How to permanently import a vehicle or car into France
If you wish to permanently import a vehicle or car into France you will need to be a French resident you are classed as a French resident if you reside in France for more than 185 days in any one calendar year at which point you will need to obtain a residency permit called carte de sejour you'll then have one month from the date your resident permit is approved to register your vehicle in France.
Importing a vehicle or car into France from within the EU (European Union)
When importing a used vehicle into France from another EU country you will not have to pay TVA (French equivalent to VAT) and duty as along as vat has been paid in another EU country and that you have been the registered owner of the vehicle for six months prior to importing the vehicle also has to have been registered in another EU country and covered more than 6000km any vehicle that has not been registered for more than 6 months or covered over 6000km in another EU country will be classed as a new vehicle and may incur VAT/TVA unless proof that VAT/TVA has been paid in another EU country is provided to the French Fiscal Services. To find out whether you need to pay any TVA or import duty take your vehicle or cars original sales invoice (if no invoice is available a value will be calculated on a average market value) to the Centre des Impots once any outstanding taxes have been paid you will be issued with a fiscal certificate/tax clearance which will be needed later on in the registration process.
Importing a vehicle or car into France from outside of the EU (European Union)
When importing any vehicle or car into France from outside of the EU the vehicle will attract VAT/TVA charged at 19.6% and if a car 10% import duty (rates vary for other types of vehicles) based on the invoice value of the vehicle being imported plus any shipping and insurance costs incurred in getting the vehicle to France these charges are payable at the local customs and excise offices at the port of entry once all charges are paid you will be issued with a fiscal certificate/tax clearance which will then be used that during the vehicle registration process.
TVA and Duty exceptions when importing from outside of the EU (European Union)
If you have lived outside of the EU for a period of 12 months or more and are moving your permanent place of residence to France you may be able to import your vehicle as part of your personal affects TVA and duty free along as its for personal use and that all relevant taxes have been paid on the vehicle in its country of origin.
In France imported vehicles with Co2 emissions over 161g/km will attract an additional ecotaxe on top of the normal taxes which increases the higher the Co2 emissions are more details and rates can be found in the TVA and import duty page.
Direction Regionale de l'Industrie et de la Recherche (DRIRE) and Certificates of Conformity
To register a vehicle in France you will need proof that it conforms to French/European road safety standards this can be done in two ways depending on where the vehicle has come from if the vehicle has been imported from within the EU in most cases you will be able to get a Certificate of Conformity from the vehicle manufacturer in some cases a type approval number will be on the vehicles registration document or title showing that it conforms to European standards if you are unable to provide a certificate of conformity or your vehicle has come from outside of the European Union then you will need to take your vehicle to the Direction Regionale de l'Industrie et de la Recherche (DRIRE) for inspection and the vehicle may need to undergo some modifications to make it conform to French / European standards.
Techincal inspection
In France any vehicle over 4 years old from the date of first registration in its country of origin must undergo a technical inspection this is a roadworthiness test to make sure that the vehicle is safe to be driven on French roads this inspection must then be repeated ever 2 years for the life of your vehicle.
Registering an imported vehicle in France / obtaining a grey card (Carte Grise)
In France the registration procedure is called immatriculation to register a vehicle in France you will first have to of completed all of the above steps once these are complete you will have all the necessary paper work needed to register your imported vehicle next you will need to take all of your paper work to the Prefecture or sous Prefecture the documents required are
- Proof of identification
- Proof of residency
- Certificate of conformity
- Purchase invoice and customs clearance
- Controle technique (if your imported vehicle is over 4 years old)
At this point you will be asked to fill out a Demande de certificat d'immatriculation d'un vehicule once completed hand in with all of the above mentioned documents and the appropriate fee based on the cv engine power of the vehicle this will start the registration process provided that all documents are present and correct you will be notified by post to return to the prefecture or sous prefecture to collect your carte grise (grey card) and new registration number now the last thing to do is get your new number plates made up and fitted to your newly registered vehicle.
