How to Claim VAT Refund for French Businesses

How does the France VAT refund process work?

Businesses offset input VAT paid on purchases against output VAT charged on sales. When input VAT exceeds output VAT, the credit is refundable. The route depends on your establishment, and each route has its own portal and hard deadline. The Direction générale des Finances publiques (DGFiP), France’s tax authority, administers all three.

Late submissions are not accepted under any route. Treat the deadline as final.

What are the French VAT rates?

France applies four VAT rates on the mainland: 20% standard, 10% intermediate, 5.5% reduced, and 2.1% super-reduced, per impots.gouv.fr. The rates are codified in the Code général des impôts (CGI), France’s General Tax Code. The standard 20% rate has been in force since 1 January 2014.

Overseas and Corsican rates differ from the mainland. Note the recodification too: the CGI VAT articles are repealed effective 1 September 2026 and move into the new Code des impositions sur les biens et services (CIBS) under Ordonnance n°2025-1247 of 17 December 2025, per Legifrance. The 20% rate itself is unchanged.

DOM means départements d’outre-mer, France’s overseas departments. BOFiP is the Bulletin officiel des finances publiques, the DGFiP’s official doctrine.

Who can claim a VAT refund in France?

Three categories qualify. French-established, VAT-registered companies recover input VAT through their periodic returns. Foreign companies holding a French VAT number use the same domestic framework. Foreign companies without a French VAT number claim under the refund directives, on two conditions: they hold home-country VAT registration, and they carried out no France activity requiring registration during the claim period.

The two conditions matter for the third category. A foreign company that stored goods in a French warehouse or ran taxable sales in France during the period usually needed a French VAT number, which pushes it into the domestic framework instead.

What are the deadlines for a France VAT refund?

EU businesses must file by 30 September of the following year. Non-EU businesses must file by 30 June of the following year. French-registered businesses claim through their normal monthly or quarterly returns, with no separate annual deadline. All deadlines are hard, and late claims are rejected without exception.

The €400 and €50 minimums come directly from Article 17 of Directive 2008/9/EC and apply to France. A claim period runs a minimum of three months and a maximum of one calendar year.

Which expenses are eligible for a French VAT refund?

VAT on costs tied to taxable business activity is recoverable when invoices meet French standards. Eligible costs include rent, utilities, equipment, software, import VAT, trade fair and event costs, French supplier invoices, marketing, and professional services. The eligible list splits slightly between domestic and overseas claimants.

French-registered businesses recover VAT on office rent, utilities, maintenance, business equipment, software, and import VAT on goods brought into France.

Overseas claimants recover VAT on French supplier invoices, conference and event fees, trade show booth rental and logistics, marketing paid in France, and professional services such as legal, accounting, and consulting.

Which expenses are excluded from VAT recovery in France?

French law blocks or restricts recovery on several categories. Passenger vehicles, employee accommodation, passenger transport by air, rail and taxi, gifts above €73 per recipient per year, and private-use costs are non-recoverable per BOFiP doctrine. Fuel is partially deductible by type and vehicle. Input VAT tied to exempt supplies is not recoverable and must be apportioned.

The old figure of 0% for petrol is outdated. Petrol was progressively aligned with diesel, and both now sit at 80% for passenger vehicles.

One nuance trips people up. Hotel VAT for your own staff and managers is not recoverable, while some client-related costs may be, subject to conditions.

Can you reclaim VAT on trade show expenses in France?

Yes. Booth rental, stand setup, local logistics, and event participation fees are recoverable for foreign claimants when the costs relate to taxable business activity. The trap is accommodation and meals. Hotel stays for your own staff are generally not recoverable, and meal VAT is deductible only within limits.

Plan the claim around that split. The booth invoice recovers cleanly, but the team’s hotel invoices usually do not, so separate them before you file.

How do EU businesses claim a VAT refund from France?

EU companies without a French VAT number file electronically through their own country’s tax portal under Directive 2008/9/EC. The home authority verifies the applicant’s taxable status and forwards the claim to DGFiP. The claim needs full company identification, IBAN and SWIFT/BIC bank details, and standardized invoice fields.

The 8th Directive name is retired; it was repealed in 2010 and replaced by Directive 2008/9/EC. Under the electronic procedure, invoice copies must be attached only above set thresholds: €1,000 for general expenses and €250 for fuel, per Article 10 of the Directive. France then has around four months to respond, longer if it requests more information.

How do non-EU businesses claim a French VAT refund?

Non-EU companies claim under the 13th Directive (86/560/EEC) by appointing a mandatory French fiscal representative who files directly with DGFiP by 30 June, subject to reciprocity. Required documents include a certificate of fiscal status from the home tax authority, a Power of Attorney, and the full invoice set.

Thresholds work differently here. Non-EU claimants face the same €400 and €50 minimum claim amounts as EU claimants. The €1,000 and €250 attachment thresholds do not apply. Per DGFiP guidance, 13th Directive claims to France require original invoices for all expenses, regardless of amount. Reciprocity is set out in Article 2(2) of Directive 86/560/EEC.

Which countries have a VAT reciprocity agreement with France?

A non-EU business can only claim if France recognizes reciprocity with its country. DGFiP publishes the authoritative list in BOFiP under reference BOI-TVA-DED-50-20-30-40, which is the single source of truth. Confirm your country against that list before spending on a claim, because the list changes.

The United States is the case most readers ask about. The US levies no federal VAT, so France applies reciprocity strictly, and US companies generally cannot recover French input VAT. Always verify the current BOFiP entry for your specific country rather than relying on secondhand lists.

How do French-registered businesses file a VAT return online?

Refunds for registered businesses are requested inside the periodic VAT return in the espace professionnel on impots.gouv.fr. There is no separate refund application. You enter deductible input VAT in the return, and you request the credit when you are in a refund position. Follow these steps.

1. Confirm your French VAT registration is active and your filing frequency is set.
2. Verify that each expense meets French deductibility rules.
3. Complete the periodic return (form CA3 for the normal regime, CA12 for the simplified regime).
4. Enter deductible VAT and request the credit refund.
5. Attach compliant invoices and supporting evidence.
6. File before your filing deadline, then monitor status in the portal.

Do e-commerce sellers need French VAT registration or OSS?

Since July 2021, the old per-country distance-selling thresholds are gone. B2C cross-border EU sales above a single EU-wide €10,000 threshold go through the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) or local registration, per the European Commission. Storing goods in a French warehouse still forces a French VAT registration, regardless of the OSS.

OSS lets a seller report cross-border B2C sales across all EU countries with one registration and one return. IOSS, the Import One-Stop-Shop, handles low-value imported goods sold to EU consumers. Neither scheme lets you buy goods VAT-free where they are held, so warehousing in France remains a registration trigger.

What documents do you need for a French VAT refund?

You need compliant invoices meeting French invoicing standards, proof of taxable activity, and bank details. Non-EU claimants also need the home-country fiscal status certificate and a Power of Attorney for the fiscal representative. Records must be kept for the statutory retention period, generally six years under France’s Livre des procédures fiscales.

France is also phasing in mandatory B2B e-invoicing, which changes how invoices are issued and stored.

What is the difference between a business VAT refund and tourist détaxe?

Business input VAT recovery runs through tax returns and the refund directives, and it applies to companies reclaiming VAT on business costs. Détaxe is the tax-free shopping scheme for non-EU travelers on retail purchases. The two are separate systems with separate rules.

Détaxe purchases are validated electronically through the PABLO system, run by French Customs (Douane) at the point of departure. If you are a traveler, you want PABLO. If you are a business recovering VAT on expenses, the directives above are your route.

How Commenda Helps With French VAT Refunds and Compliance

Commenda’s global indirect tax platform tracks VAT registration obligations, filing deadlines, and refund claims across jurisdictions, with document management and expert review built in. It gives controllers certainty that every French input VAT claim is tracked, filed on time, and defensible, so nothing slips past the 30 June or 30 September deadline.

The platform integrates with 100+ ERPs, APIs, and custom integrations, so your invoice and expense data flows in without manual re-keying. Use the compliance calendar to track filing dates by country and entity, and global tax ID verification to validate supplier and customer VAT numbers before you file.

Book a demo to get a free assessment of your French VAT registration and refund exposure.