Car Shipping - Vehicle Import to France Regulations

Private vehicles mean for the purpose of this leaflet:
- motor cars principally designed for the transport of persons (including station wagons, house trailers, motor homes, trailers and semi-trailers);
- motorcycles (including mopeds) that are subject to licensing formalities and imported by an individual for his or her private use.

For other types of vehicles (motor cars principally designed for the transport of goods - such as pick-up trucks -, special purpose motor vehicles, vintage cars, etc) other rules and regulations apply.

Normal Clearance Procedure
Foreign made vehicles imported into France (i.e. non-European Community), whether new or used, attract Customs duties, depending on the origin of the vehicles, and, all vehicles imported into the country, irrespective of their origin, are liable to value added tax (VAT) at the uniform applicable rate of 19.6%.
When the vehicle is imported directly into France from Canada or the US, Customs duties and VAT will be collected at the port of entry by the French Customs & Excise Service.

When the vehicle is shipped to France via another Member State of the European Union:
- Customs duties (levied at a uniform rate throughout the European Community) will have been paid at the port of entry into that State: only VAT will, therefore, have to be paid in France. It will not be collected by Customs but by the French Internal Revenue Service, the local tax collector ("receveur des impôts" );
- the vehicle will have moved to France from the port of entry in-bond (under the external Community transit procedure, i.e. under cover of a "T1" declaration), in which case, both Customs duties and VAT will have to be paid when the vehicle is cleared with the French Customs & Excise Service.

Importing a Vehicle to France >>