its vehicle data centrally. Before an imported car can be registered, its technical data must be in the approval database. That entry is not made by the registration desk but by an authorised body — for a car with a valid EU type approval, recording the data from the certificate of conformity is normally enough.

Without a certificate of conformity it becomes an individual approval, a different procedure with its own test, its own appointment and its own fee. It is the same mechanism as in Germany and Switzerland under a different name — and the same advice follows: ask about the document before you sign.

The database entry and the NoVA are linked. Until the levy is declared and paid, the car stays blocked in the database and the registration desk cannot register it — even with every other paper complete.

Unlike Germany and Switzerland, the registration desk in Austria usually sits inside an insurance company. That is not a footnote but a practical advantage: third-party cover, registration and plates all happen at one counter in one appointment.

Bring proof that the NoVA is settled, the database entry or approval, a valid inspection report, the purchase contract, the foreign registration document and photo ID. If one of these is missing, the appointment is not half completed — it does not happen at all.

Austria's periodic inspection under § 57a KFG is the counterpart to the German roadworthiness test and the Swiss technical inspection. It is required to register an imported used car; a foreign test sticker does not replace it, however recent.

It is carried out by an authorised workshop or testing association. In practice this is the moment when a technically unsound import is exposed — and therefore the reason why an independent inspection before buying abroad is the cheaper order of events.

The running charge is the engine-related insurance tax, collected with the third-party premium through the insurer. It is assessed on engine power in kilowatts and on the CO₂ figure — the same two quantities that drive the NoVA.

For an import that points in one direction: a powerful, high-CO₂ car costs more in Austria twice over — once on entry and again every year afterwards. Anyone importing from a country where exactly those cars are cheap should calculate both items before treating the price gap as a gain.

The sum turns in favour of the import when the car has a low CO₂ figure, is clearly cheaper abroad and comes with its certificate of conformity. Then the NoVA stays small, the database entry is a formality, and the price gap actually reaches the buyer.

One point that helps on resale: when a car is later exported from Austria and deregistered here, part of the NoVA can be refunded. The conditions and the evidence required are set out by the tax office; the refund does not arrive on its own, it has to be applied for.

And the order that always applies: get the CO₂ figure from the certificate of conformity, ask the tax office for the current formula, do the sum — and only then go and look at the car. The other way round you decide with your gut and do the arithmetic afterwards.