Car and driving licence in Brazil: the used car may not enter the country, and the Dutch licence is valid 180 days

No, your car does not come along. Article 35 of Portaria SECEX 249 of 2023 says that "the import of used consumer goods, as well as their components, parts, pieces and accessories" is not authorised, and a passenger car is such a good; the exceptions in articles 36 and 37 apply to adapted cars of people with a disability and to diplomats. The customs exemption on removal does not help: article 162 of the customs regulation names household goods and tools, not vehicles. So what it costs is selling the car in the Netherlands and buying another in Brazil, and the pitfall is on the Dutch side: the bpm you get back on export within Europe, you do not get on export to Brazil. The driving licence is the better news: 180 days of driving on the Dutch one, and then an examination without a driving test.

Subject	Rule	Source
Importing a used car	not authorised; only adapted cars for a disability and cars of diplomats	SECEX 249, articles 35 to 37
Customs removal exemption	household goods and professional tools, no vehicle	Decreto 6.759, article 162
Bpm refund	only on registration in an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, within 13 weeks	Belastingdienst
Dutch driving licence	valid up to 180 days after entry, with international driving permit, identity document and proof of the date of entry	CONTRAN 933, article 2
After that	medical and psychological examination at the DETRAN for the CNH; no driving test for a recognised licence	CONTRAN 933, article 2, § 4

Why can the car not come along?

Brazil protects its own car industry, and it does so at the border. The Secretaria de Comércio Exterior bundled the import rules in 2023 in Portaria 249, and article 35 is short: used consumer goods are not admitted. The article has a list of exceptions, and two of them concern cars: article 36 regulates the import licence for an adapted car of someone with a disability who moves to Brazil, one per person; article 37 that for cars of diplomats and officials returning from a posting.

The customs' removal exemption changes nothing about that. Article 162 of Decreto 6.759 gives whoever settles permanently in Brazil an exemption for "furniture and other goods for household use" and for "tools, machines, appliances and instruments" of his profession. A car is not among them, and what is not among them falls under ordinary import — which article 35 closes for used cars. How the household goods do come in free is in an article of its own.

The bpm does not come back. The Belastingdienst refunds part of the bpm on export of a used car, but only if the vehicle "is permanently registered in another EU member state or in Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway", within thirteen weeks of the export notification at the RDW. Brazil is not among them. Whoever sells the car here sells it with the bpm in it; that is the only way to see any of it back.

How long may I drive on my Dutch licence?

180 days, and the clock starts at the border. Article 2 of Resolução CONTRAN 933 of 2022 lets a driver with a foreign licence drive in Brazil on the basis of the conventions Brazil has ratified and of reciprocity, "for a maximum of 180 days", and the first paragraph says that the term starts "on the date of entry into Brazilian territory". Whoever enters again after a visit to the Netherlands therefore starts counting again, as long as the stay is regular.

What you must carry, the third paragraph lists: the foreign licence within its validity; for a licence from a country of the Vienna Convention of 1968 — the Netherlands is a party — also the Permissão Internacional para Dirigir, the international driving permit; an identity document; and proof of the date of entry. So apply for the international driving permit in the Netherlands before departure, and keep your boarding pass or the stamp.

What happens after 180 days?

Then you want a CNH, the Carteira Nacional de Habilitação, and article 2, paragraph 4, says what is needed for it: whoever wants to keep driving after 180 days of regular stay "must submit to the examinations of physical and mental fitness and the psychological assessment" under article 147 of the traffic code, "respecting his category". So no theory and no practical test for a recognised licence; but two examinations, at the DETRAN of your state. Article 3 applies to licences Brazil does not recognise: that driver does take the driving test. The DETRAN asks at the application for your CRNM and CPF, and the exact documents and fees differ per state; those have not been checked at the source here.

Plan the examination in the fourth or fifth month. Whoever lets the 180 days lapse drives without a valid licence, and on a traffic offence that leads to suspension the authority retains, under article 6, your foreign licence.

Sell in the Netherlands, buy in Brazil

That is the sum. Sell the car before the deregistration, so that the sale runs on your Dutch address and insurance, and count in Brazil on a second-hand car of the local brands: the import rules that keep your car out also keep the prices of imported cars high. The purchase itself needs a CPF and an address, and thus the first weeks; rent until then.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Brazil or go straight to step 4.3 in the open plan.