French VAT registration

Resident businesses selling business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) goods are required to register for VAT in France when they exceed the annual sales threshold of €85,000. For resident businesses selling B2B and B2C services, the threshold is €37,500 (decreasing to €25,000 from June 2025).

There is no VAT registration threshold for foreign (non-EU) businesses operating in France. They must register for French VAT as soon as they make a taxable sale in the country.

Ecommerce businesses based in other EU countries making cross-border sales into France (distance selling) must register for VAT if their total EU-wide sales exceed €10,000 per year, unless they opt for the One-Stop Shop (OSS) scheme.

Businesses must provide the following information to the French tax office:

• Certificate of incorporation from the business’s home country
• Articles of association
• VAT certificate from the business’s home country
• Proof of business activity in France
• Details of fiscal representative, if applicable
• Name of company director and proof of ID

French businesses must register for VAT through the Service des Impôts des Entreprises (SIE) — the local corporate tax office in France, via the official French tax authority.

Non-resident businesses making taxable sales in France must register through the Service des Impôts des Entreprises Étrangers (SIEE) — the foreign business tax service. Applications must be submitted online, or through a fiscal representative.

It can take up to eight weeks for submissions to be processed.

Once a VAT registration has been approved, a unique French VAT number is allocated to the business. All EU member states have a fixed format for their VAT numbers.