VAT

A French number is not always needed.

Q: Does a company established in the EU need a fiscal representative?

No. The obligation in article 289 A du code général des impôts applies to taxable persons established outside the European Union, and it has exemptions of its own. A European company may, however, appoint an agent to handle its filings.

A foreign company selling into France or working there asks first whether it has to register for VAT. Often the answer is no: where the customer is a business identified for VAT in France, the customer accounts for the tax. What remains is a set of cases where registration becomes compulsory, and where missing it costs money.

See when it is compulsory

Registering is not the first move.

The starting rule fits in one sentence. Where the supplier is not established in France and the customer is a taxable person identified for VAT in France, the tax is payable by the customer. That is the reverse charge in the second paragraph of article 283, 1 du code général des impôts.

The mechanism is general and mandatory. The parties cannot agree to set it aside: the foreign supplier invoices without tax and states the reverse charge, and the French customer declares the VAT and deducts it in the same movement.

Plenty of companies register anyway, out of caution or because a customer asked. The number then brings continuing filing obligations, including for months with no activity. An unnecessary registration costs work every month and buys nothing.

The other way round, as soon as a customer is not a taxable person identified in France, the reverse charge falls away and the obligation returns to the supplier. That is the tipping point to identify before the first invoice, not after.

When registration becomes compulsory

Sales to non-taxable customersSupplies of goods or services located in France to private individuals or non-taxable bodies, where they do not go through the one-stop shop.
Intra-EU distance salesAbove 10 000 euros of annual turnover, VAT is due in the buyer’s country. Without opting for the OSS one-stop shop, a French number is required.
Imports into FranceSince 2022 import VAT is declared and reverse-charged on the French VAT return. An importer established outside France therefore needs a French number.
Movements into own stockTransferring goods from another Member State into stock held in France counts as an intra-EU acquisition and has to be declared in France.
Supplies with assembly or installationWhere the customer is not a taxable person identified in France, the reverse charge does not apply and the supply after installation stays with the supplier.

In practice a position rarely tips on its own. It is a new flow — stock moved closer to the customer, a first private buyer, a direct import — that turns a situation with no obligation into one with several.

How registration works

VAT registration of a foreign company with no permanent establishment in France
Step	Where	What is required
Filing	formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr	Company details, legal representative, address abroad, activity, tax options
Documents	attached to the filing	Original articles of association, and either the certificate of VAT registration in the home country or the commercial register extract
Validation	DGFiP, then Insee	The DGFiP validates the filing before it passes to the statistics office
Office responsible	Foreign business tax office	10 rue du Centre, TSA 20011, 93465 Noisy-le-Grand Cedex, +33 1 72 95 20 31

Registration can only take effect from the date taxable transactions begin in France. A number applied for too early is refused.

Companies established outside the European Union appoint a fiscal representative under article 289 A du code général des impôts. Exempt are taxable persons established in a state with which France has a mutual assistance instrument; the list is set out in the arrêté du 15 mai 2013. A company established in the European Union appoints no representative, but may hand its filings to an agent.

What starts once the number exists

The VAT returnForeign companies carrying out taxable transactions in France file on form 3310-CA3.
The recapitulative statementIt covers intra-EU supplies of goods and is filed with customs.
The EMEBI statistical surveySince 2022 the former goods declaration has been split into a tax part, the recapitulative statement, and a monthly statistical survey. The survey reaches only companies in the sample that have received the notification letter; failing to answer on time carries a fine of 75 to 150 euros.

Who does what

Your side

Delivery routes, stock and contracting parties
Invoicing out of your system
The master data of your customers and suppliers

FRADECO

Examining flow by flow whether a French registration becomes necessary
Registering you with the tax office for foreign businesses
Filing VAT returns on the right cycle, with the EMEBI and the recapitulative statement
Reading the invoice wording and the reverse charge
Handling the correspondence and claiming refunds

Our part

Getting the position straight in four steps.

1Map the flowsWho sells what, to whom, from where, with which transport and which Incoterm. That map decides the obligations, not the turnover.
2Settle the registration questionFor each flow, say whether the reverse charge applies, whether the one-stop shop is enough, or whether a French number is needed.
3Prepare the filingThe formality on the portal, supporting documents, start date and, where required, a fiscal representative or an agent.
4Keep the rhythmReturns, recapitulative statement, invoice wording, and an eye on new flows, which often change the answer.

The commercial decision stays yours. We register you, file the returns and handle the correspondence with the foreign business tax office.

When it pays off: before the first invoice. Retrospective registration can be sorted out, but it is sorted out with late interest and a correction customer by customer.

Frequently asked

What we are asked about registering.

The answers cover the situations we see most often at foreign companies working in France without being established there.

The rule

Does a foreign company invoicing a French customer need a French VAT number?

Usually not. If the customer is a taxable person identified for VAT in France, the customer reverse-charges the tax and the supplier invoices without tax. The number becomes necessary where the customer is not identified, or where the transaction falls under another regime.

What has to appear on the invoice under the reverse charge?

The customer’s VAT number, the supplier’s number in its state of establishment, and wording stating that the tax is payable by the recipient. Without that wording the customer receives an invoice it cannot process properly.

Does registration require a permanent establishment?

No. Registration and permanent establishment (“établissement stable”) are separate questions. A company can hold a French number with no physical presence at all, and conversely have a permanent establishment that brings quite different obligations.

Does the OSS one-stop shop remove the need to register in France?

For the transactions it covers, yes: intra-EU distance sales and services to non-taxable persons are declared in a single Member State. Other transactions stay outside it, imports and movements into own stock in particular.

Representation

Does a company established in the EU need a fiscal representative?

No. The obligation in article 289 A du code général des impôts applies to taxable persons established outside the European Union, and it has exemptions of its own. A European company may, however, appoint an agent to handle its filings.

What is the difference between a fiscal representative and an agent?

The fiscal representative is jointly liable for payment of the tax. The agent acts in the name of the company, which remains solely liable. The first is required in certain cases, the second is a matter of organisation.

In practice

How long does registration take?

The filing is validated by the DGFiP and then passed to the statistics office Insee. The time depends on whether the documents are complete: articles of association, certificate of VAT registration or register extract. An incomplete file goes round again, and that is the most common cause of delay.

Can a number be applied for as a precaution?

It can, but it rarely helps. Registration can only take effect from the first taxable transactions, and once granted it brings filing obligations, including for periods with no activity.

What happens if registration was missed?

The VAT due remains due, with late interest. The periods concerned have to be corrected and, depending on the case, the invoicing to customers revisited. The earlier the correction starts, the simpler it is.

Does the goods declaration still exist?

It was split in 2022. The tax part is the recapitulative statement covering intra-EU supplies of goods. The statistical part is the EMEBI survey, answered only by companies in the sample that received the notification letter.

Does the French number change anything for e-invoicing?

Registration alone does not make issuing electronic invoices compulsory: that requires being established in France for VAT purposes. A company that is not established may still fall under e-reporting, depending on the nature of its transactions. The detail is set out on our page on e-invoicing in France.

Related work

The VAT question rarely arrives alone. Two services carry it further.

Tax advisory

Classifying the flows, registration, VAT returns and the wording that belongs on the invoice.

See the service

Setting up in France

When the flows outgrow a bare registration: legal form, registration and the first obligations.