Moving in-bond French wine from TWS Reserves back to France?

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I am thinking of shipping the remainder of my in-bond fine French wine to my home in France. The Wine Society Export team have been very helpful with a shipping and insurance quote but can not help me with the landing cost details of any VAT, other taxes or excise duty % that will be charged in France. I am assuming that the wine will be treated as if it were sold from a local French supplier with 20% VAT plus €3.98 / hl added to the original purchase price but assumptions are dangerous.

Can any member help me with this French tax question as it could end up being a very expensive mistake. I can not get clarity so far from web searches. This is not the normal situation I’m sure to be shipping French wine back to France… thanks for any advice, experiences or guidance provided.

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I can’t say I have a definitive answer, but I would assume that everything over the personal allowance on goods etc would apply.

I assume you’re already erring on the side of caution, but as a warning my dad has friends who were charged for all manner of things a few months ago - mattresses, paint etc etc - when moving over to France (via Spain I believe) because they hadn’t filled out a pre-declaration. I’d have to check with him, but ISTR the full cost of the goods was charged, not just tax. It’s a bit of a minefield.

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Would it not be possible to get it transferred in bond to a French warehouse and then withdraw it locally? Or is this what the quote from TWS is for?

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I’d consider selling the wine in the UK and then buying more in France with their much more friendly duty rates. I’m sure you’ve considered this, but unless it’s of huge sentimental importance, could be a simpler solution.

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Thank you for your replies. It may be simpler to sell all my in-bond wine in the UK. I have sold quite a large amount of in-bond wine already but was hoping to keep the remainder for personal consumption :slightly_frowning_face:.

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You could just hedge your bets and drive it across … “hidden” , that’s what I would do … but then I’m a bit of a thrill seeker :joy::joy::rofl:

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The personal allowance travelling from UK to France (by ferry then car) seems to be 300e per adult and 150e under 16’s. Which isn’t a lot of wine, assuming your’s is decent. So you could export it gradually a couple of cases at a time?

However I have never ever had my car searched by les douanes going from UK to France (perhaps brexit has changed that?). So perhaps the @Leah option is the way to go !

You say you have sold quite a large amount already in-bond. Out of curiosity… what happens if you sell the rest to yourself (or a friendly Frenchman) and it is shipped directly from the bonded warehouse to your French address? - the very real risk here, is French bureaucracy.

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