Shipping Your Belongings From the UK to France: Customs, Duty Relief and Paperwork (2026)

Since Brexit, a removal van from the UK to France crosses a customs border. Your furniture, books and clothes are not “free movement” goods any more. The good news is that French customs has a relief for people who move their main home to France from outside the EU, and it covers most of what fills a removal lorry.

This guide explains what that relief requires, what to prepare, what stays outside it, and what the UK side expects. It describes the rules as the official pages state them. Customs decides each case, so check your own situation with the officers named at the end.

What the French relief is

When you move your main residence to France from a non-EU country, French customs lets you import your personal belongings without customs duty or VAT. The French customs page on the franchises applicable to a transfer of residence sets this out. The same page notes that moves from another EU country need no special customs formalities. The UK is no longer in that group, so the relief is the route that applies to you.

The relief covers goods you have used privately. They may have been bought with or without taxes, but they must already have borne customs or tax charges in the country you are leaving.

Conditions you must meet

The French customs pages give four tests:

• You have lived in a non-EU country for at least 12 months.
• The goods have been in your private use for at least 6 months before the move.
• You bring the goods into France within 12 months of the date you transfer your residence.
• For 12 months from the day they enter France, you do not sell, rent, lend or pledge the goods without first paying the duties and taxes.

That last point matters if you plan to sell a car or a piece of furniture soon after arriving. Sell it inside the 12 months and the relief no longer protects it.

Several shipments are allowed

You can import your things in one shipment or in several. If you stagger the move, the inventory you file with the first shipment must list every item you ask the relief for. Plan the whole list before the first lorry leaves, not shipment by shipment.

What is not covered

The French customs page on transferring your primary residence lists what falls outside the relief:

• alcoholic products
• tobacco products
• utility vehicles and mixed-use vehicles
• transportable dwellings
• professional equipment, except portable instruments for mechanical arts or liberal professions
• stocks of raw materials and of semi-finished or finished products

Goods bought to furnish a second home in France or elsewhere in the EU do not qualify either. For those, full duties and VAT apply on the declared customs value, and the page asks you to provide transport and insurance invoices.

So the cellar and the cigarettes are not part of the relief. Customs treats them differently from household goods.

The documents customs asks for

The same customs pages name three things to hand over:

• An inventory: detailed, estimated, dated and signed, in two copies.
• Form cerfa 10070: the declaration for entering France duty-free with personal belongings from non-EU countries.
• Proof of your residence: that your main residence was in a non-EU country, and that you are settling in France. The page gives a transfer order for military or civil servants, or a resident or immigrant card, as examples.

In return, customs gives you a stamped copy of the inventory. If you need to register a vehicle in a standard series, it also issues a certificate 846 A. On request it can issue a free movement card.

Keep the stamped inventory with your papers. It is the record that the goods came in under the relief, and the 12-month rule on selling them runs from their entry date.

Writing the inventory

The pages call for a detailed, estimated list, so do not write “50 boxes of kitchen items”. Describe the goods in enough detail for an officer to see what they are, give each an estimated value, and date and sign the document. The pages do not set out a template or a level of detail beyond this, so ask customs or your removal firm what they expect for a large load.

The UK side: taking goods out

HMRC’s guidance on declaring personal goods you bring into or take out of the UK says personal goods, such as personal effects and gifts, do not normally need a formal export declaration. You can declare them by conduct, for example by driving through the green “nothing to declare” channel, or orally, by telling a customs officer what the goods are and their purpose.

Three cautions from that page:

• If you are moving household items without a commercial removal company during a transfer of residence, you must check additional requirements.
• Goods over your personal allowance, prohibited or restricted goods, and goods subject to certain UK restrictions need a full export declaration.
• You should also check the requirements of the country you are travelling to, which may differ from the UK’s.

HMRC’s notice on exports under the Customs (Export) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 adds that, where an individual is permanently moving their residence outside the UK, an export declaration can be made electronically by sending a C21e Customs Clearance Request. The goods must be non-controlled items, for personal use only and not for commercial purposes, and exported as part of a transfer of residence, before or after you relocate. Ask your removal company which route it uses.

HMRC’s National Clearance Hub lists an email address for transfer of residence enquiries: nch.tor@hmrc.gov.uk.

Prohibited and restricted items

The French customs page on travelling to France lists what you cannot or should not pack. These rules apply to what you bring from outside the EU, whether or not you claim the relief.

• Prohibited: illegal drugs, counterfeit goods, meat, milk and their products, and endangered wild plant or animal species.
• Arms and war material: movement across the border is banned without prior authorisation, with some exemptions.
• Medicines: only the amount needed for personal use, covering the prescribed treatment, or three months if there is no prescription.
• Food of animal origin: strictly controlled in luggage or parcels and limited to EU allowances. The page gives diseases such as African swine fever and bird flu as the reason.
• Plants and plant products: from non-EU countries (excluding Andorra, Monaco and Switzerland), they need a phytosanitary certificate, even for a single item. Think twice before packing the garden.
• Cultural goods: exporting them requires documents from the French Ministry for Culture, and imports of non-EU cultural goods are checked.
• Cash and valuables: sums above 10,000 euros, or the foreign currency equivalent, including cash, cheques and gold, must be declared.

Pets are checked by customs on entry to the EU because of diseases such as rabies. They have their own rules: see taking a pet from the UK to France.

Moving a car

Cars and other vehicles are listed separately by French customs, and the page excludes utility and mixed-use vehicles from the relief. Customs issues the certificate 846 A to register a vehicle in a standard series, and the 12-month ban on selling applies to vehicles too. Registration, technical checks and the rest are in the guide on bringing a UK car to France.

A practical order of work

1. Check you meet the 12-month and 6-month tests and the 12-month import deadline.
2. Draw up the inventory of everything you will claim, in two copies, dated and signed.
3. Gather proof of your UK residence and of your move to France.
4. Ask your removal company how it handles the UK export side, or check HMRC’s requirements if you move things yourself. If you are sending only a few bags or boxes rather than a household, a luggage courier such as Send My Bag (our affiliate link) is another route: check on its own page whether it covers your route and what it costs.
5. Remove or separate alcohol, tobacco, food, plants and anything from the lists above.
6. File form cerfa 10070 with customs and keep the stamped inventory.

For the wider move, including visas and the first weeks, see moving to France from the UK.

FAQ

Do I pay customs duty and VAT on my furniture when I move from the UK to France?

Not if you qualify for the relief. French customs allows duty-free and VAT-free import of personal belongings when you move your main residence from a non-EU country, if you meet the time conditions and file the inventory and cerfa 10070.

How long must I have lived in the UK to claim it?

The French customs pages say at least 12 months in a non-EU country. The goods must also have been in your private use for at least 6 months before the move.

How long do I have to bring my things over?

Within 12 months of the date you transfer your residence. You may do it in several shipments, but the first inventory must list everything you claim.

Can I sell something after I arrive?

Not freely. For 12 months from the date the goods enter France you cannot sell, rent, lend or pledge them without first paying the duties and taxes.

Can I bring my wine collection or cigarettes under the relief?

No. Alcoholic and tobacco products are excluded from it.

Do I need an export declaration to leave the UK?

Personal goods do not normally need a formal declaration, but if you move a household without a removal company you must check HMRC’s transfer of residence requirements. HMRC also provides an electronic route (C21e) for permanent moves. Questions go to HMRC’s National Clearance Hub.

Who decides if my goods qualify?

French customs. Infos Douane Service, the customs advice line, is on 0 800 94 40 40 (a free service and call) and +33 1 72 40 78 50 from overseas territories or abroad. The customs home page (read on 17 October 2026) says its advisers are available Monday to Friday, except public holidays, from 8:30 to 18:00, that you can ask to be called back for free, and that written questions are answered within 5 working days.