ADII MCV guide: finding the official taxable value

Last verified: 3 October 2026. This guide helps you find the official taxable value of a vehicle and keep a record of your consultation. AutoDouane is independent of ADII; we do not choose a variant on your behalf.

In brief: under the MCV method, customs starts from the make, the mine type (type mine) and the date of first circulation (première mise en circulation), retrieves the new-condition value (valeur à l’état neuf) recorded in BADR-MCV, applies the age-related reduction (abattement de vétusté), then displays the taxable value and the duties and taxes. The value does not start from your purchase invoice. For the sequence of taxes, see how to calculate the customs duties on a car.

What is the MCV for?

The MCV is the consultation service of the Administration des Douanes et Impôts Indirects (ADII) for vehicle customs clearance. It lets you consult an official estimate based on the vehicle and the parameters selected. The portal can be reached from the customs website: open the official MCV. A consultation does not replace the decision of the office handling your file.

The RDII, part V.18.02, describes a valuation based on the administrative references recorded in BADR-MCV. The make, the type and the first circulation date are used in the search. The purchase invoice must therefore not be copied as if it were automatically the taxable value. The references may come from the market guide (argus) of the country of production, or of the country of marketing where the former is not available. ADII source: RDII V.18.02.01–02.

Prepare your documents before choosing a model

Use your registration certificate and, when available, the vehicle’s certificate of conformity. Note the make, the commercial designation, the type or mine type and the exact date of first circulation. To check the match, also compare the engine, fuel, power, body, gearbox and trim level. These last items are practical checkpoints: not all of them are necessarily displayed as fields by the MCV.

A model year is not the date of first circulation. A shared commercial designation may cover several configurations. The VIN may help ADII identify your vehicle; do not send it to AutoDouane and do not post it in a comment. Keep the original documents for exchanges with the competent bodies.

Finding the consultation and reading the right amounts

1. Open the ADII MCV and choose the category that really matches your vehicle.
2. Select the make, the designation and then the available type. Compare the labels with your documents; do not settle for the closest model just to get a figure.
3. Enter the first circulation date and the regime that matches your situation. Do not choose an MRE benefit or a preference of origin without confirming its conditions.
4. Read the reference value, the taxable value and the duties and taxes separately. They are different pieces of information.
5. Keep the result, the labels selected, the date of the consultation and the assumptions. If a gearbox, a year or a type is not distinguished, ask ADII for confirmation.

What if the variant is missing or ambiguous?

A concrete example: the Golf 8 page distinguishes generation, the 2024 update, engine, trim and transmission. The commercial label alone is not enough to confirm an official match.

The RDII provides for the value-control service to step in when several values are possible, as well as for treatments of types that are not listed. That assessment belongs to the administration. AutoDouane does not replace that step with a match based only on the model name, the power or a manufacturer code prefix. A value found for another vehicle is not a confirmed basis for yours.

The official valuation method

ADII’s basis is not the purchase price abroad. It is the new-condition value (valeur à l’état neuf) associated with the vehicle in BADR-MCV, determined from the international market guides (argus) of the country of production or, failing that, of the country of marketing. To determine the taxable value, the service enters the make, the mine type and the date of first circulation. If the mine type appears in BADR-MCV, the system determines the duties and taxes; otherwise the vehicle may be taxed by assimilation to another type matching the imported model; if several values exist, the value-control service assesses the case. RDII V.18.02.01.

The method, published by ADII, must be distinguished from the value per variant, which only the official consultation provides. AutoDouane never guesses it: not the purchase price, not a German listing, not a European market quote, not a seller’s invoice, not a presumed catalogue value, not an unofficial age reduction.

Why the mine type matters in BADR-MCV

According to RDII V.18.02.01, the service enters the make, the mine type and the date of first circulation. If that type appears in BADR-MCV, the system determines the duties and taxes; otherwise the vehicle may be taxed by assimilation to a type matching the imported model, and the value-control service assesses the cases where several values exist. The mine type is therefore the key that links your vehicle to a reference value: the same commercial designation may cover several types.

MCV value or purchase price: why the foreign invoice is not enough

The purchase price is the result of a transaction between a seller and a buyer. The MCV rests on a new-condition reference value attached to a type and to a date of first circulation, followed by the age-related reduction. The two amounts can therefore differ, and AutoDouane never converts one into the other. The invoice remains useful for your budget; it does not replace the MCV consultation.

The ordinary age-related reduction

RDII V.18.02.02 (ADII document 30908) applies to the new-condition value coefficients “according to the exact age of the vehicle concerned (the day and the month) from the date of first circulation”: under one year, 0%; from 1 year to 2 years, 10%; from 2 years to 3 years, 20%; over 3 years, 25%. The bands overlap at anniversaries (“from 1 year to 2 years”, “from 2 years to 3 years”). The ADII text mentions neither “365.25” nor a fractional age; it only defines a scale by exact age, with overlapping bands.

The public MCV simulator, for its part, computes age as days divided by 365.25 (behaviour observed in its client code, not a legal rule): exactly 1 year or less gives 0%, up to 2 years 10%, up to 3 years 20%, beyond that 25%. AutoDouane reproduces this operational calculation for the ordinary scale; we checked it on 3 October 2026 against 24 controlled dates, including periods containing a 29 February, with the same result in every case. BADR’s behaviour is not shown to be identical: in case of doubt, the MCV and ADII prevail. Observed example: first circulation on 3 October 2023, consultation on 3 October 2026 (1,096 days, a period containing 29 February 2024): 25%.

This scale applies to ordinary valuation; it must not be confused with the ageing applied to a permanent return, the 90% MRE reduction or diplomatic regimes, nor with the eligibility age limit, which answers a different question. No general sentence fixes the date at which age stops being measured, but the worked examples in circular 5740/200 compare the first circulation with the declaration date: AutoDouane measures age up to the declaration date you enter, using the operational calculation described above.

Using the value in AutoDouane

In the assisted estimate (FR), enter the official taxable value read from the MCV (already net of the reduction). AutoDouane then calculates DI, TPI, proportional stamp duty and VAT when their rule is verified, and displays UNKNOWN otherwise. You can also enter the new-condition reference value and the two dates (first circulation, declaration): under ordinary law, AutoDouane then calculates the exact age, the band and the ordinary reduction, without ever guessing the reference value. Without an official value, you can enter a hypothetical value: the result is an indicative simulation. That value remains data declared by you, not authenticated.

Limits and further checks

Is your listing short on detail? The Clio V page helps tell apart generation and registration date; the Duster page structures the comparison of generation, engine and transmission. Resolve these differences before settling on an MCV label.

The customs category, preferential origin, MRE benefits and application dates call for separate checks. A purchase in Europe is not enough to establish a preference of origin. This guide concerns the preparation of a personal consultation; the RDII distinguishes in particular new unregistered vehicles imported by brand dealers. The rules on homologation and registration remain separate.

Choose your MRE path · Permanent return and ageing · Prepare customs clearance · Our verification method (FR)

Sources and scope: ADII MCV consulted on 1 October 2026; RDII V.18.02, document 30908, re-read the same day. The effective date of the RDII document is not established in our file: AutoDouane calculates no vehicle value. BADR user guide (document 59598, version 3.0 of October 2020) re-read on 3 October 2026: it describes no age calculation.

Special cases: choosing the right line for an electric car, telling hybrid and mild hybrid apart and preparing a purchase in Germany before the deposit.

To prepare the MCV consultation before a purchase, see the checklist; to place the value in the overall budget, the cost guide.