Quitus fiscal: VAT clearance for an EU import

What the quitus fiscal is

The quitus fiscal is a certificate from the French tax authorities. It states that this vehicle, bought in another EU member state, is in order for value-added tax.

France Titres (formerly ANTS) and the SIV require it to open a first French registration after an EU purchase. Without that key, neither the CPI nor the definitive carte grise leaves.

The document carries neither a plate, nor an SIV keeper, nor regional tax Y.1. It is the “VAT” brick of the import file, not the circulation title.

Certificat fiscal and everyday wording

The administration says certificat fiscal. Garages, forums and authorised providers say quitus, quitus fiscal, VAT quitus, sometimes EU acquisition certificate. It is the same paper.

The official form for a private individual is 1993-PART-D-SD: “application for a certificate of acquisition of a vehicle from the European Union”. Do not confuse it with Cerfa 13757 (mandate) or 15776 (transfer): those support the accompaniment file; they do not replace the 1993.

In English it is a tax clearance certificate. In France, keep the keyword pair: quitus fiscal + certificat fiscal.

What the quitus is not

The quitus is not the carte grise, not the COC, not the 846A, not temporary WW plates, not an FFVE attestation. Gluing those acronyms into one sentence is the first reason files come back incomplete.

VAT and registration: two files

Tax answers: has VAT been handled in the Union? Registration answers: who is the keeper in France, at which address, with which Y.1 taxes?

A perfect quitus does not calculate fiscal horsepower. A tax calculator does not replace the certificat fiscal. They follow each other; they do not substitute.

This page sells and explains the quitus. The full foreign-vehicle registration journey, taxes included, lives on its own landing.

Who issues the quitus: the tax office, not ANTS

Only a business tax office (SIE) — or, in four départements, the combined France Titres telematic procedure — issues the certificat fiscal. An SIV-authorised provider does not stamp it in Bercy’s place.

Office Carte Grise builds the file, re-reads the papers, lodges them in the right channel and hands you the attestation. The signatory remains the tax administration.

Be wary of a “quitus” PDF without an impots.gouv.fr heading: the SIV will reject it.

Form 1993-PART-D-SD

For a private individual living outside the four mandatory telematic départements, the application uses form no. 1993-PART-D-SD, emailed to the SIE of the buyer’s home.

A company uses a professional millésime (1993-PRO). That is not the same Cerfa as mandate 13757 signed to authorise us.

If a paper is missing, the SIE sends a regularisation: the calendar stretches. A readable file on the first send beats a chase.

Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Moselle, Bas-Rhin

Since September 2023, if the buyer lives in the Nord (59), Pas-de-Calais (62), Moselle (57) or Bas-Rhin (67), the administration points to the ANTS telematic procedure “Register a vehicle and apply for a quitus fiscal (vehicle acquired in the European Union)”.

In that channel, registration and the certificat fiscal travel together. Any VAT due is paid by card or direct debit during the procedure. A representative accesses it according to the buyer’s address, not their own.

Our €60 fee still builds the file: papers, VIN, identity. It does not “skip” the four-département rule.

Other départements: email to the SIE

Outside those four départements, the application goes to the tax office covering the buyer’s French address. Details are in the impots.gouv.fr directory, département by département.

Any VAT still due is paid by bank transfer, not in cash at a counter. An incomplete file triggers a written chase, not an instant stamp.

We send the file to the right SIE after checking. You do not have to improvise an email with blurry scans.

When the quitus is required

Official rule: a vehicle delivered after a purchase in another member state, then a first registration in France. New or used, car, motorcycle or van: the certificat fiscal is the VAT key.

When you do not need a quitus

A vehicle already registered in France, bought used here, does not need a quitus. The SIV already knows the entry tax position.

A duplicate, a change of address, a transfer declaration: no certificat fiscal. Ordering one “just in case” only pays €60 for nothing.

A Swiss, American, Japanese or post-Brexit British purchase leaves the quitus: that is Customs’ 846A.

New vehicles: means of transport and VAT

A new means of transport for VAT (in practice under six months or under 6,000 km for many cars) can trigger a VAT payment in France, even if the foreign invoice shows a tax-exclusive price.

The tax office may then require payment — transfer outside the four départements, card or direct debit in the ANTS procedure — before issuing the certificat fiscal.

A “0 km” car titled for three days in Germany is often still used for the SIV, but VAT is read from age, mileage and the seller’s status, not from the advert slogan.

Used EU vehicles: VAT already handled abroad

For a used vehicle bought from a private individual or an EU trader, VAT has in principle already been collected in the country of purchase. The quitus records that regularity; it does not systematically re-tax.

A tax-exclusive trade invoice, the margin scheme, a company car whose VAT was never paid: the SIE may claim a complement. Tell us the regime when you order.

A used-vehicle quitus waives neither the COC, nor the roadworthiness test, nor Y.1 taxes.

Mandatory mentions on the invoice or transfer

The administration expects an invoice (trade seller) or a transfer certificate (private seller) showing at least: identity and address of the parties, the trader’s VAT number, date, nature / body / make / type, serial number (VIN), foreign registration, date of first registration, actual mileage, price.

A “for parts” invoice or a deed without a VIN is a classic reason for regularisation. French Cerfa 15776 helps when the sale is formalised on our side; it does not cure a mute foreign invoice.

Price and mileage must match the title. A violent gap draws a question from the SIE, not an automatic stamp.

Foreign titles in several parts

Germany: Teil I and Teil II. Belgium and the Netherlands: every coupon, including the one left with the seller. A single part is enough for neither the quitus nor the SIV.

The VIN on the title, the invoice and the manufacturer plate must be identical. One wrong character blocks the tax instruction as much as type approval.

Multipart-title detail for the definitive file lives on the foreign-vehicle page. Here: do not send a German front page hoping “it will do”.

Italy: PRA extract and libretto

Italy keeps the PRA (Pubblico Registro Automobilistico) in addition to the libretto. An incomplete Italian title, without a PRA extract when it is required, bounces the quitus.

Our document list explicitly asks for the PRA if the origin is Italian. Get it at purchase, not three weeks later from France.

The PRA is not a substitute for the French certificat fiscal. It is vehicle identity, like a German Teil.

United Kingdom, Switzerland and non-EU: the 846A

Outside the European Union the quitus does not exist. Customs issue an 846A certificate after duties and import VAT. That is the SIV’s tax key for Switzerland, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom after Brexit.

Ordering a quitus “just in case” for UK-spec is a false start. The Brexit import article dates that shift; the registration file stays on the foreign-vehicle page.

Our quitus journey also orients that case: we do not force a 1993 onto a non-EU purchase.

Buyer’s name, co-keeper and hosted applicant

The certificat fiscal is issued in the buyer’s name (and the co-keeper’s if they are on the purchase), not in the Belgian, German or Italian seller’s name. A quitus in the foreign garage’s name does not unlock your SIV.

Hosted applicant: the host’s proof of address, the host’s ID, an accommodation certificate. The French address is the one that will later appear on the carte grise.

Two buyers: both identities. Forgetting one here is as common as an incomplete title.

Companies, leasing and unpaid VAT

A buying company attaches a Kbis. The form is no longer the private individual’s. The SIE may claim VAT if the company car or the lease never bore the tax.

A LOA lessee is not the buyer. Without a transfer from the lessor, a quitus in the driver’s name does not hold.

These cases are handled before the click, not after a refusal. Contact us if the seller is a captive finance company.

Price: €60 agency fee, not the carte grise

At Office Carte Grise the accompaniment fee for the quitus is €60 incl. VAT, paid online. It is not the price of the definitive title, nor tax Y.1, nor the malus.

The tax administration does not usually charge a “quitus stamp”. What you pay here is assembly, document checks, lodging at the right SIE or telematic orientation.

If VAT remains due on a new means of transport, that amount is extra, payable according to the channel (transfer or ANTS card). We do not collect it in the Treasury’s place.

Documents to send us

The core of the service matches the papers the SIE requires, plus the mandate that authorises us and the VIN photo.

• The buyer’s photo ID (national ID card, passport or residence permit)
• French proof of address less than 6 months old
• Signed Cerfa 13757 mandate
• Cerfa 15776 transfer certificate or a complete purchase invoice
• The entire foreign registration certificate (every part)
• PRA extract if the origin is Italy
• A clear photo of the manufacturer plate (readable VIN)

Cerfa 13757 mandate and the document generator

Mandate 13757 names Office Carte Grise to act. Without it we cannot lodge with the tax office or later transmit in the SIV.

Transfer certificate 15776 formalises the sale when the foreign deed is too thin. It does not replace the VIN / price / mileage mentions the SIE requires.

Use the document generator or CERFA forms to avoid crossings-out. An unreadable mandate is a file sent back.

Translations and readability

An invoice or title not in French may need a certified translation. The tax office asks case by case; better to anticipate than wait for regularisation.

Clear photos, edges visible, no finger on the VIN. A front without a back, on a double-sided title, almost always comes back.

The document generator does not invent a translation. It tidies the French Cerfa forms in the file.

VIN, manufacturer plate and matching numbers

The chassis serial number (VIN) must be the same on the title, the invoice, the manufacturer plate and, later, the COC. An O instead of a 0 is a classic.

The plate photo is not a whim: it stops you lodging a 1993 on a mistyped VIN.

That match also serves type approval. The quitus does not “correct” a wrong VIN; it freezes it.

Deadlines after delivery

The tax office asks for the quitus following delivery of the vehicle. Without a certificat fiscal the SIV file does not move: each lost week delays the carte grise, not only the VAT stamp.

Processing time depends on the SIE, the quality of the papers and any VAT still to collect. A complete file leaves faster than a regularisation round-trip.

Start the day you buy in the EU. Temporary WW plates cover driving while you wait; they do not waive the quitus.

Pitfalls that get the file refused

A UK purchase treated as a quitus. A German title with only one Teil. An invoice without VIN or VAT number. A quitus applied for in the seller’s name. Proof of address older than six months. Blurry scans. Form 13757 taken for the 1993.

Four départements emailed to the SIE when the combined ANTS procedure is mandatory. Or the reverse. The channel follows the buyer’s home, not the representative’s.

We re-read VIN, country of purchase and French département before lodging. If in doubt, write rather than paying twice.

European Union countries concerned

The administration lists among others: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czechia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden.

The United Kingdom is no longer on the list. Andorra, Monaco and Switzerland are not the EU for this quitus.

A purchase in a member state + a French tax home = certificat fiscal. Anything else is an 846A or an ordinary change of ownership.

Classics, FFVE and the quitus

An EU import over thirty years still needs the VAT key if it has never been registered in France. The FFVE attestation handles conformity, not the tax.

Conversely, a quitus does not grant classic status. The two pages are ordered in parallel: quitus here, classic registration and FFVE attestation there.

An old UK vehicle takes the 846A, not the 1993.

How we instruct the application

You pay €60 incl. VAT, then upload identity, address, foreign title, mandate, transfer or invoice, VIN photo, PRA where applicable. We read the country of purchase and the French département.

We orient 1993-PART-D-SD / SIE or the four-département telematic procedure, chase a missing paper, and hand you the certificat fiscal once it is issued.

Start at step 2 of the procedure as soon as the foreign title and invoice are readable. A blurry plate scan wastes more time than the payment.

ANTS, SIV, authorised provider: who does what

The tax office issues the quitus. The SIV then records the vehicle. France Titres runs the system. A professional authorised by the Ministry of the Interior transmits the registration file; they do not sign the certificat fiscal in the SIE’s place.

Office Carte Grise is authorised and approved by the Public Treasury. On this service we are the quitus intermediary (€60) then, if you continue, the operator of the definitive title.

No private site “is” ANTS. The VAT paper only leaves the tax administration.

Order the quitus and continue the import

ID, French address, readable foreign title: start at step 2 of the procedure. We obtain the quitus fiscal from the tax office, then you can chain the European certificate of conformity, temporary WW plates and foreign vehicle registration.

The dated 2026 article tells the framework. This page is the order file, the tables and the on-page FAQ. Non-EU purchase, leasing, four départements: contact us before you pay if the case is off the standard path.

If you are a minor or hosted by a third party (parents, a friend, etc.)

• Accommodation certificate signed by your host (download the template)
• Your host's proof of address less than 6 months old
• Your host's valid photo ID: national ID card, passport or residence permit

If there is a co-owner on this vehicle (2 buyers)

• The co-owner's valid photo ID: national ID card, passport or residence permit

If you are a company

• Kbis extract (French company registration certificate)