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Will France and Spain charge me import taxes to drive through with my car? Will France and Spain charge me import taxes to drive through with my car?
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  #1  
Old 17 Dec 2007
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Will France and Spain charge me import taxes to drive through with my car?
I am an American citizen who will be buying a car in Germany, probably with export tags. I need to drive through France and Spain on my way to Morocco. Will France and Spain charge me import taxes or a deposit to pass through the country? I do not have a carnet, and cannot afford one either.
Please help. Thank you.
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Old 17 Dec 2007
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What’s the deal, are you paying vehicle taxes in Germany.

If you buy a car in Germany and pay the European taxes you can go anywhere in the EU. If you don't pay the taxes the problem will only occur if you try to register it in a European country. Even without paying the taxes you may have a time limit to export the car. On the route you are taking the only fixed boarder you are going to come across is Andorra into Spain otherwise mainland Europe is more or less boarder-less.
Some vehicle insurances in Europe cover Morocco so check when you buy otherwise you can get it on the Moroccan boarder or port of entry.

Entry into Morocco maybe problematic. Depends on the status of the vehicle.

Steve
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Old 17 Dec 2007
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Originally Posted by SteveAttwood View Post
What’s the deal, are you paying vehicle taxes in Germany.

If you buy a car in Germany and pay the European taxes you can go anywhere in the EU. If you don't pay the taxes the problem will only occur if you try to register it in a European country. Even without paying the taxes you may have a time limit to export the car. On the route you are taking the only fixed boarder you are going to come across is Andorra into Spain otherwise mainland Europe is more or less boarder-less.
Some vehicle insurances in Europe cover Morocco so check when you buy otherwise you can get it on the Moroccan boarder or port of entry.

Entry into Morocco maybe problematic. Depends on the status of the vehicle.

Steve
some of this is ok, but... Whilst there may be many lodgers about there are no manned borders going from Germany to Spain via Belgium and France. I doubt you will even notice them apart from the change of language on the signs. It is possible to select a route via Andorra, but that is less than optimum, so i suggest you pass through directly from France to Spain. I have no idea what will happen when you enter Morocco as I have not done that.
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Old 17 Dec 2007
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Originally Posted by monkii View Post
...buying a car in Germany, probably with export tags. I need to drive through France and Spain on my way to Morocco.
If you buy on export tags I assume you will not be paying the German VAT, (MvT) - 19%
If you get the tags for the longest duration you can - 3 months I think... may be longer - the tags have the expiry date on them. This is the date that the vehicle must leave Germany by, or pay the taxes.
I'm in france and there are vehicles here that are on German export plates, that have been running around for the last 2 years... a LONG time after the plates have expired. So they never paid the tax in Germany and have yet to register here, so the tax is not paid here either.
Wherever you chose to leave, (abandon?) your car at the end of your trip is where you should pay the VAT.

If the date is still valid when you are travelling, I doubt the Moroccans will trouble you. The French and Spanish police have no interest really. Just have the vehicle docs and the insurance and a drivers licence.

John
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Old 18 Dec 2007
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Thank you for the great information.
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Old 19 Dec 2007
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No problems in EU, cross the FR/ES border at Le Perthus/La Jonquera, why should you go via Andorra? Nonsense. But! The Moroccans WILL ask you for "la carte grise", which you probably won't have since the car will not be registered...
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Old 2 Jan 2008
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Originally Posted by DesertSoul View Post
No problems in EU, cross the FR/ES border at Le Perthus/La Jonquera, why should you go via Andorra? Nonsense. But! The Moroccans WILL ask you for "la carte grise", which you probably won't have since the car will not be registered...
Why would I not have a carte grise if the car is in my name for export?
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Old 2 Jan 2008
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The German carte grise (French name for ownership paper) will probably have the date of registration expiry on it. This is an issue. Maybe customs wont care, maybe they will.

You can hope they are ignorant of these matters, but I suspect that this is not the case - Maroc is a favourite route for European car export to Africa, so my guess is they know the rules very well indeed.

You need to know first, if Maroc will allow a vehicle in with temp plates.

Then second, do you need a carnet for Maroc? You have researched this question yeah? Cos that is a dead stop on your plans if so - you can't get a carnet on a temporary export plate.

These are the two hurdles I think. France and Spain, no problem.

Sorry no good news, but clarifying the problems may be of help.

Simon
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Old 2 Jan 2008
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Morocco doesn't ask for the Carnet, no worries. BUT! I'm still not sure you will have the NORMAL car papers if the car is for export.
Good luck!
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Old 7 Jan 2008
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Is there any way for me to find out if Morocco will let a car in with temporary plates? I have no idea whom to ask this question and get a definitive answer.
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Old 7 Jan 2008
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In these matters definitive answers are a rare commodity indeed. Hen's teeth.

Best to ask everyone you can think of and see what comes back. So, the US automobile association. The German AA. Write to individual German AA offices in the region you will be buying the vehicle. The Maroc transport ministry. Their embassy in the US.

Write to some guys who go there often. Look at the blogs here and elsewhere and write personal messages to people who travel regularly to north Africa. Contact the HU communities there. Try finding some guys who sell cars there - there is a huge trade in European cars in that direction, especially from Germany. Try your local French embassy too.

Put all that comes back in a big thinking pot, warm while stirring gently until clarified into a pleasing consistency.


Simon
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Last edited by Simon Kennedy; 8 Jan 2008 at 10:06.
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