A foreign founder can reach a practical impasse a few days after incorporating in France: the customer is ready to pay, the company has started performing, but the French VAT number has not yet appeared in the tax administration’s records. The answer is not to place the business on hold or to issue a personal invoice. A French company normally still has to document a taxable sale or service when the transaction takes place. The difficult question is the VAT treatment of that transaction, not the mere existence of a number that is still being activated.

This distinction matters for a company formed as a SAS (société par actions simplifiée, a simplified joint-stock company), a SARL (société à responsabilité limitée, a limited-liability company), or a French establishment of a foreign company. The SIREN identifies the legal entity, the SIRET identifies the entity and its establishment, and the VAT identification number is a tax identifier built from the French country code, two control digits and the SIREN. A Kbis is the official extract from the French trade and companies register; it is not itself a VAT certificate. The company must also distinguish an invoice before tax (HT, hors taxes) from the total including tax (TTC, toutes taxes comprises), and must not invent a VAT number while waiting for the tax office.

The safe approach is to classify the customer and the transaction, issue a compliant invoice in the name of the company, state the applicable VAT regime, keep proof of the identification request, and issue a specific corrective document if a missing identifier or an incorrect tax treatment must later be repaired.

I. Can a foreign founder issue the first invoice before the French VAT number is active?

A. The invoice obligation and the difference between registration and VAT identification

The first point is commercial: a company does not acquire a right to retain the customer’s money merely because its administrative file is incomplete. French invoicing rules attach the obligation to the delivery of goods, the performance of services and, in defined cases, the receipt of an advance. Article 289 of the French General Tax Code requires an assujetti, meaning a person carrying on an independent economic activity for VAT purposes, to ensure that an invoice is issued for relevant supplies to another taxable person or to a non-taxable legal person. It also states that an invoice is, in principle, issued when the supply or service is performed and that a document modifying the original invoice must refer to that invoice specifically and unambiguously.

The commercial rule is reinforced for professional transactions by Article L441-9 of the French Commercial Code. Its opening sentence is direct: “Tout achat de produits ou toute prestation de service pour une activité professionnelle fait l’objet d’une facturation.” In English, a professional purchase or service must be invoiced. The same provision requires the seller to issue the invoice when the delivery or service is completed and exposes a legal entity to an administrative fine of up to €375,000 for a breach, with a higher ceiling in case of repetition.

That obligation is not suspended simply because the tax administration has not yet activated the VAT number. The official Service-Public guidance on mandatory invoice information expressly deals with a company still being registered: the invoice is issued in the company’s name, with the wording “Siret en cours d’attribution” where the SIRET is not yet available. The expression means that the establishment number is pending allocation. It does not authorise the founder to substitute a personal number, a parent company’s number or a guessed sequence of digits.

The legal entity must remain clear on every document. The invoice should identify the company’s legal name, registered office, legal form, share capital where required by the applicable rules, registration information when available, customer, invoice date, unique sequential number, delivery or service date, exact description, quantity, unit price and payment terms. If the SIREN or SIRET has already been issued, it should be shown. If the SIRET is genuinely pending, the invoice can say so. Once the number is available, the company should determine whether a corrective invoice is useful or required, particularly if the customer needs the final identifier for accounting, procurement or VAT recovery.

This is why a Kbis, a SIRET and a VAT identification number must not be treated as interchangeable. The Kbis proves registration data recorded by the greffe, the court registry responsible for the register of companies. The SIREN and SIRET are statistical and establishment identifiers allocated through the business registration process. The VAT number supports the administration of VAT obligations and cross-border controls. A company can be commercially active while one of those identifiers is still being transmitted between the Guichet unique, the French one-stop shop for business formalities operated through the Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI), and the tax administration.

The founder should therefore make four checks before sending the invoice:

• Is the contracting party the French company, the foreign parent or a separate French branch? The invoice must follow the entity that made the supply.
• Has the company received a SIREN or SIRET, or is the establishment identifier still pending? The invoice must state the factual position without manufacturing a number.
• Is the customer a business or a private consumer, and where is the customer established? The answer can change the place-of-supply rule.
• Is the company liable for French VAT, under the franchise in base, or required to use an exemption or reverse-charge mechanism? Registration status alone does not answer that question.

The official impots.gouv.fr page on VAT registration is useful evidence for the file. The founder should retain the application, the tax office’s messages, the company’s registration documents, the contract, delivery evidence and the draft invoice. If the tax office later asks why a transaction occurred before activation, the file should show that the company acted transparently and applied the correct substantive rule.

B. Which VAT wording belongs on the invoice while the number is pending?

The second point is tax classification. A pending VAT identifier does not automatically mean that the company is exempt, and it does not automatically mean that it must add French VAT to every invoice. The company must first identify the operation and the status of the customer.

For a domestic sale or service supplied in France to a French business, the company normally determines whether French VAT is due under the ordinary rules, an exemption, an option or the franchise in base. If the company is genuinely under the franchise in base, Article 293 B of the French General Tax Code provides that qualifying businesses are relieved from payment of VAT while their French turnover remains below the applicable thresholds. The invoice must then use the correct no-VAT wording, commonly “TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI”, where CGI means Code général des impôts, the French General Tax Code. A company must not use that wording merely because its VAT number is delayed.

If the company is subject to VAT and the domestic transaction is taxable, the fact that the number is pending does not erase the tax due. The applicable rate, taxable base and amount must be calculated correctly. The invoice can explain that the SIRET or VAT identifier is pending, but it should not display a fictitious French VAT number. The customer should be warned that the final invoice may need a specific correction once the administration confirms the identifier.

There is a serious reason to avoid adding VAT casually. Article 283, paragraph 3, of the General Tax Code provides that a person who mentions VAT on an invoice is liable for that tax solely because it was invoiced. The Court of Cassation applied the same logic in its commercial chamber judgment of 25 March 2020, appeal no. 18-19.355. The Court wrote: “la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA) est acquittée par la personne qui effectue l’opération imposable et que c’est le professionnel qui la facture qui en est redevable.” The quotation is from the verified reasons of the decision, available on Cour de cassation, appeal no. 18-19.355. The practical consequence is simple: do not put VAT on the invoice as a placeholder for an administrative number. Put VAT on the invoice only when the transaction is taxable and the company is responsible for collecting it.

For a business customer established in another European Union member state, the result can be different. For general business-to-business services, Article 259 of the General Tax Code generally locates the service where the taxable customer has its business establishment, subject to the relevant exceptions. Article 259 describes the general place-of-supply rule. When the customer is liable for tax in its own state, the invoice may be issued without French VAT and carry the wording “Autoliquidation”, meaning reverse charge: the customer declares the tax in its state. The company must obtain and verify the customer’s VAT identifier, use the correct evidence, and ensure that it is itself identified where French law requires identification for the cross-border service.

The invoice information rule appears in Article 242 nonies A of Annex II to the General Tax Code. The provision lists the seller’s individual VAT identification number, the customer’s VAT number for specified intra-EU supplies, and the “Autoliquidation” wording when the customer is liable for the tax. It also provides limited exceptions: invoices of €150 HT or less and invoices issued by businesses under the franchise in base may omit certain VAT-number and exemption references. Those exceptions must be read narrowly. They are not a general licence to omit information from a high-value cross-border invoice.

For intra-EU goods, the conditions are stricter. Article 262 ter of the General Tax Code links exemption of an intra-EU supply to transport to another member state and to the buyer being identified for VAT and communicating its number. The Court of Cassation’s commercial chamber, in its judgment of 10 February 2015, appeal no. 12-28.770, explained the evidential position: “un assujetti à la TVA disposant de justificatifs de l’expédition de biens à destination d’un autre Etat membre et du numéro d’identification à la TVA de l’acquéreur est présumé avoir effectué une livraison intra-communautaire exonérée.” The verified decision is available at Cour de cassation, appeal no. 12-28.770. The company should not label an intra-EU goods invoice as exempt until it can establish the transport and identification conditions.

For an imported service or a service supplied by a foreign company without a French establishment, the reverse-charge analysis can also differ. Article 283, paragraph 2, of the General Tax Code places the VAT liability on the recipient for services within Article 259 supplied by a person not established in France. The official impots.gouv.fr guide for an EU business supplying France explains that a business established in an EU member state without a French fixed establishment may have to identify, declare and pay French VAT for operations taxable in France, while some transactions are reverse-charged to the French customer. The company must decide whether the invoice is issued by the new French company or by the foreign parent before choosing the wording.

Finally, the timing of the transaction matters. Article 269 of the General Tax Code separates the taxable event from the point at which VAT becomes payable. For services, VAT is generally linked to payment unless the business has opted for payment on debits, while advance payments can trigger tax at the time they are received. A foreign founder should not postpone classification simply because the tax number is pending: the company must record the event, the advance, the payment and the VAT treatment in the period to which the law assigns them.

II. What should a foreign founder do when the VAT number is delayed?

A. A practical file for the first invoice and the later correction

The following sequence is designed for a founder managing the company from abroad. It separates the work that must happen before invoicing from the work that can happen after the French VAT identifier is activated.

First, identify the supplier. A French SAS or SARL that signed the contract must invoice in its own name. A foreign parent that merely funds the French subsidiary must not use its own VAT number as if it were the French supplier. Conversely, a foreign company supplying the customer directly must not automatically issue an invoice under the French subsidiary’s name. The contract, order, delivery evidence, bank account and accounting entries should all tell the same story.

Second, confirm the company’s registration position. Download the most recent Kbis if one exists. Record the SIREN, the SIRET of the relevant establishment, the registration court and the date on which the company began its economic activity. If the SIRET is still pending, use the official wording “Siret en cours d’attribution” rather than an invented placeholder. The INPI business formalities portal is the starting point for tracking the filing made through the Guichet unique. The founder should keep the filing receipt and any request for correction.

Third, ask the tax office for the VAT regime in writing. The request should state the legal name, SIREN, registered office, actual activity, expected turnover, customer locations, expected start date, whether the company buys goods or services cross-border, and whether it wants an option where the law allows one. Include the dates of the first contract, first delivery, first advance and intended invoice. A generic message saying “please send my VAT number” is less useful than a complete classification file. If the business has an accountant, the accountant’s written analysis should be kept with the tax office correspondence.

Fourth, classify the customer. Record whether the customer is:

• a French business identified for VAT;
• a French private customer;
• a business established in another EU member state;
• a customer outside the EU;
• a foreign business purchasing goods that move from France to another member state; or
• a foreign company receiving a service through a French fixed establishment.

The words “foreign customer” are not enough. A United Kingdom business, for example, is not in the EU VAT territory after Brexit, while an Irish or German business is. A private customer and a taxable business may receive different treatment. The founder should obtain the customer’s legal name, address, business status and VAT number when the applicable rule requires it. A failed VAT-number verification should be saved rather than silently ignored.

Fifth, prepare the invoice in two layers. The first layer contains the commercial and company information: company name, address, legal form, capital if required, registration details, invoice number, dates, service description, quantity, HT price, payment deadline, late-payment interest and the fixed recovery indemnity where the professional invoicing rules apply. The second layer contains the tax information: VAT rate and amount, exemption reference, franchise wording, reverse-charge wording, customer VAT number, or evidence that the number is not required for the operation. If the company is waiting for its own number, write the factual pending status in a visible and restrained way; do not replace a required number with a random value.

Sixth, decide whether the first document is final or provisional. The word “provisional” should not be used to hide a tax error. An invoice for a completed service is a real invoice. If the company later needs to add the official SIRET or VAT number, it should issue a corrective document that identifies the original invoice and specifies the change. Article 289, paragraph 5 treats a document that modifies the initial invoice and refers to it specifically and unambiguously as an invoice. The reference should not create a second sale, a second VAT liability or an unexplained change in the payment amount.

Seventh, record the transaction in the VAT file. Article 287 of the General Tax Code requires a VAT debtor identified under the relevant rules to submit a VAT return, with monthly, quarterly or simplified arrangements depending on the regime. The fact that the number was activated after the invoice does not erase the taxable event. The company should reconcile the invoice, payment, VAT return, customer ledger and bank receipt. If the transaction is reverse-charged, the return must reflect the operation in the appropriate field and the invoice must say so.

Eighth, protect input VAT separately from output VAT. A founder may have paid incorporation costs, software, professional fees or equipment before the VAT number was issued. The right to recover input VAT is not the same as the right to issue an output invoice. Article 271 of the General Tax Code makes deduction conditional on taxable operations, compliant invoices and the relevant timing. In its 23 November 2022 judgment, appeal no. 21-13.613, the Court of Cassation held that a company “n’avait pas perdu sa qualité d’assujettie du seul fait de sa cessation d’activité” and could, subject to a direct and immediate link and the absence of fraud or abuse, recover VAT connected with ending its activity. The verified judgment appears at Cour de cassation, appeal no. 21-13.613. The case concerned liquidation, not a newly incorporated company, so it should be used as a principle about taxable status and economic activity, not as an automatic answer to every pre-registration expense.

Ninth, correct the record if the original invoice contained VAT that should not have been charged, or omitted VAT that should have been collected. Article 272 of the General Tax Code requires prior correction of the initial invoice for a refund or adjustment in cases such as cancellation, termination or irrecoverability. It also prevents deduction of VAT invoiced in the circumstances covered by Article 283, paragraph 4. The correction should be sent to the customer, posted in the company’s accounts and reflected in the VAT return. A credit note alone is not enough if it cannot be linked to the original invoice and the reason for the correction.

Tenth, set a follow-up date. The founder should check the tax portal, the VAT number’s validity in the relevant verification system, the customer’s accounts-payable status and the company’s next return deadline. When the number arrives, compare it digit by digit with the company’s SIREN and keep the administration’s notice. If the number is activated with an effective date different from the date expected, ask the tax office how invoices issued between those dates should be treated and preserve the answer.

B. The main risks, remedies and decision tree for foreign founders

The most common risk is an invoice that looks complete to a non-French customer but is legally inconsistent in France. A founder may show the parent company’s VAT number, use the founder’s personal identity, call a taxable French supply “reverse charge” without a legal basis, or add French VAT because the customer’s software requires a tax field. Each shortcut can cause a payment dispute, a rejected invoice, a denied input deduction or a tax adjustment.

If the customer refuses the invoice because the French VAT number is missing, ask for the precise objection in writing. The company can send its Kbis or registration evidence, explain that the SIRET is pending, provide the tax office request reference and state the applicable VAT regime. It should not promise that the customer may recover VAT until the tax treatment and the invoice’s mandatory information have been checked. A procurement department’s internal requirement is not automatically a rule of French tax law, but the customer’s inability to process the invoice may justify issuing a carefully documented corrective invoice once the number is available.

If the customer is in another EU member state and the transaction is a service, verify the customer’s status and place of establishment before using “Autoliquidation”. If the customer is a private person, a public body with special status or a business receiving a service through a different establishment, the general business-to-business rule may not apply. The official impots.gouv.fr information for foreign businesses lists situations in which a foreign business supplying France must consider French VAT, including services to private customers or businesses not identified for French VAT, and transactions involving goods. The invoice should identify the actual supplier and the actual tax debtor rather than simply copying a cross-border template.

If the transaction concerns goods, keep transport and delivery evidence. For an intra-EU supply, the buyer’s VAT number is one element, not the whole file. The 2015 Court of Cassation decision in appeal no. 12-28.770 accepted a presumption where there were shipping documents and the buyer’s VAT identification, but it also stated that the administration could establish that the delivery had not occurred. A foreign founder should therefore keep purchase orders, bills of lading, carrier confirmations, delivery receipts and the buyer’s VAT verification. An invoice with the right wording but no movement-of-goods evidence is vulnerable.

If the company has charged VAT in error, it should stop issuing identical invoices, notify the customer, make a credit note linked to the original document and issue a replacement invoice with the correct treatment. The company should not simply delete the PDF or ask the customer to ignore the tax line. Article 283 can make the invoiced amount payable to the Treasury even when the underlying operation was not taxable. The correction must be reflected in the accounts and the return, with a file explaining why the change was made.

If the company has failed to charge VAT on a taxable French transaction, the founder should quantify the exposure. The contract may say that the agreed price is HT, in which case the company may need to collect the tax in addition to the price; or it may be a TTC price, in which case the tax may have to be extracted from the amount received. The answer depends on the contract, the customer, the invoice and the facts. A French lawyer or tax adviser should review a material amount before the company sends a demand for additional payment.

If the tax office does not answer, the founder should create an escalation file rather than inventing a number. The file should contain the original registration submission, proof of the start of activity, the precise VAT questions, customer details, draft invoice, transaction dates and a request for a written position. For an urgent transaction, the company can explain to the customer that the invoice is being issued in the company’s name with the SIRET pending, while the tax wording remains subject to the transaction’s established legal regime. The founder should also consider whether the foreign parent, rather than the French company, is the correct contracting party for a service not yet transferred to the French business. That is a substantive corporate decision, not a way to bypass French VAT.

The deadline for input-tax records also matters. In its judgment of 1 October 2025, appeal no. 24-14.456, the Court of Cassation stated: “le client d’un assujetti, lorsque cet assujetti a opté pour le paiement de la TVA d’après les débits, doit déclarer la TVA déductible figurant sur les factures dans le mois de leur réception”. The decision, verified during this run, is available at Cour de cassation, appeal no. 24-14.456. Its facts concerned a liquidation and an option for payment on debits, so the judgment is not a universal deadline for every new company. It does show why a founder should not leave invoices and VAT evidence in an “activation pending” folder indefinitely.

A useful decision tree is therefore:

1. If the company is not yet the supplier, correct the contract and invoice identity before sending anything.
2. If the company is the supplier and the service or delivery has occurred, issue an invoice in the company’s name; use “Siret en cours d’attribution” if that is the true status.
3. If the company is under the franchise in base, use the statutory no-VAT wording and do not collect VAT.
4. If French VAT is due, calculate and collect it even though the identifier is pending, while asking the tax office to activate or confirm the number.
5. If reverse charge or an exemption applies, prove the customer’s status, movement of goods and legal basis before using that wording.
6. If the identifier arrives later, issue a specific correction only to repair a real missing or inaccurate invoice reference; do not create a duplicate sale.
7. If a material amount, cross-border chain or disputed tax line is involved, obtain a written review before payment or filing.

The approach is more defensible than waiting passively for an email from the tax office because it creates an auditable chain from the company’s incorporation to the sale, the invoice, the payment, the VAT return and any correction. It also keeps the French company separate from the individual founder and from the foreign parent, which protects both corporate law and tax analysis.

Conclusion

A French company can generally issue its first invoice while its French VAT number is still being activated, because the invoicing obligation follows the supply or service, not the speed of the administration’s identifier workflow. The company must invoice in its own name, use the true SIRET status, choose the VAT treatment from the transaction and customer facts, and never insert a fictitious VAT number.

The three controls that matter most are: identify the actual supplier; decide whether the invoice carries French VAT, a lawful exemption or “Autoliquidation”; and preserve the evidence that supports the decision. The later arrival of a VAT number may justify a specific corrective invoice, but it does not turn the first transaction into a non-event. It also does not cure an invoice that collected VAT without legal basis or omitted tax that was due.

For a broader overview, see our guide to VAT registration in France for a foreign company and the firm’s French company formation and corporate compliance service. The precise customer location, contract, date of performance and status of the French entity should be reviewed before a significant invoice is released.

Need a quick opinion on your case

If your first French invoice is due while the VAT number is pending, we can review the transaction, the invoice wording and the supporting file.

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Call Maître Reda Kohen at +33 6 46 60 58 22 or contact the firm.