VAT (TVA) invoice rules in France

In France an invoice must show your numéro de TVA intracommunautaire, itemised lines, and VAT (TVA) separately at the applicable rate — 2.1%, 5.5%, 10%, 20%, with 20% applying to most work. "Facture". Invoices must also carry a sequential number with no gaps, and the date of the supply as well as the date of issue where they differ.

The France rule people miss

France requires specific mandatory wording on invoices and is moving to mandatory electronic invoicing for domestic B2B, phased by company size. Paper and PDF-by-email will not remain acceptable for those transactions indefinitely.

When VAT (TVA) registration becomes compulsory

The micro-entreprise franchise en base thresholds sit around €37,500 for services and €85,000 for goods, above which you must charge TVA. Below it you charge none, but you must print "TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI" on every invoice — omitting that line is the single most common mistake on French freelance invoices.

Assessed on a rolling twelve months in most systems, not your financial year — which is the detail that catches people out.

Which VAT (TVA) rate applies to what

5.5% covers most food, books and domestic energy-efficiency work; 10% covers restaurant meals, transport and much home renovation on dwellings over two years old; 2.1% is a narrow band for certain medicines and press publications.

Bands are defined by what you supply, not by who buys it.

How often you file in France

CA3 returns are monthly under the régime réel normal, or quarterly where the annual TVA due falls below roughly €4,000; the régime simplifié files an annual CA12 with two instalments during the year. Mandatory domestic B2B electronic invoicing is phasing in, and the obligation to *receive* structured invoices lands before the obligation to issue them.

A worked VAT (TVA) example

Invoice €4,100 with a 5% discount shown on the document:

• Net before discount: €4,100
• Discount at 5%: −€205
• Taxable value: €3,895
• VAT (TVA) at 20%: €779
• Total due: €4,674

The discounted value is what gets taxed — discounts, deposits and advance payments covers where that stops being obvious.

Correcting an invoice in France

A correction is an avoir or facture rectificative. It carries its own sequential number, references the invoice it corrects, and mirrors the original's TVA treatment. You do not amend a French invoice that has already been issued — you issue a second document against it.

Invoicing outside France

Selling services to a VAT-registered business elsewhere in the EU, you generally do not charge French TVA. The invoice carries the customer's VAT number and the words "Autoliquidation" so the buyer accounts for it.

Charging tax to a client in another country covers the general shape.

Record keeping in France

Ten years for accounting records — considerably longer than most of Europe. What to hand your accountant at year end.

The universal fields — number, both parties, dates, lines, tax separately, total — apply on top of the local rules above. Rates change: checked to mid-2026, a starting point rather than tax advice; verify against impots.gouv.fr.

Set your country once in EstimateBill and the tax is labelled correctly on every invoice after that — GST and GSTIN in India, VAT in the UK, Sales Tax and EIN in the US, across 58 countries.