I live in the Aude region of the South of France and have been here just over two years. I have my CDS for five years. When I moved over in July 2019 I brought as much personal belongings over as I could and have brought more over since then.
I have still got a lot of personal belongings in England that I would like to bring over here. Of course all of the items are well over six months old, most of them several years old. Does anyone know if I would need to declare stuff like old furniture, books, DVD’s etc? There wouldn’t be anything of great value and most of the stuff would be impossible to value anyway, like old photo albums etc.
I have looked on the various websites and can’t find any definite information relating to the stuff I would like to bring over.
Yes you have to declare it, as it is more than 12 months since you moved. You will have to prepare a detailed inventory, and fill in a specific customs form. Link is here:
You are allowed to bring in 300€ worth of goods freely (or maybe 430€). Above that customs and TVA should be paid. This is the link to the documents which sets out the customs duty applicable to each type of item - between 6 and 12%. TVA is between 2 and 20%.
I don’t know what the attitude of customs officers is now. It may well be that if you have a small van full o f obviously second hand personal goods, and have the paperwork, they will just wave you through as realise the value is small and all too complicated. But they can demand customs duty, although TVA less likely if nothing of value that looks vaguely new.
Probably need to try to find people who have done this in last couple of months……
A friend of mine was on last night’s ferry to Roscoff with a big trailer load of stuff for his renovation project, just up river from us. I’m not sure what he has done, paperwork wise but he’s staying with us so I’ll find out and report back.
Thank you, have had a look but can’t really understand any of it!!
The problem is that most of the stuff I plan to bring back is so old that it’s impossible to guess the value, or it’s valueless like the photo albums, how does that work?
Just a thought, but if something is valueless… then why not put zero. Presumably you have to give a description… so just put something like… old papers/documents/books (whatever) and zero for value…
Or is that too straight forward…?
Nearly all 2nd hand stuff… will have zero value… since no-one really wants someone else’s bits and bobs… in my experience.
If you’re thinking of insuring the goods in transit… then you’d have to put a nominal figure on them… but be realistic… often what we love is worth nothing in the real world.
If it’s of no commercial value, then it’s of no commercial value! So you say that - a big fat zero. and guesstimates of what something might fetch on leboncoin. My guess is that the important thing is to have an inventory, and the form, so they can see you have tried to comply as best you can. Hopefully someone will come forward to tell you what the attitude is….picky, or laid back!
Thanks again for the advice. Will write out an inventory (won’t be able to take my laptop as I’ll have to declare that on the way back to France!), I will be in a car, not a van so not sure if that makes any difference either. Do you need to complete a form for every item/box of the same items does anyone know?
My mate Danny arrived on time, I asked him about the customs stuff, his first comment was “they were a bit skimpy on the lube”….anyway, for all the work they had done listing items and putting a value on them, and being prepared to pay something, he was just waved through. His trailer was properly secured, covered etc, unlike the one in front with stuff tied down with baling twine that got pulled over.
So, seems a bit hit and miss, and as Brian says, the more prepared you are the less likely of getting pulled
Many thanks, that does seem to be the case. I’ll write an inventory and do the customs forms anyway and see what happens. Perhaps it will get easier with time???!!
At one point we were considering using a small transport company to bring the rest of our belongings over - about a Luton van full. Obviously, being a commercial enterprise, they requested that everything was done correctly; invoices, proof, customs paperwork etc.
Currently, every time I return from the UK, I load my trusty transit van up to the rafters and head home (to France) via euro tunnel. Once or twice the UK border control have nonchalantly asked what I have in the back - I reply a big dog (true) and bits and pieces. That’s about as interested as they have been to date. I’ve never been asked for any further information.
I’m in the process of bring the rest of my furniture and possessions over; half arrived with me ten months ago and the other half has been in storage for over two years. I was advised by the transport company to value things as if I was going to sell them at a car boot sale. I wasn’t given a limit - I think that applies to new stuff.
Thank you for your advice, however the link keeps coming up as unknown page. I travel back to France from England tomorrow and will be writing out an inventory of personal belongings that I’m bringing back. Our UK house sold last July but I have been unable to get over to the UK to bring stuff back before now. My clothes etc have been in a shipping container for the past 3 years.
I have tried to find the correct French customs form to fill in but have been unable to find anything suitable - the only form I have found is the Royal Mail one, but I’m not posting stuff back.
Can anyone send me a link please for the correct form?
