Taking car to Tunisia from the UK

[Coyote]

Originally Posted by Kris

RS: a plate which allows you to have a car in Tunisia and allows you to sell the car to another rs person.

FCR: Import a car and pay tax on it in the range of 18% percent you are allowed one of these. Car will have Tunisian plates.

1. A commercial enterprise: Not a internet company or service company. This means somthing easy for the customs to understand like a factory etc.
2. Approval from the API: The promotion of industry government body forms to be filled in etc.
3. Approval from the Douane: Yes approval again and they can also say no if they like.

The RS is a just a special case of FCR, so the main term is "FCR", when a Tunisian brings in a car from another country, he can choose between the normal FCR (50% or 75% tax reduction, car can be sold) or the RS (tax exempt, but cannot be sold), the latter is the same RS that foreigners can get as well.

A FCR can only be obtain once in a lifetime when a Tunisian living legally abroad decides to repatriate, multiple other conditions apply (maximum car age is 3 years, his wife is not entitled for an own FCR, etc.).

The rules for RS for foreigners have been strengthened in the past months, they require now eg. offshore companies to have a significant money turn-around which most of the existing companies cannot achieve (actually, many of those companies were only set up to bring 1-5 cars into the country, the required amount is now, I think, in the area of 3000€ per month).

A tourist can bring his car/motorbike (regardless of age) with him and stays tax exempt for 3 months. If he then decides to stay longer in the country, he can prolongue the license 3 times for 3 months each up to a maximum of 12 months altogether and then the car must leave the country for at least 6 months. On the first prolongation one must pay the taxes for the year (including the ones of the first free 3 months). The car will then get a special tunisian number plate, the licenses (permit circulation) have a different color for each 3 months period.
HOWEVER ... certain cars are, when bought in Tunisia, even cheaper than in Europe.

A consulting business is, to my best knowledge, one of the businesses that a foreigner can NOT conduct with Tunisians (but he can do so with non-Tunisians and non-Tunisian companies in Tunisia). They probably consider Internet business a "bodyless" and therefore consulting business - which would not take me wonder, considering the profound non-knowledge and disregard (and governmental suspicioun) of the internet in Tunisia.
So, you should set up an offshore company with consulting services to non-Tunisians or generally outside of Tunisia - or, when your wife is Tunisian, you can go along with a normal Tunisian company in which you would have to hold the minority (but can be an acting director). The internet related businesses are, though, regulated and licensed in multiple ways, at least for the time being...

[Coyote]

Originally Posted by Bigbrother

Anyone ever taken their car to Tunisia from the UK. I’m from London and not sure where my nearest port would be. I’d appreciate knowing what the procedure would what do***ents I’d need to bring.

Thanks!

There is a german website with an list of ferries to Tunisia:

http://www.tninfo.de/tunesienfaehren.htm

The car should be registered in your name (if not, you would need letters of permit etc.) and you must present the "green insurance card" which must explicitely be valid for Tunisia.
They will check the do***ents and check the numbers of the car (chassis number etc.) both when you leave Europe and when you enter Tunisia. In addition, in Tunisia, cars will be checked thouroughly by the customs (the chance to bring in something and not pay taxes are significantly lower with a car).
They will stamp the car into your passport and you will not be allowed to leave the country without the car or an official police declaration of the loss/total damage of your car (there are exeptions to leave the country temporarily in cases of urgency, but for that you will have to apply at the customs and negotiate the terms with them).

Ferry prices will be the highest in July/August TO Tunisia and in August/September FROM Tunisia.

In general, considering all costs, when you stay only 3-4 weeks, it is definitely less expensive to rent a car in Tunisia than to bring your own car (from UK) with you.

[Tounsia]

my dad always goes by car from london.
It would prob be best to drive to marseille then get the ferry from there, but my dad drives to my uncles house in france, rests for a night then they both drive through Italy and get the ferry from there.
It depends if your taking much, because we have a house there hamdullah we are constantly buying things for it so Im sure you can imagine how packed the car is, if its just to have a car to drive around you are def better off renting a car, its too much hassle to drive

[Cathibou]

Don't be put off by the distance I arrived in Tunisia last week after travelling with my 2 children through Europe and taking a ferry from Rome, It is part of the holiday and a wonderful experience for the family

[sooh]

I dont know if you can answer any of my questions but, in may I took a disabled lady and her car to Tunisia where she has been living but is not resident, my husband had an accident in the UK and i had to return urgently. As the car was stamped on my friends passport she stayed in Tunis and is still there.
She has been told she can get Tunisian Number plates for it and the car can stay whilst she visits the UK providing she leaves the keys at the airport.
This all seems very dodgy to me and reading thru the forums seems to be very expensive way of doing things. Any news ideas would be gratefully recieved.

Originally Posted by Coyote

There is a german website with an list of ferries to Tunisia:

http://www.tninfo.de/tunesienfaehren.htm

The car should be registered in your name (if not, you would need letters of permit etc.) and you must present the "green insurance card" which must explicitely be valid for Tunisia.
They will check the do***ents and check the numbers of the car (chassis number etc.) both when you leave Europe and when you enter Tunisia. In addition, in Tunisia, cars will be checked thouroughly by the customs (the chance to bring in something and not pay taxes are significantly lower with a car).
They will stamp the car into your passport and you will not be allowed to leave the country without the car or an official police declaration of the loss/total damage of your car (there are exeptions to leave the country temporarily in cases of urgency, but for that you will have to apply at the customs and negotiate the terms with them).

Ferry prices will be the highest in July/August TO Tunisia and in August/September FROM Tunisia.

In general, considering all costs, when you stay only 3-4 weeks, it is definitely less expensive to rent a car in Tunisia than to bring your own car (from UK) with you.

[Coyote]

Originally Posted by sooh

She has been told she can get Tunisian Number plates for it and the car can stay whilst she visits the UK providing she leaves the keys at the airport.

Yes, that is a correct information. There are footholds though. 1) you have to pay the taxes in Tunisia for the remainder of the year - standard procedure when you stay more than 3 months. 2) She needs a special permit to leave the car when she travels home for an emergency - this is issued in Tunis, in a customs office near the central bank near the town center. o get the permit, she should bring as many information as possible, car papers, plane ticket etc. - caution: you first need to fill out an application, then have that legislated (in another place) and THEN you will receive the permit; if they have not changed this procedure since 2006, it is almost impossible to do that in one day since the office has tight opening hours.

[ammoun]

Getting tunisian plates is quite expensive !!!!

What is the car's model ?

[Coyote]

Not really - in the highest regions of car classes, it would be like 100 Dinar/month.

In the cheapest classes are cars that consume Diesel and are small (like Polo, Peugeot 104, etc).

[RachaelLahmar]

Hi Guys,

Thinking of going to tunisia by ferry. Just a silly question really where is marseille?? How would we get there? My nearest Port is Dover could drive to others though.

Also can you take anything you want in the back of ther car? Or will it all be checked by the duan in Tunis?

Thanks in advance

[sparkle]

hi there hun. marseille is in france. hubby recently drove to tunisia with his friends they loved it stopping off on the way to take in some sites. not sure about regulations on what you can and cannot take but they had all the normal luggage that you would take on a plane, im sure its just the normal duty free laws as on a plane.
im going to drive there one day with hubby and were gonna stop off, he said they saw some lovely sights x he flew to amsterdam and meet the guys and his friend drove, they went through italy and switzerland x x