Do I have to transfer the car into my name straight after buying it?
Yes — the buyer must register the vehicle in his own name (or deregister it) within 15 days of acquiring it. The clock runs from the date of the sale contract (Art. 250(3) of the Road Safety Act, text per NN 64/15), and missing it costs EUR 90. Two beliefs fall in one stroke: the contract does not need to be notarised, and there is no 5% tax at the Tax Administration — since 2 January 2018 everything is done at a vehicle testing station, where you pay an administrative fee based on kW and the age of the car. And a third: deregistration is not the seller's job. It is the buyer's — while from day 16 the seller may ask for the registration to be cancelled.
📋 The rules
- The deadline: 15 days from acquisition (the date of the sale or gift contract) to register the vehicle in your name or deregister it — Art. 250(3) of the Road Safety Act and Art. 39 of the ordinance on the registration and marking of vehicles (NN 130/17).
- Where: at any vehicle testing station — registration moved from the police to the stations on 1 January 2018; a station outside your registration area may do the job too, and it issues the plates for your area within 30 days of the request.
- Documents: proof of ownership (sale contract, invoice, gift contract, inheritance decision), the registration certificate (and the vehicle booklet if one was issued), proof of roadworthiness if the certificate has expired, your ID card, and the compulsory insurance policy on paper. Notarisation is not required: since 2 January 2018 an ordinary signed contract suffices, and the buyer may drive on the seller's policy until it expires (CVH).
- Tax: instead of the old percentage tax you pay an administrative fee on the acquisition of a used motor vehicle, calculated at the testing station under Tariff no. 11: for cars from EUR 6.64/kW (a vehicle up to 1 year old) down to EUR 0.13/kW (21–30 years); motorcycles EUR 0.40–0.01 per cm³; amounts up to EUR 1.99 are not collected. Without proof of payment, the station may not register the vehicle.
- The seller's shield: if the buyer does nothing within 15 days, the person still entered as owner may request a decision cancelling the registration (Art. 250(3)–(4) of the Road Safety Act; the request is filed at a testing station, there is no appeal, only an administrative dispute). Until the transfer or the deregistration, the seller remains the owner in the records of MUP (the police) — and keeps receiving the fines and the bills for that car.
🔓 Exceptions
- There is no administrative fee where VAT or a special margin has already been charged on the sale (the typical dealer invoice) — Art. 26(7)(b) of the Special Motor Vehicle Tax Act — nor where the calculated amount is EUR 1.99 or less.
- Gifts between spouses, between direct ascendants and descendants, and between adoptive parents and adoptees (where the vehicle is registered to the donor in Croatia), and acquisition by inheritance, fall outside that fee (inheritance is not an "acquisition" under Art. 26(2); gifts follow the inheritance and gift tax rules).
- Electric vehicles (CO2 emissions of 0 g/km) and vehicles more than 30 years old classified as oldtimers are not subject to the special motor vehicle tax at all (Art. 5(2) of the ZPPMV) — so acquiring them triggers no administrative fee either.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
For a buyer who misses the 15-day deadline: EUR 90 (Art. 250(13) of the Road Safety Act). What nobody sees coming: from day 16 the seller may ask for the registration to be cancelled, so the buyer, without knowing it, is driving a deregistered vehicle — an offence worth EUR 260, with the plates recorded as wanted (confirmed in case law too: judgment Pp-1874/2025, Municipal Court in Novi Zagreb). The other side of the coin hits the seller: on the position taken by the Supreme Court on 15 June 2018, parking claims follow whoever is entered in MUP's records — so a car that is sold but never transferred keeps sending the bills to the former owner.
📎 Official sources
- narodne-novine.nn.hr · front page of the official gazette — the Road Safety Act (NN 64/15) and the ordinance NN 130/17 →
- porezna-uprava.gov.hr · front page of the Tax Administration — the administrative fee on used vehicles →
- cvh.hr · front page of the Croatian Vehicle Centre — the change-of-ownership procedure →
❓ Frequently asked
Does the sale contract have to be notarised?
It does not — since 2 January 2018 an ordinary signed contract is enough, and the whole transfer is carried out at a vehicle testing station. Notarisation today is a voluntary precaution, not a legal condition.
How much tax is there on buying a used car?
There is no percentage tax at the Tax Administration any more: you pay an administrative fee by kW and age, from EUR 6.64/kW for a car up to a year old down to EUR 0.13/kW for one aged 21 to 30. Amounts up to EUR 1.99 are not collected at all.
I sold my car and the buyer never transferred it. What can I do?
Once the 15-day deadline has passed you may ask a vehicle testing station for a decision cancelling that vehicle's registration. Until you do, you remain the owner in MUP's records and keep receiving the fines and the parking bills.
Do I have to take out new insurance immediately?
You do not — the compulsory policy attaches to the vehicle, so the buyer may drive on the previous owner's policy until it expires. For the transfer itself you nevertheless have to submit the policy on paper.
What if I miss the deadline and the seller cancels the registration?
On top of the EUR 90 fine for the missed transfer you risk EUR 260 for driving a deregistered vehicle whose plates are recorded as wanted. Registration then has to be obtained afresh, through the normal procedure at a testing station.
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