You have incorporated your French company from abroad, the Kbis (the official registration certificate issued by the greffe, the registry of the commercial court) is on its way, and the bank account is finally open. Then your accountant writes three letters that freeze your blood: T, V, A. Do you need a French VAT number? When do you start charging 20% on your invoices? What happens if you file late while living in London, New York or Dubai? This guide answers those questions for foreign founders and foreign groups with a French subsidiary, step by step, with the exact legal texts and two recent court decisions that show how the French tax authority (administration fiscale) reasons during audits.

French VAT (taxe sur la valeur ajoutée) is a national tax run by the service des impôts des entreprises (SIE, the corporate tax office of your company’s registered office, including the Paris SIEs for companies seated in Paris or elsewhere in Île-de-France). Everything below applies wherever your company is seated in France, and everything can be done remotely through the online professional tax account, but the deadlines are strict and the penalties for getting VAT wrong are among the heaviest in French business taxation: 10% to 80% surcharges on late or inaccurate returns, plus fixed fines for missing intra-Community statements. The good news is that the system is highly procedural, which means a foreign director who understands the calendar and keeps the right transport and invoicing evidence can run a fully compliant French company without ever boarding a plane.

If you are still at the incorporation stage, read first our complete walkthrough of setting up a company in France as a foreign founder: bank account, Kbis, VAT and first hire, then come back here for the VAT deep dive. For the wider tax picture, see also our guide to French corporate tax from abroad: rate, advance payments, filing and penalties.

I. How do I get a French VAT number and know when my company must charge French VAT?

A. How does a foreign-owned French company obtain its French VAT identification?

Every person liable for French VAT must declare the start of operations within fifteen days. Article 286 of the French General Tax Code (Code général des impôts) states: “Dans les quinze jours du commencement de ses opérations, souscrire au bureau désigné par un arrêté une déclaration conforme au modèle fourni par l’administration” (within fifteen days of starting operations, file with the office designated by order a declaration following the model supplied by the administration). In practice, for a newly incorporated société par actions simplifiée (SAS, the flexible joint-stock company most foreign founders choose) or société à responsabilité limitée (SARL, the limited liability company with stricter statutory rules), this declaration is made through the Guichet unique (the single online company registration portal run via the INPI, the French intellectual property and business registry institute) at incorporation: the registration automatically feeds the tax office, which is why the fifteen-day declaration is usually already satisfied when your company is registered.

Once registered, a company that carries out transactions giving a right to deduct input VAT receives an individual identification number. Article 286 ter of the General Tax Code provides: “Est identifié par un numéro individuel : 1° Tout assujetti qui effectue des livraisons de biens ou des prestations de services lui ouvrant droit à déduction” (an individual number is assigned to: 1° every taxable person carrying out supplies of goods or services giving a right to deduction). This is the famous intra-Community VAT number. The official service-public guidance confirms that the SIE sends it automatically at registration and that in France the number is built as the code FR, a two-digit computer key and the nine-digit SIREN (the national business identification number): see the official page on the intra-Community VAT number. You must print this number on your commercial documents (invoices, quotes) and on your administrative documents (VAT returns), and your customers and suppliers across the European Union will check it on the VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) database before treating a cross-border sale as exempt.

Three practical consequences follow for a director living abroad. First, verify that the number has actually been issued: log into the company’s professional area on impots.gouv.fr (the French tax authority portal) and confirm the number appears before you issue your first cross-border invoice without VAT. Second, if your French company only buys goods in France but makes no taxable sales yet, for example during a setup phase with only incorporation costs, it is still identified and can already accumulate deductible VAT, which matters for the refund procedure described in Part II. Third, if you operate in France through a foreign company without a French subsidiary, for instance a German or American company selling directly to French customers, you may need to register for French VAT with the SIE without having a French SIREN at all, under the rules for foreign taxable persons; that registration is handled by the tax office for foreign businesses and also produces a French VAT number starting with FR.

The registration step is also the moment to choose, or to confirm, your VAT regime. By default, a small new company falls under the franchise en base (the exemption for small businesses, which allows you to invoice without VAT within legal turnover ceilings) described below, unless it opts for the simplified or normal real regime. The option is exercised on the registration file or later with the SIE. Choosing early matters because the regime determines whether you file nothing at all, one annual return with two advance payments, or a monthly CA3 return (the standard French VAT return form, numbered 3310-CA3-SD, summarising all transactions of the month or quarter).

B. When must my French company charge French VAT, and when can it skip it?

The starting principle is broad. Article 256 of the General Tax Code provides that “Sont soumises à la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée les livraisons de biens et les prestations de services effectuées à titre onéreux par un assujetti agissant en tant que tel” (supplies of goods and services made for consideration by a taxable person acting as such are subject to value added tax). If your French SAS sells products or services to French customers, it charges French VAT, currently 20% as the standard rate, and pays it to the Treasury after deducting the VAT it paid on its own purchases. The chargeable event and the due date follow Article 269 of the General Tax Code, which sets when the taxable event occurs and when the tax becomes payable for supplies, intra-Community acquisitions and services.

Cross-border sales inside the European Union follow a second set of rules that every exporting founder must master. Purchases of goods from another EU Member State are themselves taxable in France as intra-Community acquisitions: Article 256 bis of the General Tax Code states that “Sont également soumises à la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée les acquisitions intracommunautaires de biens meubles corporels effectuées à titre onéreux par un assujetti agissant en tant que tel” (also subject to VAT are intra-Community acquisitions of movable tangible goods made for consideration by a taxable person acting as such), subject to a 10,000 euro threshold for certain non-taxable buyers. Symmetrically, sales shipped from France to a VAT-identified buyer in another Member State can be exempt: Article 262 ter of the General Tax Code provides: “Sont exonérés de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée : 1° Les livraisons de biens expédiés ou transportés sur le territoire d’un autre Etat membre de l’Union européenne à destination d’un autre assujetti” (exempt from VAT: 1° supplies of goods dispatched or transported to the territory of another EU Member State to another taxable person). Note the conditions attached to that exemption in the same article: the buyer must have given you its VAT identification number, you must file the intra-Community statement (état récapitulatif under Article 289 B), and the exemption is refused if you knew or could not have been unaware that the stated buyer had no real activity.

The Paris administrative court of appeal applied exactly this logic in a decision every exporting founder should read. In CAA Paris, 2nd chamber, 16 April 2025, No. 23PA05126, a French art company invoiced goods to a London buyer and claimed the intra-Community exemption, but produced only internal group documents and unsigned transport notes mentioning a different shipper, while the goods allegedly came back to France for resale. The court recalled that “l’exonération de taxe sur la valeur ajoutée prévue au profit des livraisons intracommunautaires de biens est notamment subordonnée à la condition, d’une part, que l’acquéreur de ces biens soit assujetti à cette taxe […] et, d’autre part, que le bien ait été expédié ou transporté hors de France par le vendeur, par l’acquéreur ou par un tiers pour leur compte, à destination d’un autre Etat membre” (the exemption for intra-Community supplies is subject, first, to the buyer being a taxable person, and second, to the goods having been dispatched or transported outside France by the seller, the buyer or a third party on their behalf, to another Member State), and added that “seul le redevable de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée est en mesure de produire les documents afférents au transport de la marchandise” (only the VAT debtor is in a position to produce the transport documents for the goods). The exemption was refused and a 40% deliberate-failure surcharge upheld. The lesson for a foreign director is blunt: never zero-rate an intra-EU invoice without collecting the buyer’s valid VAT number, a signed CMR (the international road consignment note) or equivalent proof of physical exit from France, and the filed intra-Community statement.

Finally, many small French companies legally invoice without any VAT at all under the franchise en base de TVA. Article 293 B of the General Tax Code states that “les assujettis établis en France bénéficient d’une franchise qui les dispense du paiement de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée lorsqu’ils n’ont pas réalisé en France un chiffre d’affaires […] excédant les plafonds suivants” (taxable persons established in France benefit from an exemption dispensing them from VAT payment where their French turnover does not exceed the following ceilings). The ceilings read in the article as 85,000 euros for sales of goods and 37,500 euros for services for the previous calendar year, with higher current-year tolerance thresholds of 93,500 and 41,250 euros. The official service-public guidance confirms these thresholds remain unchanged for 2026 and that the once-discussed single 25,000 euro threshold was abandoned: see the official page on declaring and paying VAT. But the franchise has a price: a company under franchise cannot deduct the VAT on its own purchases, cannot recover it, and must print a specific legal notice on its invoices. The moment turnover exceeds the ceilings, the company switches to the normal regime, in some cases retroactively to 1 January of the overrun year, and must then file a CA3 covering all transactions since that date. A foreign founder whose French company grows fast should therefore diary the turnover monthly and warn the accountant before crossing the line, not after.

II. How do I file, pay and survive a VAT audit from abroad?

A. How do I file the CA3 return, pay on time and recover VAT credits from abroad?

Every company under the normal real VAT regime files the CA3 return and pays the tax due each month. Article 287 of the General Tax Code states: “Les redevables soumis au régime réel normal d’imposition déposent mensuellement la déclaration visée au 1 indiquant, d’une part, le montant total des opérations réalisées, d’autre part, le détail des opérations taxables. La taxe exigible est acquittée tous les mois” (taxpayers under the normal real regime file monthly the return showing total transactions and the detail of taxable transactions; the tax due is paid every month). The same article softens the rhythm for small amounts: “Lorsque la taxe exigible annuellement est inférieure à 4 000 €, ils sont admis à déposer leurs déclarations par trimestre civil” (where the annual tax due is below 4,000 euros, quarterly filing by calendar quarter is allowed). Companies under the simplified regime instead file one annual return with two advance payments in July and December, equal to 55% and 40% of the previous year’s tax. The official guidance confirms that all returns and payments are made online in the company’s professional area on impots.gouv.fr, in EFI mode (the online filing and payment channel for businesses): see the official VAT declaration page and the form 3310-CA3-SD page on impots.gouv.fr.

From abroad, the filing calendar is therefore the single most important discipline. In practice, the return for month M is filed and paid during month M+1, on a date set by order that depends on the company, and the accountant needs your sales and purchase data well before that. Give your French accountant a fixed monthly closing date, transmit invoices, bank statements and expense receipts within the first days of the following month, and keep a shared checklist showing for each month whether the CA3 was filed, the amount paid, and any VAT credit carried forward. A VAT credit arises when deductible VAT exceeds VAT due for the period; it is carried forward to the next returns and can be refunded under the conditions of Articles 242-0 A to 242-0 K of Annex II to the General Tax Code. Exporters and companies in an investment phase, which charge little or no French VAT but pay VAT on setup costs, rent and equipment, live on these refunds, so file even when the return shows zero tax due: an unfiled return is a late return, even with nothing to pay.

The deduction mechanism itself deserves close attention because it is where foreign directors lose the most money. Article 271 of the General Tax Code states: “La taxe sur la valeur ajoutée qui a grevé les éléments du prix d’une opération imposable est déductible de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée applicable à cette opération” (VAT charged on the price components of a taxable transaction is deductible from the VAT applicable to that transaction), and adds: “Le droit à déduction prend naissance lorsque la taxe déductible devient exigible chez le redevable” (the right to deduct arises when the deductible tax becomes payable by the debtor). Deduction is limited to VAT shown on compliant invoices issued under Article 289, VAT paid on imports, and VAT self-assessed on intra-Community acquisitions. Three conditions must all be met: a valid invoice in the company’s name, goods or services used for taxable transactions giving a right to deduct, and the tax correctly appearing on the return of the right period. Cars, most housing expenses and entertainment costs are partly or fully excluded from deduction by specific provisions, so ask the accountant before assuming the 20% on every supplier invoice is recoverable.

What if deductible VAT was forgotten on a past return? The Conseil d’État (the supreme court for administrative and tax cases) gave a precise and generous answer that every foreign director should know. In CE, 9th-10th chambers combined, 23 November 2020, No. 428497, a wine-growing company had omitted deductible VAT and regularised it later; the court held that “le délai imparti pour réparer une omission de déclaration de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée déductible court à compter de la date d’exigibilité de la taxe chez le redevable et expire le 31 décembre de la deuxième année suivant la date à laquelle la déclaration devait être effectuée” (the time allowed to repair an omission of deductible VAT runs from the date the tax became payable and expires on 31 December of the second year following the date on which the return should have been filed). In plain terms, forgotten input VAT can still be recovered on a later return filed before 31 December of the second year after the omission, provided it is shown separately. When the administration has already assessed additional VAT for the same period, the same decision logic allows the omitted deduction to be set against the reassessment if the deadline has not expired. Keep every purchase invoice for at least six years and run a yearly review of unclaimed input VAT before the 31 December guillotine falls.

Two remote-management tips complete this picture. First, the professional tax area requires secure authentication, and a director without a French digital identity should grant the accountant an explicit online mandate (mandat de télédéclaration et télépaiement) so filings never depend on a code sent to a French phone number you do not hold. Second, align the VAT calendar with the company’s wider legal calendar: approving annual accounts late does not extend VAT deadlines, and the corporate income tax balance, the cotisation foncière des entreprises (CFE, the local business tax) and the VAT returns each run on their own clock. Our guide to the annual legal calendar of a French company managed from abroad gives the full timetable.

B. What must my invoices contain, what do late filing and errors cost, and how do I challenge a VAT reassessment from abroad?

Every taxable sale to another business must be invoiced, and the invoice is the foundation of both your VAT collected and your customer’s deduction. Article 289 of the General Tax Code states: “Tout assujetti est tenu de s’assurer qu’une facture est émise, par lui-même, ou en son nom et pour son compte, par son client ou par un tiers” (every taxable person must ensure that an invoice is issued, by himself, or in his name and on his behalf, by his customer or by a third party). The invoice must show the seller’s and buyer’s intra-Community VAT numbers for cross-border EU sales, the date, a sequential number, the quantity and nature of goods or services, the price excluding tax, the VAT rate and the VAT amount, and, where an exemption applies, the legal ground, for example the reference to Article 262 ter for an intra-Community supply. Since 2024 France has been rolling out mandatory electronic invoicing (facturation électronique) between businesses, with a phased timetable and Chorus Pro (the public invoicing portal) as one of the channels; confirm with your accountant which phase your company falls into and whether your billing software is compliant, because a technically invalid invoice can cost your customer its deduction and cost you a dispute.

Late filing is punished automatically, even without any tax loss. Article 1728 of the General Tax Code provides: “Le défaut de production dans les délais prescrits d’une déclaration […] entraîne l’application, sur le montant des droits mis à la charge du contribuable […], d’une majoration de : a. 10 % en l’absence de mise en demeure ou en cas de dépôt de la déclaration […] dans les trente jours suivant la réception d’une mise en demeure” (failure to file a return on time triggers a surcharge of 10% where no formal notice was sent or where the return is filed within thirty days of a formal notice). The same article raises the surcharge to 40% where the return is not filed within thirty days of the formal notice, and to 80% where an undeclared business activity is discovered. Interest for late payment (intérêt de retard) accrues on top, month by month. For a monthly CA3 filer, a single missed return therefore costs 10% of the VAT due even if the company pays a week later, which is why the monthly data routine matters more than anywhere else in French compliance.

Inaccuracies are punished separately and more severely. Article 1729 of the General Tax Code states: “Les inexactitudes ou les omissions relevées dans une déclaration […] entraînent l’application d’une majoration de : a. 40 % en cas de manquement délibéré” (inaccuracies or omissions in a return trigger a surcharge of 40% for deliberate failure). The rate rises to 80% for abuse of law or fraud. The CAA Paris decision of 16 April 2025 quoted in Part I shows how this plays out: related-party sales, missing transport proof and large amounts led the court to hold, in CAA Paris, 2nd chamber, 16 April 2025, No. 23PA05126, that “le manquement constaté ne peut être regardé que comme délibéré” (the failure could only be regarded as deliberate), and the 40% surcharge stood. Separately, Article 1788 A of the General Tax Code punishes missing intra-Community statements with a 750 euro fine, raised to 1,500 euros if the statement is still missing thirty days after a formal notice: “Entraîne l’application d’une amende de 750 € : a. Le défaut de production dans les délais des états prévus à l’article 289 B. L’amende est portée à 1 500 € à défaut de production de la déclaration dans les trente jours d’une mise en demeure” (failure to file the statements of Article 289 B on time triggers a 750 euro fine, raised to 1,500 euros absent filing within thirty days of a formal notice). Each omission or inaccuracy in those statements costs 15 euros, capped at 1,500 euros.

If the SIE audits the company, the procedure is adversarial and fully manageable from abroad. A VAT audit (vérification de comptabilité) opens with a notice, continues on the company’s premises or remotely from the accountant’s office, and ends with a formal rectification proposal (proposition de rectification) that the company can contest point by point within thirty days, extendable on request. The reply should attach the missing evidence the two court decisions above turned on: signed transport documents, valid buyer VAT numbers with VIES printouts dated at the time of sale, filed intra-Community statements, compliant purchase invoices, and the computation showing the deduction deadline of 31 December of the second year has not expired. If the administration maintains the reassessment, hierarchical appeal to the departmental interlocutor (interlocuteur départemental), settlement (transaction) under Article L. 247 of the Tax Procedures Book for penalties only, and then litigation before the administrative court (tribunal administratif) of the company’s seat, for Paris companies the Montreuil court, are each available without the director travelling: representation by a French lawyer and the accountant suffices, and deadlines run from receipt of each decision. Our walkthrough of an URSSAF audit challenged from abroad follows the same adversarial logic and shows the mindset the French administration expects: documented, dated, procedural replies.

Conclusion

French VAT rewards foreign directors who treat it as a monthly discipline, not a year-end surprise. Get the FR number at registration and print it correctly, decide consciously between the small-business franchise and the real regimes, file each CA3 online and pay on time, invoice with all mandatory mentions, and keep the transport and VIES evidence that proves every zero-rated intra-EU sale. The texts give you room to repair mistakes: omitted input VAT can be recovered until 31 December of the second following year, and every reassessment can be contested through a structured adversarial procedure. What the texts never forgive is missing paperwork and missing deadlines, punished at 10% to 80% plus fixed fines. Build the monthly routine with your accountant now, diary the franchise thresholds and the deduction guillotine, and your French company will carry its VAT load quietly while you run the business from anywhere in the world.