Importing a car from UK

Hi,i know this will have been covered before but i can,t find the relevant information.Can anyone tell me the correct procedure for buying a car in the UK and importing it to France please,what documents are needed and extra import costs due to Brexit.I did it a couple of times pre Brexit and it was fairly straightforward but with Brexit and the new ANTS site i get the feeling that it will not be straightforward now.Anyone who has done this recently,i would like to hear your story,thanks.

Mat_Davies did it in 2022

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Thereā€™s a Facebook group called Registering Vehicles in France, run by a chap called Mark Rimmer (who I believe was a member here at some point). He appears to be something of an expert so, assuming you are prepared to use Facebook, the guides there might be a useful starting point. Mark Rimmer will do the entire process for you (for a fee, of course).

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Can certainly vouch for Mark as heā€™s now completed a few registrations for me - excellent chap, very helpful :+1:

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Cannot find Mark on facebookā€¦any other suggestions

It comes up if you search for ā€œRegistering Vehicles in Franceā€ - this
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1194914370612560 should be the link. Mark shows up on the members list.

Iā€™m going to close the other thread that you started

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thanks for your helpā€¦found it

Heā€™s happy to have his email address postged here so ā€¦ [repeating this info] dukwman@gmail.com

Just for so [Trini speak] hereā€™s how it was for me

Friday, bought a Renault Trafic LWB ā€˜off the pageā€™ on eBay from a charming dealer in Slough. Ā£2995. Unmarked exterior, MoT Dec '24, 156k miles. Taxed on monthly d/dā€™s online.

Arr St.Malo +/- 08:00 today [27 Feb]. Dep Douanes office +/- 09:15. Even time to nod off in their office after a night on the floor of the ā€˜recliner loungeā€™.

Import all done. VAT ā‚¬770. Duty ā‚¬350. ā€˜Import agentā€™ fee ā‚¬70. 95% of the ā€˜import agentā€™ time was driving me to/from a cashpoint. I couldnā€™t see what else he did other than be there.

Chqs or cash for these guys as they donā€™t carry payment terminals. unlike the Guardia Civil in ES

Re-reg next, handing over to Mark Rimmer a.s.a.p.

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Does the TVA of 770 and duty of 350 include an admin charge?

They use an exchange rate of 1.285 if there is no admin chargeā€¦quite high.

I am nervous as I have had their estimate of the value if a car I wish to import and was hoping for a more favourable rate nearer 1.15 :persevere:

Congratulations captainendeavour

Did you go for petrol or diesel?

All commercial vehicles [ie not car based vans - thoā€™ most of those ā€¦] are diesel.

I very nervy because wassername [Google maps dulcet tones] kept telling me ā€˜OLEZ zone en route.ā€™ on the way back from Slough to my friends at Isleworth. As far as I know I didnā€™t pass into it.

But then again, wassername intoned "Take the DXXX to ā€˜Sour devilā€™.

Latest from Calvados - ā€™ Outrage in Normandy. Residents of Surdeval protest to Google Maps.ā€™

Not relevant in my case as all done in ā‚¬ with my FR Credit Mute a/c. WISWWI PAID

The ā‚¬70 ā€˜Import agentā€™ fee really is money for nothing - baguettes for free. Maybe his vital input was during my ZZZZZZZ in the waiting area.

I had been very thoughfully directed to an upholstered seat rather than the plastic chairs.

Endless kms of flooded land from St Malo > Mt St Mick ++

I did FX GBP to Euros in my Revolut a/c before > to my Credit Mute a/c. The rate they gave this FX was 1.16185.

Did they accept that the value of the van was Ā£2995?

I would have hoped that the TVA you paid was 708ā‚¬ and the duty was 103ā‚¬. ((2995 x 1.15)x3%)x20%. Somewhere in the excess is an admin charge and maybe they estimated the value a tad more than the Ā£2995. I understand that they can make it up as they go along with importation of cars, but with new parts, it is fixed.

I await my fate, but not so hopeful now!

The FX rate they used was 1.169. This gave them a value of ā‚¬3501.29 on Ā£2995 [it says here]

In box 47 [Calc des impots] is

A445| B00 | Base dā€™impot 3851 | Quantity 20,000 | Montant 770.
U165| A00| Base dā€™impot 3501 | Quantity 10,000 | Montant 350

Montant tot a payer 1120.

This is a good deal better than their initial rough calc of ā‚¬1450-odd.

You have the figures now. I am useless at % calcs. I leave those to you.

I hope this revives your hopes.

Sorry, I was using 3% duty, but yes, on a car it is 10%. Parts have 3%.

A bit cheeky to use 1.169 though!

Still, in all you maybe have a good van for the money! Just have to thank the b*std brexit voters for you losing 1120ā‚¬ for no reason :grinning:

Thanks for info,so,just to confirm,they calculate the TVA and duty from the purchase price in the UK,I take it you have to show them the purchase receipt,that,s not so bad,the rumours that they calculate the TVA and duty on what they deem the value to be in France are confirmed as not true,that,s one bit of good news.This scenario is for vehicles that you have just purchased,does anyone know if it is the same procedure for a vehicle that you have owned for say over 6 months,any info please.

Uh Uh! The Duane most certainly have the last word in putting a valuation on an import! But in cases where the car is ā€˜run of the millā€™ model (and I do not mean this in a derogatory way) and there is a dealer invoice and receipt and it is within a band that they accept, the Duane will waive it through.

How they calculate the tax is:

  1. convert the value of the car to Euros if not already in Euros
  2. Apply a 10% duty
  3. Apply 20% TVA on the ā€˜newā€™ value of the car.
  4. Apply an admin charge based on the imported value.

The reason they retain the right is of course to prevent someone ā€˜buying a year old Ferrari from someone in the pub for peanutsā€™ and bringing it in at the knock down price!

If you have owned the car for a while - have a chat with them. I am in a similar situation wanting to import a car without an engine/gearbox, and I have to say, they are being most helpful - other than the wild difference of value that they put on said carā€¦ :rofl: