VAT Number in France: Format, How to Get One, How to Check One (2026)
Selling into France, or setting up a French entity? The French VAT number is the identifier your invoices, declarations and cross-border paperwork hang on. It is not a number you choose or buy: it is derived from your company registration, and it comes with filing obligations the moment it is issued. This article explains what the number looks like, how companies (including foreign ones) obtain it, how to check a customer's or supplier's number, and what having one commits you to. Rules cited are the rules in force in 2026.
The short answer: a French VAT number starts with FR, followed by two check digits and the 9-digit SIREN company identifier (for example FR 32 123 456 789). You get one automatically when a French company registers, and through VAT identification when a foreign company registers for French VAT. You can check any EU VAT number for free in the European Commission's VIES database.
What a French VAT number looks like
The structure is fixed: FR + two check digits + SIREN.
FR is the country code: the number was issued by France.
The two check digits are computed from the underlying SIREN. They exist to catch typos, and they change if your company's registration changes.
The SIREN is the 9-digit identifier every French business receives from INSEE, the national statistics institute, at registration. It is the same root as the SIRET used on contracts and social filings, which adds five digits to identify each business location.
Because the number derives from the SIREN, two practical consequences follow. First, one company has one VAT number for its whole life, regardless of how many branches or sites it operates. Second, you cannot "reserve" a VAT number before the company exists: the company registration comes first and the VAT identifier follows.
You will find your own number on your VAT registration confirmation, on your VAT returns filed through the professional portal of the French tax administration (impots.gouv.fr), and on any official extract of your company record. Conversely, when you need somebody else's number, the first place to look is their invoice: a French invoice must show the seller's VAT identification when it applies.
How you get one
There are two routes, and they answer two different situations.
Route 1: you are (or become) a French company. Registration of the company with the trade register automatically flows into the INSEE and tax systems. The French tax administration then registers the entity for VAT and issues the FR identifier as part of company tax setup. You do not file a separate "VAT number application": it arrives with your tax registration notice. Most French companies are subject to VAT from the first euro of sales; a small-business exemption regime exists for very low turnovers, and its 2026 ceilings are published on impots.gouv.fr; check them there rather than relying on a figure quoted online, because they are revised.
Route 2: you are a foreign company with French VAT obligations but no French entity. This is the common case after Brexit for UK sellers, and for US or EU companies that:
import goods into France and then sell them there;
hold stock in a French warehouse for local sale;
sell to French customers in situations where the law makes the seller charge French VAT, for example under the rules that make online marketplaces liable for the VAT on the distance sales they facilitate.
In these situations you register for French VAT as a non-established company. The registration is filed with the French tax administration, and once processed, the administration issues a French VAT number to your foreign company. From that point your company files French VAT returns, in euros, under French rules, even though it is incorporated elsewhere. UK companies should note that the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement removes customs duties on qualifying goods but says nothing that removes VAT registration: a company that must charge French VAT needs a French number, a UK VAT number never covers it.
One warning based on what foreign sellers get wrong most often: do not wait for the first French sale to start the registration. The obligations start with the first taxable event, not with the moment your paperwork is completed, and retroactive regularisation is heavier than a timely filing.
How to check a French VAT number
Checking matters in both directions. Before you apply a reverse-charge mechanism and invoice without VAT to a foreign customer, you must hold a valid VAT number for them; before you reclaim input VAT on a supplier invoice, you want the same comfort. An invalid number on an invoice is exactly what a tax audit reads closely.
Two free official tools cover France:
VIES, the VAT Information Exchange System run by the European Commission at ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies. Enter the country code and the number; VIES answers valid or invalid, and for France it also returns the company identity attached to the number. Ask for a numbered confirmation when the check matters: VIES generates a reference for each consultation, and that reference is your proof that you verified the number on a given date.
The SIRENE directory: search the company name on the INSEE portal and read the SIREN from its record. Cross-checking SIREN (INSEE) and VAT number (VIES) catches the case where a number is mathematically well-formed but belongs to somebody else.
A number that VIES returns as invalid should stop the transaction until it is explained. The counterparty may simply have mistyped its own number on your invoice, and an invalid number is also the classic signature of a shell invoicing scheme. A French invoice charging French VAT while showing a foreign or absent VAT number is a defect you should have corrected before payment, not after.
What having the number commits you to
The number is the visible part of a compliance chain. Once your company holds a French VAT number, the obligations attach to it:
Filing VAT returns on the French calendar. Established companies file monthly or quarterly depending on their turnover; the calendar and payment deadlines are set by the tax administration and published on impots.gouv.fr. Missed filings trigger penalties and interest that accumulate per return.
Invoicing to French requirements. French invoices must carry the VAT number, issue date, line-level VAT rates and other mandatory mentions; a defective invoice can lose you the right to deduct input VAT on it.
Charging the right rates. The standard rate is 20 %, in force since 2014; reduced rates exist for specific goods and services. Applying the wrong rate is a common and costly audit finding, in both directions.
EU e-commerce schemes. If you sell goods cross-border to consumers, the One Stop Shop (OSS) lets you file one return covering your EU distance sales instead of registering in each country, but it requires a valid VAT number in your member state of establishment to use.
Records. VAT accounting records must be kept and available; for foreign companies with a French number, French-language documentation and euro figures make reconciliation explicit.
For a foreign company, one practical consequence stands out: a French VAT registration makes you a French filer. Returns must be filed even in quarters with no French sales, and deregistration when activity ends must be requested, not assumed.
Common questions
Does a UK company need a French VAT number to sell to French customers?
Not for every sale; it depends on what you sell, from where, and to whom. B2B sales of goods dispatched from the UK to a French VAT-registered customer normally run under the import and export rules with the customer self-accounting for VAT. But if you hold stock in France, sell to French consumers, or import and then sell locally, French VAT registration applies. The UK-EU trade agreement deals with customs duties on qualifying goods; it does not remove VAT registration obligations. If you are unsure which side of that line you are on, that question is answerable in one conversation: our English-speaking team deals with it weekly.
Is the VAT number the same as the SIREN or SIRET?
Related, not identical. The SIREN is the 9-digit company identifier; the SIRET identifies each business location (SIREN + 3 digits); the VAT number is FR + 2 check digits + SIREN. Your VAT number contains your SIREN, so anyone holding your VAT number can find your company record.
How long does VAT registration take for a non-established company?
Processing times vary with the file and the administration's backlog, so we do not quote a fixed delay here. What is fixed is the sequence: file a complete file (company documents, description of French activity, identification of the legal representative), receive the VAT number, then file the first return on the calendar the administration sets. Budget the registration before your first French taxable transaction, and treat any "instant VAT number" offer as a red flag: the number derives from an administrative registration, not from a purchase.
What to do now
If you already sell into France, list your flows (goods, customers, stock location) and check which ones trigger French VAT registration. The thresholds and mechanics are on impots.gouv.fr and the European Commission's VAT pages for business.
If you hold French VAT numbers from customers or suppliers, run them through VIES today and archive the confirmations; make it a standing step of your onboarding.
If registration applies to you, decide whether you file it yourself or with a French accountant. A firm that works in English and files French VAT for foreign companies can prevent the two classic failures: late first filing, and invoices that do not meet French requirements.
This article is general information on French VAT rules as they stand in 2026, not tax advice for your specific situation.
GME Audit is a French accountancy firm led by Steeve Elharrar, expert-comptable and commissaire aux comptes, registered with the French order of chartered accountants. We work with foreign-owned companies in French and English, and run accounting in real time on Pennylane. If you want a French VAT registration reviewed or handled, ask us for a quote: you will get a precise answer for your situation, not a template.
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