A newly registered French company can have a valid registration, a SIREN and a SIRET, yet still see its French VAT number returned as \u201cnot valid\u201d in VIES. VIES is the European Commission\u2019s VAT Information Exchange System. Its result is important for an intra-European transaction, but it is not the same document as a French company registration certificate, an extract from the Kbis register, or a tax ruling. The gap can reflect a pending VAT identification, a number that has not been activated for intra-EU transactions, incomplete data transmission, or a timing difference between French and European databases. It does not, by itself, prove that the company was improperly incorporated.<\/p>\n
This guide is for a foreign founder, foreign parent company or overseas finance team operating through a French company or French establishment. It explains how to separate registration from VAT identification, what to do before the first cross-border invoice, which evidence to preserve, and how to ask the French business tax department (the service des imp\u00f4ts des entreprises<\/em>, or SIE) for a practical answer. The governing question is not simply whether VIES displays \u201cvalid\u201d; it is whether the transaction is correctly classified, documented and reported at the relevant time. The official starting points are the INPI Guichet unique information on SIREN and SIRET<\/a>, the French public-service guidance on intra-EU VAT numbers<\/a>, and the DGFiP instructions for requesting a VAT number<\/a>.<\/p>\n Foreign founders often treat the following sequence as one administrative event: the INPI Guichet unique accepts the incorporation filing, the commercial registry processes it, the company receives its Kbis, the tax office opens its file, and VIES recognises the VAT number. In practice, these are connected but distinct systems and decisions.<\/p>\n The Guichet unique<\/strong> is the online one-stop shop for business formalities, operated through the system associated with the Institut national de la propri\u00e9t\u00e9 industrielle (INPI). Its filing creates or updates the company record and transmits information to the relevant authorities. The SIREN<\/strong> is the nine-digit identifier of the legal entity. The SIRET<\/strong> is the fourteen-digit identifier of a particular establishment: it combines the SIREN with a five-digit establishment number. A foreign company carrying on activities in France can retain its foreign identifier while receiving a French SIREN for its French activity. The official identity page describes the SIREN as the unique identifier of the enterprise and the SIRET as the identifier of each establishment.<\/p>\n The Kbis<\/strong> is an extract showing information recorded in the Trade and Companies Register; the greffe<\/strong> is the registry office attached to the competent commercial court. A Kbis can therefore demonstrate that a company exists and identify its legal representative, registered office and activity. It is not, by itself, proof that the company\u2019s VAT number is active for intra-EU supplies. For some companies and procedures, the newer registration certificate from the National Register of Enterprises is also useful. Neither document should be substituted for a VIES result when a customer, bank or auditor requires EU VAT validation.<\/p>\n VAT status begins with the concept of an assujetti<\/em>, meaning a person or entity carrying on an independent economic activity. Article 256 A of the French General Tax Code (CGI)<\/a> states, in the official text, that \u201cSont assujetties \u00e0 la taxe sur la valeur ajout\u00e9e les personnes qui effectuent de mani\u00e8re ind\u00e9pendante\u201d. In English, the practical consequence is that legal form is not decisive: a SAS, SARL, branch or subsidiary can be within the VAT system depending on its activities and transactions. Incorporation does not automatically answer every question about the applicable VAT regime.<\/p>\n VAT identification is a further administrative layer. The French number normally uses the format FR<\/strong>, followed by a two-digit control key and the company\u2019s nine-digit SIREN. Service-Public gives the central definition: \u201cLe num\u00e9ro de TVA intracommunautaire est un num\u00e9ro d’identification individuel.\u201d Its guidance on the French VAT identification number<\/a> also distinguishes automatic transmission for a VAT-liable business from an online request made through the professional tax account where the company is not automatically assigned a number. The word \u201cindividual\u201d matters: the VAT number identifies the taxable person; it does not identify each invoice, establishment or bank account.<\/p>\n Article 286 ter of the CGI<\/a> supplies the legal basis for identification. It begins: \u201cEst identifi\u00e9 par un num\u00e9ro individuel :\u201d and then covers taxable persons carrying out operations giving a right to deduct VAT, among other cases. Article 286 ter A of the CGI<\/a> contains a limited exception for occasional supplies or services; its operative words are \u201cne sont pas tenus de s’identifier par un num\u00e9ro individuel\u201d. A recurring business model, a permanent French establishment, regular intra-EU sales or regular cross-border services should not be treated as an occasional transaction without a documented analysis.<\/p>\n That distinction explains a frequent post-registration sequence:<\/p>\n The SIE<\/strong> is the French business tax department responsible for the company\u2019s tax file. The DGFiP<\/strong>, or Direction g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des Finances publiques, is the French public-finance administration. The DGFiP states that \u201cl\u2019attribution d\u2019un num\u00e9ro de TVA intracommunautaire … rel\u00e8ve de la comp\u00e9tence de votre service des imp\u00f4ts des entreprises (SIE)\u201d and that the allocation is free. It also explains that, once a SIRET is available and the professional tax account and secure mailbox are active, the request can be made online. The route is the secure mailbox: \u201cMessagerie\u201d then \u201c\u00c9crire\u201d, followed by the business-tax and VAT options. A founder abroad should give a mandate to the accountant or lawyer who is authorised to communicate with the SIE, while retaining access to the company\u2019s own professional account.<\/p>\n VIES is not a live incorporation register. The European Commission\u2019s guidance lists several reasons for a \u201cnot valid\u201d result: the number may not exist, it may not be activated for intra-EU operations, the registration may be incomplete, or the French and European databases may not yet have synchronised. The relevant question is therefore whether the result is a temporary availability problem, an activation problem, a wrong number, or a substantive objection by the tax administration.<\/p>\n A disciplined diagnosis starts with six checks. First, copy the number exactly as displayed in the professional tax account and remove spaces only when entering it into VIES. Second, confirm that the SIREN in the VAT number belongs to the new entity and not to a parent, branch or former establishment. Third, ask whether the company is registered for the relevant domestic VAT regime and for intra-EU operations. Fourth, check the date and time of every VIES search. Fifth, determine whether the counterparty is testing the company\u2019s number or its own number. Sixth, read any message from the SIE: a request for documents, a registration hold or a formal invalidation has a different remedy from database delay.<\/p>\n The short answer is that a VIES problem does not create a universal ban on issuing every commercial invoice. It does mean that the company must classify each transaction before choosing the VAT wording. A company can be registered and able to contract, deliver or invoice while the VAT treatment of a particular operation remains to be fixed. The delay does not erase VAT liability if French VAT is due, and it does not authorise the company to invent a number or to describe a domestic transaction as an exempt intra-EU supply merely because a customer is established in another Member State.<\/p>\n Start with the invoice itself. Article 289 of the CGI<\/a> says: \u201cTout assujetti est tenu de s’assurer qu’une facture est \u00e9mise\u201d. The invoice should identify the actual contracting entity, its registered name, registered office, SIREN and, where relevant, SIRET. It should show the date, a sequential number, the supply, price, currency, payment terms and the applicable VAT treatment. If the seller\u2019s VAT number is not yet assigned, do not copy the number of the founder, parent company, accountant or a different branch. A truthful statement that the French VAT identification request is pending can be used as commercial information, but it does not replace a mandatory tax indication where one is required.<\/p>\n The detailed invoice rules are in Article 242 nonies A of Annex II to the CGI<\/a>. The official text opens with \u201cLes mentions obligatoires qui doivent figurer sur les factures\u201d and refers to the individual identification number under Article 286 ter. It also requires the VAT identification numbers of seller and buyer for the relevant intra-EU goods supplies. A simplified invoice rule exists for invoices up to \u20ac150 excluding tax, but that limited rule should not be used to disguise a cross-border transaction or to avoid keeping the underlying evidence.<\/p>\n If the French company genuinely benefits from the domestic small-business exemption, the legal wording is specific. Article 293 E of the CGI<\/a> states that a franchised taxable person cannot deduct VAT and that the invoice must carry \u201cTVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI\u201d. That wording is not a general solution for a company whose VAT number is simply delayed. The company must first know that the franchise regime applies to the transaction and that no other rule requires French VAT identification or reporting.<\/p>\n Next classify the supply. For a service, ask where the customer is established, whether the customer is acting as a business, whether a special place-of-supply rule applies, and whether the service is actually supplied by the French company. Article 259 of the CGI<\/a> sets out the general place-of-supply framework and begins: \u201cLe lieu des prestations de services est situ\u00e9 en France :\u201d. For ordinary business-to-business services, the customer\u2019s business establishment is usually central to the analysis, but property, events, passenger transport, restaurant services and other categories can follow special rules. A foreign customer\u2019s address alone is not enough.<\/p>\n For an ordinary business-to-business service supplied by a French company to a taxable customer in another EU Member State, French VAT may not be charged under the place-of-supply rule, with the customer accounting for tax under its local reverse-charge rules. This conclusion depends on the customer\u2019s taxable status and evidence, not merely on a VIES screen. Conversely, a service supplied to a French customer by a company not established in France can trigger reverse charge in France. Article 283 of the CGI<\/a> contains the operative rule that \u201cla taxe doit \u00eatre acquitt\u00e9e par le preneur\u201d in the specified situation. The contract, customer certificate, VAT number, place of supply and invoice wording must tell the same story.<\/p>\n For goods shipped from France to a business customer in another EU Member State, the exemption is more demanding. Article 262 ter of the CGI<\/a> provides that certain \u201cSont exon\u00e9r\u00e9s de la taxe sur la valeur ajout\u00e9e\u201d intra-EU supplies are exempt, but the conditions include transport, customer status, identification and reporting. The rule is not a reward for having a foreign customer. If the French seller\u2019s number is not yet visible in VIES, pause the intended exemption wording until the SIE or adviser confirms the position and the evidence file is complete. If the customer\u2019s number is shown as non-valid, Service-Public says the customer should provide an attestation of liability issued by its tax administration; without it, the French VAT regime may apply. That guidance should be preserved with the file, not reduced to an informal email.<\/p>\n There is a practical difference between a number \u201cnot valid\u201d in VIES and a tax office refusing the French company\u2019s identification. In the first situation, the number may exist in France but be unavailable for intra-EU checks. In the second, the company may have an unresolved registration, activity or compliance issue. In neither situation should the founder use a group VAT number. A group number can belong to a different taxable person and may create an incorrect invoice, a rejected VAT return, a customer audit problem and a dispute over who was entitled to deduct the tax.<\/p>\n Before issuing the first invoice, create an internal decision note containing the transaction date, supply description, delivery or performance location, customer status, customer VAT evidence, the French company\u2019s SIREN\/SIRET, every VIES response and the proposed invoice wording. Have the person responsible for the VAT return approve the note. If the buyer\u2019s procurement team needs a valid VIES result before onboarding, send the SIE request and the evidence of the pending application rather than promising a date that no public database can guarantee.<\/p>\n The fastest route is usually a precise written request to the SIE, not repeated anonymous VIES searches. Use the company\u2019s professional tax account and secure mailbox. The DGFiP explains that a company with a SIRET can request a VAT number online through its professional account. Its published path is the VAT and related-tax request under the secure \u201cMessagerie\u201d service. A foreign founder should ask the SIE to confirm four separate points: whether a French VAT number has been assigned; whether it is active for intra-EU transactions; the effective date of identification; and whether any document or tax-regime choice is holding the file.<\/p>\n The request should be short enough to process and complete enough to avoid a second round of questions. Attach or identify:<\/p>\n This is not a universal statutory list of documents. It is an evidence bundle designed to answer the questions that normally cause delay: who is taxable, what activity is carried on, where it occurs, when it starts, which transactions are expected, and which entity will declare the tax. Do not send an unredacted passport, bank statement or group document unless the authority or authorised adviser has a lawful reason to request it. Keep a transmission receipt and a dated copy of everything sent.<\/p>\n Ask the SIE to state whether the issue is merely database synchronisation. The European VIES guidance explains that national systems are not updated instantly and that a number can return \u201cnot valid\u201d because it has not been activated for intra-EU operations or because registration is incomplete. The guidance also says: \u201cIl est conseill\u00e9 de conserver une trace de votre validation, en cas de contr\u00f4le fiscal.\u201d Save the validation history even when the result is positive. A customer, auditor or tax inspector may need to understand what was checked at the date of the transaction, not what the database says months later.<\/p>\n If the VIES number becomes valid, run a second check and preserve the result. Confirm that the legal name and address returned by the system, if shown, correspond to the contracting entity. Record the transaction date separately from the validation date. A later positive result may help prove that the number was eventually active, but it does not automatically prove the position on the date of an earlier supply.<\/p>\n If the SIE says that the number was invalidated or asks the company to regularise information, the process is more formal. Service-Public explains that an administration can ask for regularisation and that the business has a response period; it also describes restoration after regularisation or observations. The founder should respond point by point, attach the corrected evidence and ask for written confirmation of the effective date. A generic \u201cplease activate VIES\u201d message is weaker than a response that identifies the wrong address, missing activity code, absent proof of taxable activity or incomplete registration.<\/p>\n VAT reporting must be planned while the request is pending. Article 287 of the CGI<\/a> says that an identified taxable person must submit VAT returns to the competent tax service. It begins: \u201cTout redevable de la taxe sur la valeur ajout\u00e9e identifi\u00e9 … est tenu de remettre au service des imp\u00f4ts\u201d. The filing frequency depends on the company\u2019s tax regime; an overseas director should not assume that a new company has no return because it has made no sales. The accountant should reconcile issued invoices, received costs, intra-EU statements and any nil-return obligation.<\/p>\n For cross-border reporting, Article 289 B of the CGI<\/a> requires an identified taxable person to file a customer statement and refers to \u201cun \u00e9tat r\u00e9capitulatif des clients\u201d. The statement is not a substitute for a VAT return and the VAT return is not a substitute for the statement. Their data should match the invoice register, the customer\u2019s VAT number, the dispatch or service evidence and the VIES history. If the transaction is corrected, keep the original invoice, the credit note, the reason for correction and the communication with the buyer.<\/p>\nI. What Does a French VAT Number That Is Not Valid in VIES Mean After Registration?<\/h2>\n
A. Registration, SIREN\/SIRET and VAT identification are separate steps<\/h3>\n
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B. Which business can invoice while the number is pending or inactive?<\/h3>\n
II. How Should a Foreign Founder Correct the Number and Protect Each Intra-EU Invoice?<\/h2>\n
A. The SIE\/VIES regularisation file and the evidence to preserve<\/h3>\n
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