The Union Relief Every Member State Applies, and an Austrian Car Tax That Does Not Forgive a Move
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Honduras on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
127 exceptions recorded across 48 countries · none match Honduras to Austria · Bringing your belongings
Household goods brought in on a move to Austria are relieved of import duty by Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, the same instrument in every Member State. Three conditions and one deadline do the work: you must have owned and, for non-consumables, used the goods for at least six months before leaving, your normal residence must have been outside the customs territory for a continuous twelve months, and the goods must be entered for free circulation within twelve months of your establishing residence in the Union. Alcohol, tobacco, commercial vehicles and the tools of a trade are excluded outright. Austria adds something the Regulation does not touch. The Normverbrauchsabgabe falls on the first registration of a vehicle in Austria, and the exemptions in § 3 of the Normverbrauchsabgabegesetz are for zero-emission vehicles, dealers' demonstration cars, export supplies and drivers with a disability. Removal goods are not among them.
At a glance
- The relief
- Free of import duties on personal property moved on a transfer of residence
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009.
- Ownership before the move
- At least six months, and non-consumables must have been used
Article 4(a), which also leaves an opening for special cases justified by the circumstances.
- Residence abroad before the move
- A continuous twelve months outside the customs territory
Article 5(1); article 5(2) lets authorities make exceptions where the intention to stay twelve months was clear.
- Deadline to bring the goods in
- Twelve months from establishing residence in the Union
Article 7(1). The goods may come in several consignments inside that window under article 7(2).
- Excluded outright
- Alcoholic products, tobacco, commercial means of transport, and the tools of a trade or profession
Article 6, which spares portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts.
- Disposal after import
- Not for twelve months without notifying the authorities first
Article 8(1); disposal inside that period brings the duty back at the rate then applying.
- Bringing a car
- The Normverbrauchsabgabe falls on its first registration in Austria
NoVAG 1991 § 1 Z 3 lit. a.
- Removal relief from that tax
- None in the exemptions listed in NoVAG 1991 § 3
Section 3 was read in full: it exempts zero-emission vehicles, dealers' demonstration and day-registration cars, export supplies, and vehicles used by people with a disability.
Requirements
- Ownership of the goods for at least six months before you ceased to be resident abroad, and use of non-consumables
- Normal residence outside the Union's customs territory for a continuous twelve months
- Entry for free circulation within twelve months of establishing residence in Austria
- The goods are for the same use at the new residence
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Honduras
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Subject to Articles 4 to 11, personal property imported by natural persons transferring their normal place of residence from a third country to the customs territory of the Community shall be admitted free of import duties.»The relief itself, and the hinge on which it turns: a transfer of normal residence from a third country.
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The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The relief shall be limited to personal property which: (a) except in special cases justified by the circumstances, has been in the possession of and, in the case of non-consumable goods, used by the person concerned at his former normal place of residence for a minimum of six months before the date on which he ceases to have his normal place of residence in the third country of departure; (b) is intended to be used for the same purpose at his new normal place of residence.»The six months of ownership, and the second limb that is easy to miss: the goods are to be used for the same purpose at the new residence.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Relief may be granted only to persons whose normal place of residence has been outside the customs territory of the Community for a continuous period of at least 12 months.»Twelve months of residence outside the customs territory, as a condition on the person rather than the goods.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«No relief shall be granted for: (a) alcoholic products; (b) tobacco or tobacco products; (c) commercial means of transport; (d) articles for use in the exercise of a trade or profession, other than portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts.»The exclusions, stated as a closed list.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Except in special cases, relief shall be granted only in respect of personal property entered for free circulation within 12 months from the date of establishment, by the person concerned, of his normal place of residence in the customs territory of the Community.»The twelve-month deadline for entering the goods for free circulation. It is a different twelve months from article 5's and from article 8's, and all three sit within four articles of each other.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Until 12 months have elapsed from the date on which its entry for free circulation was accepted, personal property which has been admitted duty-free may not be lent, given as security, hired out or transferred, whether for a consideration or free of charge, without prior notification to the competent authorities.»The twelve months after import during which the goods may not be lent, pledged, hired out or transferred without telling the authorities.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Die erstmalige Zulassung von Kraftfahrzeugen zum Verkehr im Inland, sofern die Steuerpflicht nicht bereits nach Z 1 oder Z 2 eingetreten ist oder nach Eintreten der Steuerpflicht eine Vergütung nach § 12 Abs. 1, § 12a oder § 12b erfolgt ist.»The charge on first registration in Austria. A car imported on a move is registered here for the first time, which is the taxable event.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Von der Normverbrauchsabgabe sind befreit - 1. Ziffer eins Vorgänge in Bezug auf Kraftfahrzeuge, die auf Grund ihres Antriebes (insbesondere Elektro oder Wasserstoff) einen CO2-Emissionswert von 0 g/km aufweisen.»The opening of the exemption list. Nothing in the section exempts goods brought in on a change of residence.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The twelve months in article 7(1) is the deadline for bringing the goods in; the twelve months in article 5(1) is how long you must have lived outside the Union; the twelve months in article 8(1) is how long you must keep the goods afterwards. Three different clocks in six articles.
The relief is from customs duty. Import VAT is relieved by a separate instrument, Directive 2009/132/EC, which is not read here.
The statement about the Normverbrauchsabgabe is bounded by § 3 of the Normverbrauchsabgabegesetz as consolidated at 10 October 2026. That section was read in full; the word for removal goods does not occur anywhere in the Act.
- consolidatesCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 setting up a Community system of reliefs from customs duty
EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union
About this source
The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesNormverbrauchsabgabegesetz 1991, consolidated text as at 10 October 2026
Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes, Bundeskanzleramt · consolidated to 2026-10-10
Known to be out of date. A RIS consolidation is not authentic. The authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and RIS prints each provision twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations and once with them spelled out - so a quotation is taken from one of the two renderings.
About this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source