New car France

[AnOther]

[quote user="cooperlola"]You do need proof that VAT has been paid in Britain.[/quote]Are you sure ?

If it's over the 6m/6000 then Impots don't care anymore do they, plus a sales receipt for a second hand private vehicle will make no mention of VAT as it is not chargeable on such transactions.

[CBC65]

[quote user="Daft Doctor"]Sorry, but having read the older post and just to be a bore and to clarify things, am I correct in assuming that if you buy a second hand LHD (or RHD for that matter) car in the UK which is at least 6 months old and has at least 6,000km on the clock, then when you import it to France there would be no TVA liability there?

Thanks in anticipation[/quote]

Yes. We've done it twice - very straightforward process, the only painful part is the cost of the certificat de conformité from the manufacturers (whether UK or France).

"Définition du véhicule d'occasion : plus de 6 mois ET plus de 6.000 Km

Les véhicules qui remplissent les deux conditions indiquées plus haut sont des occasions et sont vendus TTC aux particuliers, que le vendeur soit un autre particulier ou un professionnel. L'administration considère que la TVA a été acquittée une fois pour toute dans le pays de la 1ere mise en circulation par le 1er propriétaire. Le quitus fiscal nécessaire à l'immatriculation n'est qu'une formalité pour l'acheteur qui permet à l'administration de suivre la régularité du commerce automobile intracommunautaire. Il n'y a pas de TVA à payer en France pour les particuliers.

Dans tous les cas, il faudra remplir et faire viser au service des impôts de votre domicile le certificat de déclaration fiscal (quitus fiscal) Il est nécessaire pour l'immatriculation du véhicule en France même si vous n'avez pas de TVA à payer. "

[AnOther]

[quote user="CBC65"]I cannot stress how scrappy our 'receipts' were from private sellers and we had no problem at all from our local Hôtel d'Impôts. CBC65[/quote]Exactly.

The Hôtel d'Impôts are concerned soley with potential tax liabilities not ownership so virtually any sort of receipt will pass muster and if the V5C is already in your name there's a good chance you won't need a receipt of any sort, more so if you've owned the car for some time.

[Daft Doctor]

Great, after Coops post I was just about to query the 'private sale - no invoice' scenario but the question has been neatly answered.  What about the Certificat de Conformite, what's the procedure for obtaining that?  Do you just ring the manufacturer with the chassis and engine number, etc?  Thanks again  

[Wilko]

So if you were to buy a new car, VAT free in Germany for example, and travelled around Europe for more than 6 months, then returned to France, registered it, you wouldn't have to pay TVA on it ??

W

[CBC65]

[quote user="Daft Doctor"] What about the Certificat de Conformite, what's the procedure for obtaining that?  Do you just ring the manufacturer with the chassis and engine number, etc?  Thanks again  [/quote]

Hello. Contact the manufacturer's 'service homologation'. In our case, Land Rover will send you a form to complete and the details of the documents they require - plus the big fat amount of euros they will require for what is the simplest of procedures .........

[AnOther]

[quote user="Wilko"]So if you were to buy a new car, VAT free in Germany for example, and travelled around Europe for more than 6 months, then returned to France, registered it, you wouldn't have to pay TVA on it ?? W[/quote]Neat theory but it would not work as the 6 months/6000km begins from the date of first registration, not date of sale.

As I understand it in Germany (and elsewhere I think) if you buy tax free you get a temporary export registration plate/permit which basically allows you to drive it from one country to another after which, if it is not registered somewhere, it cannot be driven on the road.

Even if you somehow got the 6000km on it in that period and then laid it up for 6 months because it had yet to be registered for the first time when you came to register it in France it would be classed as new and therefore subject to TVA.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="AnOther"]

[quote user="cooperlola"]You do need proof that VAT has been paid in Britain.[/quote]Are you sure ?

If it's over the 6m/6000 then Impots don't care anymore do they, plus a sales receipt for a second hand private vehicle will make no mention of VAT as it is not chargeable on such transactions.

[/quote]No, just remembering the fiasco when we did ours (nearly 7 years ago now) when the Impots bloke asked for proof we'd paid the VAT on it and I had to go back home and get the the sale agreement.  Probably just one of those fonc's having a bad day!

[Chezstevens]

SD. The topic was reference new car - I presume you concur with my post? Other poster - If it is a new car, they will require an invoice - a scrappy bit of paper won't work. Just avoiding thread drift :)

[CBC65]

[quote user="Chezstevens"] Other poster - If it is a new car, they will require an invoice - a scrappy bit of paper won't work. Just avoiding thread drift :)[/quote]

Yes, to clarify, I was referring to the process for an old, km-heavy 2nd hand car import.

I think the rule for importing a car bought new when resident in UK is a little unclear. If you reside in France and import a brand new car you may have to pay two lots of TVA, but bringing it with you as something you already own is a blurry area - but with a VAT receipt and evidence of a recent move to France, I would like to hope that double taxation would not happen.

Good luck, sorry for any confusion caused.

CBC65

:)