Import Taxes on new goods moved from UK to France??

[Chardie]

I asked this question under another thread but had no response (probably because that one was about van hire). Is import tax payable on new goods taken from UK into France - I thought under EU regs that if tax was paid on the goods  in the country of origin then you are not liable for any additional import  tax payment. However a comment made on this other thread about van hire has made me think that may be it is payable. Help! 

 

[Paulhogan]

Hello Chardie

We recently took a van load of furniture over to our house in Nievre, most was secondhand but we did have a few expensive items such as microwave, washing machine, which we had picked up in clearance sales at ridiculously low prices, too good to miss. We were stopped at UK controls on way out, asked what was in van, I told them furniture, etc some old some new and they said no problem as it was all for our own use in house. As we were travelling "tourist" not freight no one seemed interested on french side, we were just waved through customs, etc.

Hope this helps

Paul 

[Quillan]

A direct answer to your question is no.

As you have bought your items in another EU member state and have therefore paid any tax and VAT in that state you don't have to pay again.

The only time you would pay is if you did not pay VAT (like on a car) on exit from one state then you have to pay it on entry to the state in which you have official residency. You would only do this if you were buying a new UK type car in Belgium and importing it into the UK at which time as you pass customes you are obliged to declare it, they then give you a payment slip which you send to the DVLA when you register the car. Belgium actually give you a tempory set of special plates that last for a few days that make your car stick out like a sore thumb so everyone knows what you are doing.