VAT in France: Rates, Thresholds and Filing Obligations (2026)

VAT in France works like VAT elsewhere in the EU, but with French thresholds and French filing rhythms. The short version: most sales carry VAT at 20%. Very small businesses can skip charging it under the franchise, up to EUR 85,000 of turnover for sales activities and EUR 37,500 for services. These thresholds are unchanged in 2026, and once you cross them you file returns on a monthly, or simplified annual, cycle. This guide walks through each layer so you know what applies to your business, and when.

How VAT works in France

VAT (value added tax, called TVA in French) is a tax on consumption. Your business collects it from customers and passes it on to the tax administration, the DGFiP (Direction générale des Finances publiques). You charge VAT on your sales, deduct the VAT you paid on your purchases, and remit the difference. VAT is therefore neutral for your business: the real payer is the final customer.

If your customers are businesses, they usually recover the VAT you charged them, so the amount is cash flow for them, not a cost. If you sell to consumers, the VAT you charge is a price increase they bear. Either way, the amounts you collect do not belong to you, which is why the French administration tracks filings closely.

VAT rates in France

France applies one standard rate and several reduced rates. The standard rate of 20% has applied since 2014, according to our guide to the French VAT number.

Rate	What it covers, in short
20% (standard)	Most goods and services: professional services, digital products, manufactured goods, alcohol
10% (reduced)	Passenger transport, hotel accommodation, restaurant meals, some home improvement work
5.5% (reduced)	Food, books, energy, some social housing work
2.1% (special)	A narrow list: some medicines, press publications

Applying the wrong rate is a common and costly audit finding, in both directions. Charge too little and you owe the difference yourself. Charge too much and your business customers cannot recover the excess. If your offer mixes categories, for example consulting plus hosting, each line of your invoice carries its own rate. When in doubt on a specific good or service, check the official VAT filing rules on entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr.

The VAT franchise: when you do not charge VAT

France gives very small businesses an exclusion from charging VAT, called the franchise en base de TVA. Under the franchise you invoice without VAT and you deduct none either. For 2026, the conditions, set out on the official franchise page, verified 1 January 2026, are:

Activity	Turnover ceiling	Second condition
Sales of goods, food on site to take away, and accommodation (other than furnished letting)	Below EUR 85,000 per calendar year	Annual VAT due must stay below EUR 15,000
Services	Below EUR 37,500 per calendar year	Annual VAT due must stay below EUR 15,000

Two points matter for your planning.

First, these thresholds are unchanged in 2026. A proposal in the 2025 finance bill to replace them with a single EUR 25,000 threshold was abandoned. If you read about a single 25,000 euro franchise elsewhere, that reform is not happening.

Second, crossing a threshold has a delayed effect. If your turnover of the previous year stays within the ceiling, you keep the franchise. If you exceed it, you become liable to VAT from 1 January of the following year. In other words, a strong year commits you to charging VAT from the next year, not overnight, which gives you time to reprice.

The franchise is an exclusion, not a hidden subsidy. Your prices lose no VAT input recovery, so a franchised business often pays slightly more overall tax than an identical VAT-registered one at the same turnover. It exists to remove paperwork, and it stops making sense once your customers are businesses that recover VAT anyway.

Once you charge VAT: simplified and normal regimes

Above the franchise, you enter a real VAT regime. France operates two of them.

The simplified regime (régime simplifié) suits small and mid-size businesses. You make one annual VAT return, due at the latest on the second working day following 1 May, with interim payments during the year. Paperwork is lighter, but you should still keep every invoice.

The normal regime (régime réel normal) applies to larger businesses and to companies that opt in. VAT returns are in general monthly, with accounting on an accrual basis and detailed records. Some businesses with small VAT amounts file quarterly, and foreign companies registering directly for French VAT usually start here.

Which regime you land in depends on turnover bands set by activity. The exact intermediate figures change with finance laws, so check the current bands on the official page for declaring and paying VAT rather than relying on a remembered number.

When VAT becomes due

The timing rules, called exigibilité, decide when you actually owe the VAT you charged. They differ by transaction type, as set out in the official exigibility rules.

• Goods: VAT is due at delivery, meaning when the goods are handed over, not when you invoice.

• Services: VAT is due on collection, meaning when your customer pays. Advance payments and deposits trigger VAT too, as soon as they are received.

• Option: Businesses taxed on collection can opt for taxation on invoicing (exigibilité au débit), which aligns VAT with your invoices rather than your bank account.

For a service business with slow-paying customers, taxation on collection is a real cash advantage: you do not remit VAT on money you have not received. Track this when you model your prices.

If your company is abroad

A company established outside France that makes French taxable sales, or holds stock in France, must register for French VAT directly. It files French returns even without a French subsidiary. What registration involves, what a French VAT number looks like and how to verify one in VIES: our guide to the French VAT number covers it in detail.

Cross-border invoices work differently from domestic ones. In most business-to-business flows inside the EU, the reverse charge mechanism applies: your French customer accounts for the VAT instead of you charging it. This removes the need to register for small cross-border services, but the documentation rules are strict, and getting them wrong turns a non-taxable sale into a taxable one.

What a chartered accountant handles

VAT in France rewards routine. Rates must be checked per service line, thresholds watched each quarter, and filings made on time even when the amount is zero. Mistakes are rarely fatal, but they are always payable, with interest.

This is standard work for a French chartered accountant. GME Audit is a Paris-based firm led by Steeve Elharrar, a licensed expert-comptable and statutory auditor, former KPMG and Deloitte. We follow around a hundred files each year, in French and in English, with real-time accounting through Pennylane. If you want your VAT setup reviewed, or your French filings taken over, ask for a quote and you will get a precise answer on your situation.

Common questions

Is VAT in France always 20%?

No. 20% is the standard rate, in force since 2014. Reduced rates of 10% and 5.5%, and a special 2.1% rate, apply to listed goods and services, from restaurant meals to medicines. Each invoice line carries the rate of its own good or service.

Can I legally skip charging VAT?

Yes, under the franchise en base. Your turnover must stay below EUR 85,000 for sales activities, or EUR 37,500 for services, with annual VAT due below EUR 15,000. These thresholds are unchanged for 2026. You skip charging VAT, but you also lose VAT recovery on your costs.

Is the VAT number the same as the SIREN?

Related, not identical. The SIREN is the 9-digit company identifier, and the French VAT number is FR plus two check digits plus the SIREN. Our VAT number guide covers the format and how to verify any number in VIES.

What to do now

Check which threshold applies to your activity, sales or services, and where your turnover for this calendar year stands against it. If you are approaching the ceiling, plan your repricing now, because VAT applies from 1 January of the year after you cross it. And if you are a foreign company selling to French customers, settle the registration question before your first invoice, not after. This article is general information, not tax advice. For your specific situation, talk to a French chartered accountant.

Internal links: VAT number in France · Tax in France: the 2026 guide · What a French accountant does