Shipping A Car To France

There’s a thing or two you should know about shipping a car to France and the entire procedure will be ten times simpler than you originally thought. The first thing you should keep in mind is that the French authorities have strict rules about importing cars in France and those rules are mostly safety rules and rules designed to protect the environment.

The taxes chapter is important for your budget. When you ship a private vehicle or a motor home to France you should expect to pay a 10% import tax no matter if the vehicle is used or new. The second type of tax is the value added tax which usually represents 19.6% of the car’s price. For this purpose you will have to provide the price invoice or another document you received from the seller that includes the price you paid for the car. The officials will take into consideration the depreciation as well and may be able to offer you a considerable deduction.

When you ship a car to France, to get the car passed the Customs you will have to make available some documents: the vehicle’s registration, the invoice I mentioned before, a T1 declaration if the car arrived on European soil through a country (other than France) which is member of the European Union and a EUR1 certificate of movement if the country where the car is manufactured has signed a trade agreement with your car’s destination country.

Once you provide all the documents and pay the required taxes you should receive a copy of the import statement which will legally allow you to use your car in France. You should also make sure you receive a receipt for the amount of taxes you pay. Next, you will have to register the car in France. To take care of this you have at your disposal 4 months after you pick up the car from the delivery port and you are also required to acquire a French license plate. Otherwise you will have to face a fine. At all times you should carry a photo id, your driver’s license and proof of insurance.

If the car you ship to France doesn’t meet the French Safety and Environment standards you will have to modify it or the authorities can decide to export it and fine you. You should be informed of the necessary alterations by the shipping company or other authorities you contact to ship the car to France. These rules don’t apply if you travel to France as a tourist and you request temporary importing. If this is your case, you can ship your car to France as it is and you can use the license, registration and insurance you already have. Through temporary importing you avoid a lot of problems, but you will have only 6 months at your disposal to live in France.

When you deal with the shipping company of your choice you should discuss about the cost involved, the locations where they should pick up your car and where they should deliver it (if you opt for door-to-door delivery), the method of shipping that’s better to use (an enclosed container or RORO) and also about the certificates that are necessary for the shipping procedure. You shouldn’t forget about insurance either, because it’s the only way you can be sure that no matter what happens during the shipping process you won’t have to spend extra money because your car was damaged.

In the end, shipping a car to France can be an easy task if you complete each step with patience.

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