Transferring a car with overdue IPVA: understand the project that has advanced in Brazil

A bill that allows the transfer of vehicles with IPVA in arrears or in installments advanced in the Legislative Assembly of Santa Catarina (Alesc) on August 11, when it was approved by the Finance and Taxation Commission. PL 122/2025 still needs to go through two committees and the plenary before going to sanction.

The proposal does not forgive the debt: according to the approved text, the buyer will have to sign a statement stating that he is aware of the debts, and the information will be included in the Vehicle Registration Certificate (CRV). From then on, seller and buyer are jointly liable for the tax until the payment — that is, the debt accompanies the car, and the State maintains the credit.

Today, any pending IPVA blocks the transfer in Santa Catarina. The requirement is based on article 124 of the Brazilian Traffic Code, which conditions the issuance of the new CRV to proof of payment of taxes, fees and fines linked to the vehicle.

The project achieves two situations. The first is that of the installments due: the driver who paid the IPVA in installments and decides to sell before finishing paying would not need to anticipate the rest to complete the transfer. The second is the debts of previous years, which would also no longer block the negotiation.

Whose proposal is it

PL 122/2025 is authored by Deputy Matheus Cadorin (Novo) and has the declared objective of reducing bureaucracy in the purchase and sale of used cars in the state. The text passed through the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) under the rapporteurship of deputy Napoleão Bernardes (PSD), who defended the constitutionality of the measure.

Bernardes maintained that the change does not constitute a waiver of revenue, but a stimulus to trade, and cited a similar model already adopted in São Paulo. The comparison, however, deserves caution: the São Paulo government’s letter of services, in its most recent version, still lists the discharge of debts as a mandatory step in the transfer of property.

What is missing to become law

The matter now goes to the Committee on Labor, Administration and Public Service and, later, to the Committee on Consumer and Taxpayer Rights and Participatory Legislation. With a favorable opinion in both, it is able to go to the plenary. Only then does it go to the governor’s sanction.

In most Brazilian states, the IPVA needs to be fully paid before the transfer, which makes Santa Catarina a case to follow if the proposal prospers. For the buyer, the change has a clear counterpart: by signing the declaration provided for in the project, he starts to share the responsibility for a debt that he did not contract. The consultation of debts by the Renavam number, before closing the deal, continues to be the cheapest filter against surprises.