The saga of registering my car continues, need some advice

Hi All,

Found so much useful advice on here so far, but have a few specific questions.

I’ve emailed my local tax office on Montpellier (as you need to make an appointment beforehand apparently). They’ve sent me back a PDF file stating which documents I need to get a Quitus Fiscal.
I thought this would be one of the easier stages - but no - they want just about everything.

1 - ID
2 - Recent tax bill. Only just moved here so have nothing.
3 - Original invoice of the car AND it needs translating in French by a certified translator here in Montpellier.
4 - Origianal registration document (V5C) which ALSO needs translating in French. And the CoC, which thankfully I ordered in French from BMW.
5 - Insurance documents
6 - ‘Pieces permettant de justifier du mode de transport’. - Can someone help me figure out what exactly they want here and why?
7 - Controle technique.

Did you all need to take the above documents when getting your Quitus Fiscal? And did you have to pay for translators to translate the V5 and invoice from you car purchase?

Attached below is the PDF file they’ve sent me with the required documents. Perhaps someone with a better level of French can help me out.

Quitus liste docs à fournir.pdf (91.1 KB)

Final questions!

  • I went on the autosur site to book my controle technique at my local garage. They’ve got a box to enter your registration number - assuming I can enter my UK reg here?
  • Their site states you need to present your carte grise on the day. I assume I tell them that I need a CT before getting my carte grise and this will be OK?

Thanks in advance as always, think I’ll crack open some champagne when this all finally gets sorted!

Mike

Maybe things have changed since I did ours…but it was a simple procedure that took no more than 5 or 10 minutes.

The main thing they were concerned about was the receipt for purchasing the car, and that it showed VAT. Like you we had recently moved, so had no tax bill, but took various official things that showed we now live here. Can’t remember what, possibly taxe d’hab or EDF bills. I know we didn’t have any certified translations as we’ve never done that. So we probably did what we have done on similar occasion which is prepare a translation that’s laid out neatly and looks as official as we can - but I don’t recall them even being looked at.

And as for the receipts showing the mode of transport! Not a clue, and not something that was asked of us. Perhaps it relates to car traders who need to claim back their transport costs of importing cars? Be interested if someone else knows…

Hi Mike,
I did not need any UK documents translated.
To be issued with Quitus Fiscal all that I needed to present was:

  1. Proof of ID. I used my UK passport.
  2. Proof of address ( Justificat Domicile). This must be a utility bill, I used my Orange phone bill (Orange actually issued a formal "Justificat Domicile a few days after signing up).
  3. The UK V5C. It is a European document (at the moment), written in a European language and using the agreed European designations for the fields.
  4. For the vehicles that I have owned from new I had the original sales invoices, showing VAT paid. For the vehicles that I had bought second-hand I presented the hand-written receipt signed by the previous owner.

No CoC was required for the issuance of the Quitus Fiscal, nor was a Controle Tehcnique. The Quitus Fiscal is to show that any VAT due has been paid, whether the vehicle confirms to European standards or is in a roadworthy condition should not be relevant. Maybe here in the Aveyron the local government is more up to speed than the Herault? Or, maybe that document is a very old one?

I thne used the same 4 documents, the Quitus Fiscal, the CoC and the CT to apply for registrations in France. So far 5 out of 6 vehicles now have been issued their Cartes Grise. The last one is proving a bit of fun, the Control Technique was uploaded along with all the other documents, they have rejected the application saying it needs the COntrole Technique. We have had that uploaded again and sent it off…

When booking your car in for its Controle Technique you need to tell them that the CT is apply for a Carte Grise. They centre should know what to do. They will likely ask you for the “Type Mine”, you will find that on the your V5C in field D.2.1

The process of registering a vehicle in France seems to be in complete disarray at the moment, What you have received from your tax authorities is at odds with my experiece, and the anecdotal experiences of others that guided me. I would not be so bold as to say that the document is wrong but if the office is not too far away why not try booking an appointment and trying to get a Quitus Fiscal issued with the above? They can only say “Non” at the worst…

The examples are train tickets or motorway toll charge receipts. Odd, perhaps if you were asking for a refund on travel…

Hi Mike,
service-public.fr, a government website, has this for a quittas fiscal:-

Vous devez présenter les documents suivants (originaux et photocopies) :

la facture d'achat ou le certificat de cession,
la carte grise obtenue dans le pays étranger,
une pièce d'identité, au nom de la personne qui a acheté le véhicule,
un justificatif de son domicile en France.

Une traduction certifiée peut vous être demandée si la facture ou la carte grise n’est pas rédigée en français.

A bill of sale - if you don’t have one, write one yourself. If the car is not new it won’t be looked at very closely.
The V5C - don’t send off the export notification until you get your french carte grise.
Passport or driving licence - basically a photo ID.
EDF bill or similar with your french address on it.

A controle technique will require that you present your V5C & that it has a european certificate of conformity number under section K. If not you will need to present a certificate of conformity provided by the manufacturer or his representative - not one provided by one of these dodgy online companies!
Note that when you move on to actual registration the presence of a number under section K on its own is NOT a guarantee that you do not need a c of c. There are other details required that DVLA often omit to include.

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The Quitus Fiscal should need no more than Mark’s post shows, getting it is a formality. When I got one the people who were in front of me were refused one because they let slip that it wasn’t them who had imported the car, they had bought it from a British person resident in France.

Please also be patient, and prepared to follow up constantly. The new online system is in disarray. We imported a car from Germany, had all the required documents (we have done this before) … and is still took 3.5 months and lots of chasing messages to get the Carte Grise … think foreign registered cars automatically go to the bottom of the pile. Many others have the same experience. Patience is required …

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I bought a set of headlight units from ebay Germany and fitted them myself so have potentially saved a nice chunk of change there.

I have a controle technique booked for tomorrow afternoon. I’ve got my CoC from BMW and it’s in French. What else do I need to take apart from that and the V5C? Proof of address and my passport?

I assume I can just say that I don’t havea carte grise as I’m in the process of applying for it and need a CT as part of the application?

Lot to be said for buying a French car :wink:

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Just an idea for the future… for anyone who has concerns. :thinking:

When making an appointment for Testing, it would seem sensible to ask at the CT centre what documents they will require to see.

Cheers. :grin::upside_down_face:

I checked their site online and it just said ID and carte grise!

In your case you need the V5C, but I would take everything you have listed.
Tell the test centre that the control technique is for registration purposes, they will work from your V5C and CoC if the V5C is incomplete.

No, Mike, just your V5C & your coc will suffice. Remember that even if it fails you can still proceed with immatriculation. Good luck!

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@mikey1090

My comment was aimed at those folk who make an appointment with the Test Centre, either over the phone or face to face… and that is a golden opportunity to find out what documents are needed… and to start a rapport with the examiner (never a bad thing)…:relaxed:

Cheers

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Stella, the examiners don’t answer phones :slight_smile:

Mmm… really… I am talking about CT centres… quite normal folk work there.

In my part of France they certainly do answer the phone. We have 2 testing centres near us… but I favour the one who is most helpful. He gets nearly all the Brits, because of his good manners.

If Alain is there alone… he will answer if he is not actually testing. If his office lady is there, she will answer and (if necessary) put me through to Alain or get him to phone me back… or else she takes a message and calls me back later with a reply.

Of course, if I am in town… I can and do… walk to see him and chat things through… :relaxed:

Yes, the receptionists answer the phones in the centres near me. I’ve never really had anything to discuss with the testers. My cars are always tickety boo or I know what the issues are and have them rectified beforehand. Though I had the rear suspension of one changed from leaf to coil springs last year. It’ll be interesting to see if they spot that.

Yes, John… but if you had been unsure what paperwork to take… you would have asked them, wouldn’t you…:relaxed: that is what I am suggesting folk actually do…:zipper_mouth_face:

No, I have a file per car with all the paperwork Stella. I’m very organised :slight_smile: No point in trying to do anything in France without all the paperwork. More paperwork the better.

Passed the CT!

@anon90504988, don’t suppose you could shed any light on the meaning of the advisory notes? I’ve attached a photo.

Thanks again.30624323_10155921554565020_3721454334370643968_o