Importing a UK car into France post-Brexit
Importing UK cars into France has always caused headaches, with readers having very different experiences of what should have been the same process even before the complications of leaving the EU.
Now, in this post-Brexit era, what are the rules and regulations? Please remember, here at P-O Life we are NOT experts and CANNOT offer legally binding advice.
What we can do is translate and summarise current (May 2022) guidelines from the French government.
So… here we go again!
Basic rules
Within 1 month of purchase/arrival, you must request the carte grise, or risk a fine. Generally, the fine is 135€, but if they’re feeling particularly disgruntled, it can go up to a whopping 750€!
The price of registering your car depends on the make, model, engine size, inside leg measurement (just kidding!). You can calculate how much your carte grise will cost via the online simulator (in French).
The documents required for importing a vehicle depend on whether the car is coming from an EU member state or not. According to cartegrise.com, British vehicles manufactured before the 31st January 2020 continue to comply with EU standards and so you can follow the EU importing process.
Any newer vehicles manufactured after the 31st January 2020 are not considered as EU compliant and will require a different process.
Non-EU origin vehicles
Documents required
- Official proof of vehicle ownership
- Proof of French address (less than 6 months old)
- Request for a carte grise form (available here)
- Proof of a contrôle technique (less than 6 months old) conducted in an EU member state if the vehicle is more than 4 years old*
- Certificat de dédouanement n° 846 A (customs clearance certificate)**
- Proof of conformity, one of the following:
- Certificate of European conformity, provided by manufacturer
- Attestation d’identification (a document for French registration, as opposed to EU registration), provided by manufacturer or your regional DREAL (Direction Régional de l’Environnement, de l’Aménagement et du Logement).
- Réception à titre isolé (RTI), provided by your DREAL.
- Certificat sur l’honneur that you have the correct driving license and insurance for the category of vehicle. You need to include the following details:
- Full name
- Gender
- Date & place of birth
- Telephone number
- Email address
- RIB / bank details
*Exemptions for contrôle technique
Source: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2880 **Certificat de dédouanement Since 1st January 2021, England is no longer part of the EU and so additional formalities are required to clear customs. All imported vehicles will require the certificat de dédouanement n° 846 A (customs clearance certificate), to prove duties and taxes have been paid, before being able to complete vehicle registration in France. To acquire the customs clearance certificate, you need to provide customs services with:
Exemption If you are moving permanently to France having lived outside of the EU for more than one year, your vehicle can be registered duty and tax free if it is listed in the inventory of your belongings, drawn up in duplicate, AND meets the following three conditions:
Source: https://www.douane.gouv.fr/fiche/achat-dun-vehicule-letranger-ou-dans-un-dom-com |
EU origin vehicles
Documents required
- Official proof of vehicle ownership
- Proof of French address (less than 6 months old)
- Request for a carte grise form (available here)
- Proof of a contrôle technique (less than 6 months old) conducted in an EU member state if the vehicle is more than 4 years old*
- Quitus fiscal**
- Proof of conformity, one of the following:
- Certificate of European conformity, provided by manufacturer
- Attestation d’identification (a document for French registration, as opposed to EU registration), provided by manufacturer or your regional DREAL (Direction Régional de l’Environnement, de l’Aménagement et du Logement).
- Réception à titre isolé (RTI), provided by your DREAL.
- Certificat sur l’honneur that you have the correct driving license and insurance for the category of vehicle. You need to include the following details:
- Full name
- Gender
- Date & place of birth
- Telephone number
- Email address
- RIB / bank details
*Exemptions for contrôle technique
Source: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2880 **Quittus fiscal You need to request the quittus fiscal from your local Service des impôts des entreprises (SIE). You will need to take with you the following papers:
Find your nearest SIE here. |
Process
All applications are now made online. If you are of a patient disposition, you can tackle the online registration process yourself.
You can also avoid the whole process by going through a certified professional, who will complete the application for you. And if you don’t have all the required papers the first time of asking, they can even provide a 4 month waver certificate, meaning you can drive legally while you find those pesky forms.
If you have any further information or would like to share your experiences, please contact us at laura@anglophone-direct.com
Also: How can you request a carte grise when you have a UK number plate still? Who issues the temporary number plate to cover the registration period. And how can you complete the carte grise form in the first place without one? Surely it won’t work using a UK number plate?
I don’t consider myself to be completely thick (though perhaps I am), but whatever I read on this subject seems only ever to give rise to more questions about the process than it answers. My car is EU-manufactured (VW) but registered in the UK, and was first registered there in 2016. I bought it in 2021. I have the EU compliance certificate issued by VW in the UK. The car is here in France with me now–has been for seven months, and I am in the process of establishing France as my place of residence; have an address, bank and utilities accounts… I want to import/register the car here. According to your information-as-translated, I need “only” follow the second of the two processes you describe (i.e. the one for EU-origin vehicles, even though it is UK registered) because it was manufactured prior to 31/1/2020. Are you therefore saying–I mean, you seem to be–that I simply do not need an 846A certificate? Because, in the asterisked paragraph under the non-EU origin section you also state (re. the certificate de dedouement/846A certificate) that “since January 2021, England is nolonger part of the EU and […] [a]ll imported vehicles will require [precisely this] certificate”. So, which is it?! Also, is the fact that I have not done this within a month of entering France a problem–am I liable for a fine/charge on that basis? (I’ve printed the “quitus fiscale” 1993-PART-D-SD form and was planning on heading to the local SIE office as soon as possible. The car was previously a leased Motability car–when I bought it from Motability I was issued a letter (referencing the car by number plate and make, model, etc., but with no mention of the purchase price) stating that I did so on a particular date, and obviously have my V5C registration certificate (log book). Are these good enough for the SIE? Lastly, is the certificat d’honneur (with its required accompanying details) simply a signed declaration by me that my UK licence/UK insurance info. is currently correct and valid (or does this mean French-issued insurance that I would have had to get in advance of the temporary permitted period in which to get the whole import/registration process completed at all?) Can I get the quitus fiscale before I arrange/implement the insurance here? Please, em, clarify! Thank you.
Hi, i have owned my car for 10 years and want to register it in france as i have a second home there and want to leave it there permanently. For the import taxes and VAT how do I calculate the car value?
Item 2 of the Exemption you state for import of cars from outside the EU is incorrect. The correct situation is that you must have owned the car for longer than 6 months. The French customs web site which you link states this clearly:
“vous l’avez utilisé depuis plus de 6 mois”
Thank you Stephen. Now corrected.
Thank you for this information
Much appreciated
This was super useful, thanks. Thought I would let you know that the tool you refer to doesnt translate correctly in the drop down so it is impossible to use it.
Hi Louise
Sorry to hear the tool didn’t translate correctly. We’ve added to the article that the tool is only available in French.
Thanks
Did the process after 2020 and you take the vehicle to customs for clearance the Quittus fiscal will be refused and not issued, They will give you the address of the local custom office, where you make an appointment, then they will arrange an inspection and tell you if you need to pay import tax, If it’s your private goods that you came to France with it will be tax free, If you brought the car as a French resident or left registering it for months then they will demand 10% of its value.