France has simplified its boat paperwork into one document, and most transfers now happen online. The parts a buyer can get wrong are who may register the boat and the annual tax. The part a buyer shouldn't skip is the expert maritime's survey.
One certificate
The Var prefecture's maritime office states that since 1 January 2022 the carte de circulation and the acte de francisation have been replaced by a single document, the certificat d'enregistrement. A change of owner is done on demarches-plaisance.gouv.fr, with a postal route for companies, end-of-lease boats and technical problems with the transfer code. The certificate arrives by email as a signed PDF.
Weblex lists the boats that must be registered: hull length of 7 m or more, under 7 m with an engine of 22 administrative horsepower or more, and personal watercraft of 90 kW or more.
Who can own it
The Var office says the buyer must be a national of an EU or EEA country, with an elected domicile in France. A buyer from elsewhere needs a European co-owner. UK nationals qualify only with a residence permit under the withdrawal agreement.
The sale deed and the deadlines
APRIL Marine's model sale deed, based on service-public.fr, records the boat with its CIN hull number, its engines with serial numbers, the equipment sold with it, the price and payment, and the seller's statement that there are no debts or mortgage on the boat. It also sets out the timing: the seller of a registered boat has one month to inform the customs office, and the buyer then has one month to register the boat.
For the file, the Var office asks for the Fiche Plaisance, a copy of the invoice or sale deed, the previous registration document, ID and proof of address, and the leasing contract if the boat is financed.
The annual tax
Weblex explains that the DAFN is now the taxe annuelle sur les engins maritimes à usage personnel, paid every year before 1 April. Boats under 7 m with small engines are exempt. It's calculated on hull length and engine power, with reductions for older boats. Check when the seller last paid it, and the amount you'll owe.
The expert maritime's survey
For a private boat, the expert maritime's survey is your independent look at its condition. ActuNautique describes the expert maritime's pre-purchase and value surveys as visual and non-destructive: no stripped engine, no cut linings, no drilled hull. Ask the expert to say which areas they couldn't reach, and to estimate the cost of the defects they find. Safety equipment by zone is in Division 240.
More on what's checked in pre-purchase yacht survey, and on becoming an expert in becoming a marine surveyor in France.