Hello mate,

I've looked into importing a car in Switzerland from the EU. It involves paying an admin tax (a couple actually, one fixed and one that is a % of the value), Swiss VAT, and having it pass the technical control at your expense. I can imagine in your case it's the other way around, except that as you already own the car you probably don't need to pay VAT.

Either way there are importers who specialize in this kind of things and having them take care of the details might save you a headache or two.

Thanks Catalin. Looking for specialist importers might be a good idea (though I don't want to spend any more than I have to!)

Hello,

You will need to pay the diference between both VAT French and Swiss and also a document called COC (Certificat de Conformité).The COC cost depends on the vehicle model.

Vehicle invoice, coc, 'quitus fiscal'and French technical control are certainly needed.

Best for you is to contact a customs agent for all the imports taxes (Douane de Bardonex) and  a French prefecture concerning administrative procedures

How old is your car? That has an impact on some parts of the process.

Useful info here:

http://www.frenchpropertylinks.com/essential/registering-car-france.html

The example is for importing from the UK but most things will apply. Again, for a used car which you own there shouldn't be VAT to pay.

Here's a source of truth (in french) : 

http://www.douane.gouv.fr/page.asp?id=30

costs are the tva on the current value of the car - payable to the customs,

at the prefecture a registration tax of around a 100 euros for the carte gris (depends on the cv fiscal of the car).

and you'll need to have a valid french technical visit ( you can have a pretest to make sure your car will pass) 

plus of course a copy of your edf/phone bill to prove your address.

The certificate of comformatity may not be necessary depending if its a popular car and has eu references on the seatbelts - check with the prefecture if you need one.

in all, it is an admistrative challenge, will cost a couple of hunderd euros plus the tva on argos value of the car - and for fun the rules change all the time ;)

again in french this link gives more of an overview :

http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F19222.xhtml

and of course you'll need a vaild french car insurance.

Hey all,

Thanks a lot - of course my car is old enough (20 years old) that it doesn't have a Certificate of Conformity, which apparently makes the process a massive pain.

I'll probably visit the prefecture to ask.

It looks like it's going to be lot of work though... :-(

Ed

Oh, and I forgot to mention that it's registered in Switzerland as a 'utility vehicle' which makes it look like it might be even more complicated to import to France.

Gah. :-(

In this case: Seriously, sell it and get another car that is already registered in france. There are often slight differences in models for the swiss market, so there might be no direct (in terms of exact numbers) equivalent in france.

Yeah. Unfortunately that might be the best plan (or I try to get it to pass the inspection in Switzerland ... but it's just infuriating, as they're such a bunch of £@$£ers at Service des Autos)

Problem is it's going to be very hard to replace (at least at a price I can afford) - it's a 1994 Toyota landcruiser RJ73, and there's just nothing out like that out there... And I kind of need a vehicle like that. Damn. Back to the drawing board I guess...

Thanks a lot! It was originally registered in Switzerland. I have recently had a technical visit ... and it failed (but according to a garage in France, it would be very unlikely to fail the French inspection ... especially with the fixes I've made since then). 

It's just a car I want to use as a private vehicle. I'd love to add seats in the back, but I'm not sure if I can get any which will fit. If it's going to be more work, I'll just leave it as it is.

I know about the Certificate de Conformite - the problem is that it didn't exist back then. I got something from Toyota in Geneva, but they said that probably the French won't accept it.

I might speak to Toyota France to ask their opinion.

Thanks again!

You should consider talking to Ets DEGENEVE SA in Annemasse and Gaillard (74). They own the Toyota garage and might be able to give you a few tips on having correct documentation to be more persuasive w/ french authorities.

Considering your earlier comment for your french technical inspection I might suggest a local qualified company who will be great support. If interested PM me .

Hi everyone,

We are currently in the middle of this process, and have had a very different experience from those posted earlier, mainly because we will not pay anything.  Also because we had a Cert. of Conformity, but it was not required.

If you are actually relocating to France as your principal residence, thus avoiding the doane and VAT, the official list of documents required:

 - 2 copies of the carte grise + the original

 - 2 copies of proof of residence in France (we used the Acte de Vente for our house)

 - 2 copies of your inventory (just the car, in our case) including a 'declaration sur l'honneur'         (there are examples in French online) that you have owned the car for at least 6 months.

 - Your original Attestation(s) de Départ from Switzerland, which they keep

 - 1 copy of the passport or residence card of each person who has an attestation (I did not need one)

The actual exchange of the carte grise and plates must take place no more than a week to 10 days before your official departure date, but may take place afterward.  

For the above reason, we haven't actually completed our exit with the car, so if anything else goes differently from expectations, I'll update.

Good luck, it's not really that bad!

Hi Elizabeth, 

what about if i have just bought the car, so i will not be able to prove that i owned it for the past 6 months, what i should do in this case?. I know you may not experienced this situation in your case but how i should know? In my case i just bought a car and i have been informed that i will not be able to register it in Swiss since i have no address there (when i bought the car i expected that the work address is enough) so i am considering to export it France (Voltaire where i live and have a proof of address) but unfortunately i bought the car few days back so i hav all documentations you mentioned except this 6-months issue.. what do you think i should do and which steps i should follow ? Thanks a lot in advance.. i don’t know if working for the UN have different procedures as well ?

Hi,

There is an exemption in matter of VAT if you change your main place of residence, but this would in principle not apply if you just bought a car outside of France and then import it. In such case, it's highly likely that the French customs would ask you to pay the import VAT.

Hi Per, many thanks indeed. This coast how much ? I know it should be assessed based on the car but in general is it expensive ? and is that mean i will be able to export this car to France in any case? Sorry but do you know which place i go first after i prepare my documents ? Steps? 

Thanks a million Per for your advice 

Hi,

I'm not a French tax adviser, but based on the enclosed official website, the VAT is of 19.6% and they describe the steps (in French):

https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/services-aux-citoyens/preparer-son-retour-en-france/formalites-douanieres/article/l-importation-en-france-d-un

Best regards,