Trouble registering a car

Member since 20 January 2026

danieljbettisNew member20 January 2026 18:22:43

Good evening all. I'm new here and have a question straight off the bat. I'll make the long story short, but I (stupidly) got myself in debt with the tax man over taxes that I could not pay years ago. I have been to Finan莽as聽 and tried to resolve it and was hoping that we could come up with an affordable plan so that I could start settling my debts, but I can not meet even the minimum payment per month. (I work here).

Now, when I went to register a car I've bought, the lady just told me that I have a penhora (seizure) and I can not now register a car in my name. I know that the system is designed to keep some of us at the bottom but this really does seem a bit unfair. Without a car, it's going to be difficult to keep working. I don't want to ask anyone to register my car in their name and I don't want to risk driving the car illegally and getting pushed further down the ladder.

Does anyone have any experience or advice in this matter? I'm really at a loss her, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Daniel.

JohnnyPT Portugal Expert

Member since 23 May 2020

JohnnyPTPortugal Expert20 January 2026 18:36:20

5138

Hi Daniel, welcome.

If you have any debts with the PT tax authorities, this may occur. Any asset in your name (i.e. with your tax identification number) may be subject to seizure / penhora.

Here is some more information about this.

Regards