France
This guide is for e-commerce companies that sell online via web stores or at marketplaces.
Provinces
Goods
Provinces
Goods
Digital services
About
Goods
About
Goods
About
Digital services
About
Digital services
Goods
Digital services
Goods
Digital services
VAT Standard rate
The standard VAT rate in France in 2024 is 20%.VAT Reduced rate
10%- Сertain products and services are eligible for the special reduced rate, including food, pharmaceutical products, hotel accommodation, and pay/cable TV.
- Certain products and services are eligible for the special reduced rate, including books, non-alcoholic beverages, admission to sports events
- Сertain products and services are eligible for a special reduced rate, including newspapers and periodicals, television license fees, and admission to cultural events.
Effective since 1 January 2015.
The law (article 259 C of the French VAT Code) brings the place of supply to France on services when a customer is a non-taxable person established or domiciled in France, the supplier is outside the EU and the service is effectively used and enjoyed in France.
VAT Standard rate
The standard VAT rate in France in 2024 is 20%.VAT Reduced rate
- 5,5% e-books;
- 2,1% e-newspapers;
- 10% offers TV seule.
VAT calculation peculiarity
VAT= Total revenue * 20/120.
VAT Standard rate
20%
VAT Reduced rate
10%, 5.5%, 2.1%
Thresholds
€10,000
Thresholds
From the 1st of July 2021, the distance selling thresholds were withdrawn and replaced by a unified threshold of EUR 10,000 for all EU members. In other words, VAT should be charged at the VAT rate of the customer’s country of residence by companies whose annual taxable cross-border turnover is over EUR 10,000.Deductible VAT
If goods or services were used to make taxable supplies in France, VAT in input invoices might be credited. Examples include:- VAT paid at custom clearance with your EORI number;
- VAT paid to French suppliers.
Registration procedure
When a company has the obligation to register, the owners will be required to complete and submit a VAT registration form, along with supporting documentation:- Certificate of incorporation (along with the translation into French);
- Trade register extract (along with the translation into French);
- Articles of Associations (along with the translation into French of the main provisions).
Tax representative
Taxable companies established outside the European Union are obliged to appoint fiscal representatives in order to handle all formalities related to VAT registration and filling except for the following countries:- Antigua and Barbuda,
- Armenia,
- Aruba,
- Australia,
- Azerbaijan,
- Bosnia-Herzegovina,
- Cabo Verde,
- Cook Islands,
- Curaçao,
- Dominica,
- Ecuador,
- Faroe Islands,
- French Polynesia,
- Georgia,
- Ghana,
- Greenland,
- Grenada,
- India,
- Iceland,
- Jamaica,
- Japan,
- Kenya,
- Kuwait,
- Mauritius,
- Mexico,
- Moldavia,
- Nauru,
- New Zealand,
- Niue,
- North Macedonia,
- Norway,
- Pakistan,
- Republic of Korea,
- Saint Barthelemy,
- Saint-Martin,
- Sint-Maarten,
- South Africa,
- Tunisia,
- United Kingdom,
- Northern Ireland,
- Ukraine,
- Vanuatu.
Keeping records
Records must be kept by the taxable person or by the keeper of its accounts. If goods or services were used to make taxable supplies in France, VAT in input invoices might be credited. Examples include:- Although the legal obligation stipulates preserving invoices for 6 years, it is common practice for the issuer and recipient to keep the original documents for at least 10 years due to the different interpretations that may be drawn from the specifications set forth in the different French codes.
Sales list
The European sales list must be submitted monthly before the 10th business day of the month following the reporting month. There are no other reporting periods in France.VAT payment date
Periodical VAT payments are due on a monthly or a quarterly basis. The VAT due must be paid before the 19th day of the month following the period.Filing VAT returns
A taxpayer must transmit VAT returns to the Service des impôts des entreprises étrangères (SIEE) by electronic means. The Lovat platform supports digital submission. The tax period is one month or one quarter. VAT returns must be filed by electronic means before the 19th of the month following the relevant period. Filling annual VAT returns is not applicable. Companies can also keep track of deadlines at the Lovat portal.VAT rates in the autonomous regions of France
Guadeloupe (GLP), Martinique (MTQ), and Reunion (REU): 8.5% standard rate, and 2.1%; 1.75% or 1.05% reduced rate. French Polynesia (PYF): 16% standard rate, 13% and 5% reduced rate. Corsica (north and south) (FR-20): 20% standard rate, and 13%; 10%; 2.10% or 0.90% reduced rate. For some territories, VAT is not applicable:- Mayotte (MYT)
- Wallis et Futuna (WLF)
- Saint-Pierre et Miquelon (SPM)
- Saint-Martin (MAF)
- Saint-Barthélemy (BLM) (VAT only applies to real estate)
- Terres australes et antarctiques francaises (ATF)
- Clipperton (CPT)
- Nouvelle Caledonie (NCL)
- Guyane (GUF)
| Region | Code | Country Code | Standard Rate | Reduced Rate | ||||
| Guadeloupe | GLP | FR-GP | 8,50% | 2,10% | 1,75% | 1,05% | ||
| Martinique | MTQ | FR-MQ | 8,50% | 2,10% | 1,75% | 1,05% | ||
| Reunion | REU | FR-RE | 8,50% | 2,10% | 1,75% | 1,05% | ||
| French Polynesia | PYF | FR-PF | 16% | 13% | 5% | |||
| Corsica (north and south) | FR-20 | 20% | 13% | 10% | 2,10% | 0,90% | ||
| Mayotte | MYT | FR-YT | not | |||||
| Wallis et Futuna | WLF | FR-WF | not | |||||
| Saint-Pierre et Miquelon | SPM | FR-PM | not | |||||
| Saint-Martin | MAF | FR-MF | not | |||||
| Saint-Barthélemy | BLM | FR-BL | VAT is only applicable to real estate in Saint-Barthélemy. | |||||
| Terres australes et antarctiques francaises | ATF | FR-TF | not | |||||
| Clipperton | CPT | FR-CP | not | |||||
| Nouvelle Caledonie | NCL | FR-NC | not | |||||
| Guyane | GUF | FR-GF | not | |||||
E-Invoicing in France
The obligation to receive electronic invoices will apply from 1 September 2026. This date could be postponed by decree to 1 December 2026 at the latest.Timeline:
September 1, 2026:- Issuing e-invoices: Mandatory for companies larger than 5.000 employees AND larger than €1.5B revenue or €2B annual balance sheet total and mid-cap companies medium-sized companies with high turnover (ETI) between 5.000 and 250 employees AND below €1.5B revenue or €2B annual balance sheet total AND above €50M revenue or €43M balance sheet total.
- Receiving e-invoices: Mandatory for all VAT-registered businesses, regardless of size.
- Issuing e-invoices becomes mandatory for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Companies below 250 employees AND below €50M revenue or €43M balance sheet total and also for companies below 10 employees AND below €2M revenue/ balance sheet total.
Threshold
The tax threshold is €0 for digital services.Pieces of evidence
To identify customer location merchant has to collect at least two items on non-contradictory evidence. And if two of them are in France, the customer may be determined as French:- Customer’s permanent address;
- Billing address (bank or electronic payment operator);
- IP address;
- Telephone number;
- The location of the customer’s fixed landline through which the service is supplied to him;
- Other commercially relevant information.
E-services list
A digital product is any product that’s stored, delivered, and used in an electronic format. These are goods or services that the customer receives via email, by downloading them from the Internet, or through logging into a website, in particular:- E-books, images, movies, and videos, whether buying a copy from Shopify or using a service like Netflix. In tax language, these products are in a category usually called, «Audio, visual, or audio-visual products»;
- Downloadable and streaming music, whether buying an MP3 or using a service like Sound Cloud or Spotify. Of course, these products also fall in the audio category;
- Cloud-based software and as-a-Service products, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS);
- Websites, site hosting services, and internet service providers;
- Online ads and affiliate marketing;
- Online auctions.
Registration procedure
Registration becomes effective on the first day of the quarter following the registrant’s application for registration. Apply for registration. So there’s Form No. 3563 in both French and English that you must fill out first; As a general rule, the following documents will be requested but depending on the individual company and its activity there may be follow-up questions or requests for additional documents:- Copy of the extract from the national trade register in your country (less than 3 months old);
- Scan of the original articles of association – Uncertified free translation of the articles of association into French;
- The document serves as proof of your company’s bank account details abroad.
Keeping records
Records about performed transactions must be kept in order to check the correctness of tax returns and payments. These records must be made available to the DGFiP or the responsible central authority of the other EU Member States by electronic means on request. The retention period for the records is ten years.VAT payment date
French quarterly VAT for a non-resident company is due on the 20th of the month following the period. The value date of a payment by transfer is the date on which the amount of the transfer was credited to the ‘Banque de France’ account of the accountant in charge of the recovery. You should check with your bank, if necessary, on the funds transfer deadline and thus anticipate your transfer in order to avoid penalties for late payment.Filing VAT returns
EU VAT returns are due quarterly. At the end of each quarter, you have 20 days to file and pay whatever you owe:- 20 April, for the first quarter ending 31 March;
- 20 July, for the second quarter ending 30 June;
- 20 October, for the third quarter ending 30 September;
- 20 January, for the fourth quarter ending 31 December.
E-Invoicing in France
The obligation to receive electronic invoices will apply from 1 September 2026. This date could be postponed by decree to 1 December 2026 at the latest.Timeline:
September 1, 2026:- Issuing e-invoices: Mandatory for companies larger than 5.000 employees AND larger than €1.5B revenue or €2B annual balance sheet total and mid-cap companies medium-sized companies with high turnover (ETI) between 5.000 and 250 employees AND below €1.5B revenue or €2B annual balance sheet total AND above €50M revenue or €43M balance sheet total.
- Receiving e-invoices: Mandatory for all VAT-registered businesses, regardless of size.
- Issuing e-invoices becomes mandatory for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Companies below 250 employees AND below €50M revenue or €43M balance sheet total and also for companies below 10 employees AND below €2M revenue/ balance sheet total.
Subscribe to the newsletter
No spam, only interesting news