French VAT registration is more complicated and the application is processed more slowly

than other EU states.

But the France site is still important for many e-commerce sellers in EU, so they will not give up.

Foreign companies not established in France but which carry out transactions in France are liable for VAT in France:

- Deliveries and sales of goods in France

- Purchase in France

-Deliveries subject to the distance selling regime, when sales are made from another Member State to France ( if the annual amount, exclusive of taxes, is more than €10,000,previously is €35,000 )

-Certain services provided in France or for the benefit of customers residing or based in France;

A company established in a State outside the European Union that does not have a permanent establishment in France and whose business activity is liable for VAT must appoint a tax representative based in France, who shall accomplish the formalities in your stead.

VAT rate：

There are several types of French VAT：
1）The standard rate is 20%
Applied to most products and service, the common rate for cross border trading in France.

2）Reduced rates, 10% and 5.5%

The 10% rate applies in particular to passenger transport, leasing of furnished house, catering, home improvement, accommodation, hotels, museum, zoo, gallery and so on.

The 5.5% rate applies in particular to foodstuffs, tenement house land, equipment and services for the disabled, gas and electricity subscriptions, books on any medium, ticket sales for live performances and films, and work to improve the energy quality of housing.
3） A special rate of 2.1%

It’s applied to press publications and medicines reimbursed by social security, sales of meat processing, television taxes, certain performance and so on to non-taxable person.

The VAT rate for france outre-mers (DROM) is different with French VAT rate.

 The calculation on French VAT for cross border seller (20% for example, assume no deduction item and other factors):

If you have €1200 monthly revenue, then the VAT you need to pay is €200. (1200/1.2*0.2)

VAT registration：

The documents required to register French VAT :

- Identification card

- Business licence

- Store information website link

- Other documents if required

Attention, the address for VAT registration must match that on the store information in the platform.

Particularly, where the tax representative is, they will submit data and pay taxes to the local tax authority in charge of that region. Tax representative will submit the VAT registration documents to the tax authority. Customer can receives their company number which is SIREN number in a week if the process is relatively fast. This number can be used for Amazon background verification or apply for EORI in France, which is unique for customer's company in France.

However, there are many uncertain factors that can affect processing speed of the registration, such as tax offices’ efficiency, strikes and other factors.

The full registration process: Submit documents, receive VAT number, receive VAT certificate, request activation code, receive activation code, activate VAT account.

Therefore, tax representative should make sure their address can receive letters to avoid losing certificates and activation code letters.

Declaration of French VAT 

As a general rule, VAT returns are filed monthly or quarterly in France, annual VAT filing is also possible. You are allowed to submit VAT returns on a quarterly basis where your annual tax liability is under €4000. It’s better to assess and monitor your business activities before registration.

DEADLINE：

Its required to fulfill tax obligations under French tax law after successfully registers VAT number in France. It mainly includes two aspects: complete the declaration of sales data on time, and pay the VAT tax in full on time.

Most French tax representatives require their clients to declare on a monthly basis, VAT returns must be submitted and paid 24th day of the month following the reporting period. For example the last day to declare sales in May 2021 is on 24^th of June 2021.

Tax representatives require cross-border sellers to submit accurate sales data monthly, and determine VAT amount based on the data. The taxable person must declare on time regardless the revenue of their sales. If the monthly revenue is 0, then the tax payable will be 0, otherwise you need to pay the tax after declaration if you have sales revenue. The reminder letter will be issued if fail to pay the tax on time.

VAT penalties in France:

50% of VAT due if not to filling the declaration. (Failing to declare for the first time in the current year or the previous three years or making a new declaration within 30 days after receiving a reminder letter )

Penalties €150 if fail to filling the return on time. (Failing to declare for the first time in the current year or the previous three years or making a new declaration within 30 days after receiving a reminder letter )

The VAT penalties in France is between 5%-10% and can up to 80% for some terrible situation. We also have clients who have been assessed and been fined 40% of the amount recovered.

PAYMENT:

The payment will be transferred to the tax representative account first after confirming data with sellers. Then the payment will auto deduct from the representative account to the tax office account after filing the tax return.

Change your tax representative：

The documents require to change your tax representative:

- Service contract with the new tax representative

- Authorized documents with the new tax representative

- French VAT relevant documents, VAT return for last 3 monthsand payment voucher. The sales report or sales proof required if the sales are all 0.

- Termination of the authorization from the previous tax representative.

The information of the previous tax representative is necessary.  

The process includes both new and old tax representative’s corresponding tax offices, they may have different efficiency, so it’s hard to estimate the timescale. The fastest process will take 2 weeks.

EORI

The registration of French EORI is through customs official website, its usually takes 1-2 days , the EORI number will be active within 24 hours once issued

Feel free to contact us if you have any problem about French VAT, we are glad to help you.