French VAT for foreign companies,
same team, same standard.
Registration with the French tax office for foreign businesses (SIEE), every monthly VAT return (CA3), and every letter answered. Run in-house by the same licensed German-French tax firm, through the same English dashboard. You confirm your figures each month; our team prepares, reviews and files.
Also need German VAT? Same team, one dashboard
Where your company is established matters in France.
France requires companies established outside the EU in a country without a mutual-assistance agreement with France, for example the United States, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland or Israel, to appoint a fiscal representative who becomes jointly liable for their VAT. That is a role we do not take, so we cannot register those companies for French VAT.
- Our German VAT service has no such requirement.
- For B2C sales into France without French stock, the Union OSS scheme may cover you without a French registration.
French stock and French customers both create the obligation.
The trigger is the same shape as Germany. Where your goods sit, and who you sell to, decides whether France needs you registered.
Stock in a French warehouse
Pan-EU fulfilment moves inventory across borders. Once your goods are stored in France, French VAT registration follows from the first sale.
Marketplace asked for a French VAT number
Marketplaces check for a valid French number once they see French stock or French dispatch on your account.
Selling B2C above the EU threshold
For EU-established sellers, cross-border B2C sales above €10,000 a year need either OSS or a local registration; a company established outside the EU has no such threshold and owes destination VAT from the first sale. We tell you which fits your setup.
A letter from the French tax office
If the SIEE has written to you, the deadline is already running. Send it over and we read it before you sign anything.
Four things, every month, for one price.
The scope mirrors Germany: registration, then every routine monthly filing for the year. A month with no sales still gets its return; a nil return is mandatory in France and included. France has no annual VAT return; the year closes through the monthly cycle.
Catch-up returns for periods before you joined are quoted per return. Written advisory beyond routine filing questions is billed from €200 per hour. Both are quoted before any work starts.
Registration
We prepare and submit your dossier to the French tax office for foreign businesses (SIEE), with the supporting company documents France asks for, and handle the activation code step when it arrives.
Monthly VAT return (CA3)
You confirm your figures, our team prepares the CA3, reviews it, and files it electronically on the date the French tax office sets for your business.
Tax office correspondence
Letters from the SIEE come to us, get read in French, and get answered. You see a plain English summary in the dashboard.
Deadline tracking
Every period is on a calendar before it opens, including the EC sales list (état récapitulatif) when you sell B2B across the EU.
From signup to first filing, honestly timed.
French registration realistically takes 2 to 3 months end to end, because France posts an activation code by letter before the online tax account works. We tell you that up front rather than surprise you in week six.
You sign up
The same guided form as Germany, plus the company documents France asks for. About twenty minutes.
We file the dossier
We prepare and submit your registration to the SIEE. Your two signing tasks, the pre-filled ink mandates, follow shortly after.
France issues your VAT number
The tax office sets the pace here, and it varies widely. Then France posts an activation code for your online tax account, which adds another two to three weeks before the first return can be filed. We chase both and keep the status visible in your dashboard.
Your returns get filed
You confirm the figures, we prepare and file the monthly VAT return (CA3) on your assigned date.
What gets filed in France, and how often.
The French tax office sets your filing date when it registers you; we file to the date on your account and show it in the dashboard before the period opens. There is no annual VAT return in France, and a month with no sales still gets a mandatory nil return, included in the plan.
Two ways in. Both plainly recurring.
Prices are net and recurring. First charge at signup. France carries more registration work than Germany, and the price reflects that honestly.
You do not have a French VAT number yet.
- VAT registration with the SIEE, including the activation code step
- Every monthly VAT return (CA3) for the year
- EC sales list (état récapitulatif)
- Routine tax office correspondence
- Nil returns included
You already hold a French VAT number.
- Every monthly VAT return (CA3)
- EC sales list (état récapitulatif)
- Routine tax office correspondence
- Deadline tracking in the dashboard
- Handover from your current provider
Union OSS, EORI applications, catch-up returns and advisory sit on the pricing page as add-ons.
Letters arrive in French. You read them in English.
Everything the French tax office sends, from the activation code letter to a formal notice to file (mise en demeure), comes to us, gets read in French, and gets answered. Your dashboard shows a plain English summary of every letter and what we did about it.
Already holding a French tax letter you cannot read? Send it over and we quote a fixed price to deal with it, from €200 net, within 24 hours on weekdays. You pay nothing until you accept the quote.
Automated translation and general information, not tax advice. Always check deadlines against the original letter.
France questions
Ready to register in France?
Same signup, same dashboard, same team that runs our German filings. Check the eligibility note above first if your company sits outside the EU.