Case 3:
Taxable transactions in France - requiring a VAT number

The French tax administration has recalled on its website the operations requiring foreign companies to register for VAT:

• Registration for exclusively customs purposes (use of the VAT number for the INTRASTAT/DEB filing):
  • Intra-community acquisitions made in France only,
  • Assimilated intra-community deliveries constituting transfers of stocks.
• Registration required for filing VAT returns:
  • Invoicing of transactions subject to VAT in France to individuals or companies not identified for French VAT,
  • Intra-community deliveries from France,
  • Exports from France,
  • Distance sales of goods from another Member State and sold to individuals in France (exceeding the annual sales threshold of € 35,000),
  • Use of the reverse charge mechanism for VAT due on importation,

Companies established outside the territory of the European Union must appoint a French tax representative, unless the country of establishment has a legal instrument with France relating to mutual assistance in matters of taxes.

List of countries concerned: Albania, Australia, Aruba, South Africa, Azerbaijan, Curaçao, Republic of Korea, Georgia, Ghana, Greenland, Faroe Islands, India, Iceland, Japan, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Norway, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Saint Barthelemy, Saint-Martin, Tunisia, Ukraine.