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Reader Question: We are planning to sell our home in France and move back to the UK. We are not bringing furniture with us but plan to take household items over. Will we face import or export charges?

There are no ‘export charges’ for taking household items out of France into the UK.

As for potential import charges, people moving permanently to the UK can benefit from ‘transfer of residence relief’, which prevents additional taxes (namely VAT) and import duties being levied on most items.

Goods eligible for the relief include personal goods/household items, pets and personal vehicles.

Alcohol, tobacco, commercial vehicles (and large musical instruments used for work) are not eligible, however.

To benefit, the items should all have been in your ownership for at least six months, and you should be moving them within one year of your change of main address to the UK.

You should obtain prior approval from HMRC via a , which includes providing an inventory of items (it does not have to be itemised if there are many similar items: you can write, eg. ‘about 100 books’). You also do not need to give values.

If you use a professional mover, they will usually deal with this paperwork for you.

At the border, you can declare the goods yourself by waiting in the ‘something to declare’ customs area or using red phones at certain ports.

Proof of both your French address and new UK address are required (or if you do not yet have this, a statement from the person you are planning to live with and their proof of address, or proof of temporary accommodation). 

Animals will also need a health certificate, and for vehicles details about the make, model, and registration are needed (note that vehicles are also subject to a specific import declaration to HMRC called a ‘NOVA’, within the first 14 days of a move).