VAT clearance (quitus fiscal) for an imported vehicle
The mini-calculator tells you whether your vehicle counts as new for tax purposes and works out the French VAT due from its age, mileage and pre-VAT price.
The quitus fiscal, or tax clearance certificate, is the document the French tax office issues to show that VAT on a vehicle bought in another European Union country has been paid or is not due. Without it, the ANTS, the agency that issues registration certificates, will not grant a first French carte grise. Everything turns on one question: is the vehicle new for VAT purposes? It is if it has been in service for no more than 6 months or has covered no more than 6,000 km, and meeting either test is enough (article 298 sexies of the General Tax Code). In that case French VAT at 20 % is paid in France on the pre-VAT price, even when the seller is a private person: €6,400 on a €32,000 car. Otherwise the clearance is issued free of charge. The CO₂ and weight malus are separate and come with registration. Outside the EU there is no quitus: duty and VAT are paid at customs, which issues form 846 A.
VAT payable in France on a car bought in the EU
VAT due in France
€6,400
| Tax status | new: French VAT |
| Thresholds | 6 months · 6,000 km |
Meeting either threshold makes the car new for tax purposes.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
New or used: the question that decides the VAT
For VAT, a motor vehicle bought in another EU state is a “new means of transport” if it is supplied no more than 6 months after it first went into service, or if it has covered no more than 6,000 km. The rule sits in article 298 sexies of the General Tax Code. This is not the showroom meaning of new: a demonstrator, a “zero-kilometre” car registered abroad by a dealer or a very recent used car can all be new in the eyes of the tax office.
The table applies the test to a car bought for €32,000 before VAT. The first case is new by age, the second by mileage, and the third meets neither test.
| Age | Mileage | Tax status | VAT due in France |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 months | 8,000 km | new | €6,400 |
| 10 months | 4,500 km | new | €6,400 |
| 10 months | 15,000 km | used | €0 |
New vehicle: VAT is paid in France
A sale of a new means of transport to another EU country is VAT-exempt where the seller is, and the buyer owes VAT at home. That applies to private buyers and businesses alike, and even when the seller is a private individual. The base is the pre-VAT price on the invoice. You pay the tax office for your home address, which then hands over the quitus. If the seller wrongly charged their own country’s VAT, settle that with the seller: French VAT remains due.
Used vehicle: clearance at no cost
Beyond both thresholds, VAT was settled for good in the country of purchase. The tax office checks your documents and issues the quitus without collecting anything. Most private imports fall here, since buyers usually bring in cars more than a year old.
Getting the quitus, step by step
- Fill in form 1993-PART-D-SD, the version for private individuals, available on impots.gouv.fr.
- Attach the invoice or bill of sale, the foreign registration certificate, an identity document and proof of address; the office may ask for more.
- File the request with the tax office for your home address. In Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Moselle and Bas-Rhin, impots.gouv.fr says it can be done online through the ANTS process since 14 September 2023; the list may change, so check before going in person.
- Pay the VAT if the vehicle is new for tax purposes, then collect the quitus.
- Apply for the carte grise on the ANTS website, where the application is free and only the taxes are charged.
After the quitus: the import malus
The quitus settles VAT, not registration. A passenger car registered in France for the first time pays the CO₂ malus and the weight malus, on the scale of the year it was first registered, even abroad. For a used car the amount is cut by a depreciation coefficient based on its age in months, and it is zero if the first registration predates 1 January 2015.
Take a petrol car emitting 150 g/km and weighing 1,600 kg, registered in France on 20 October 2026. New, first in service in July 2026, it pays €4,279 of CO₂ malus and €1,010 of weight malus, €5,289 in all. First in service in April 2023, it falls under that year’s scale, which does not tax this weight, and gets a 33 % reduction, leaving €1,008. The EU import and weight malus pages go through the calculation.
Outside the EU: customs and form 846 A
For a vehicle from Switzerland, the UK, Japan or the United States there is no quitus. French customs charges 10 % duty on a car and 20 % VAT, whatever the age or mileage. On a car declared at €20,000, that means €2,000 of duty and, since VAT is normally worked out on the value plus duty, €4,400 of VAT. Customs then issues certificate 846 A, which goes with the registration application. The malus applies just as for an EU import; the non-EU import page covers each step.
The change of code on 1 January 2027
From 1 January 2027, VAT rules are moved into the tax code on goods and services, which already holds the registration taxes. The definition of a new means of transport will carry a new article number there. No text consulted announces a change to the thresholds; the 2027 changes page lists the other known changes, including those to the malus.