France E-commerce VAT Guide
French VAT rules for e-commerce. The guide covers: the TVA on online sales within France — the sale of goods to French consumers (B2C) via a website or a marketplace is subject to French TVA at the applicable rate (20% for most goods, 10% for food, 5.5% for books, 2.1% for certain medicines); the seller must collect the TVA at the point of sale and remit it to the DGFiP; the OSS (One-Stop Shop) regime — the simplified TVA regime for e-commerce sellers: the "guichet unique TVA" (the "One-Stop Shop" — OSS) allows a company to file a single quarterly TVA return for all sales to consumers in the EU, instead of registering for TVA in each country; the OSS is mandatory for companies that sell to consumers in multiple EU countries and whose intra-Community distance sales exceed €10,000 per year; the OSS return is filed quarterly via the French portal (if the company is registered in France) or via the portal of the company's country of establishment; the marketplace liability — under the EU VAT e-commerce package (effective from 2021), an online marketplace (the "place de marché" — Amazon, Cdiscount, eBay, Vinted, Uber Eats) is deemed to be the supplier for TVA purposes when: (a) a non-EU seller sells goods to a French consumer through the marketplace, OR (b) a non-EU seller sells goods to a consumer in any EU country through the marketplace (regardless of the value of the goods); the marketplace must collect the TVA and remit it to the French or EU authorities; the distance selling thresholds — the intra-Community distance selling threshold for France is €10,000 (for sales of goods from another EU member state to French consumers); once the threshold is exceeded, the seller must charge French TVA (at the French rate) instead of the seller's country's TVA; the seller can opt to charge French TVA even if the threshold is not exceeded (the "option de taxation"); the import of low-value goods (€150) — the import of goods from outside the EU with a value of less than €150 is subject to French TVA collected at the point of import; the IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) allows non-EU sellers to collect the TVA at the time of sale and remit it to the EU via a single IOSS return; the French TVA rate applies (20%); the VAT is collected by the seller and declared in the IOSS return; if the IOSS is not used, the customer pays the TVA at the time of import (the "frais de dédouanement" include the TVA and the customs clearance costs); the e-services (TVA on digital services) — the supply of digital services (e-books, streaming, online courses, app subscriptions, SaaS) to French consumers is subject to French TVA at 20%; the non-EU provider must register for the OSS (the "Mini One-Stop Shop" — MOSS) in an EU country and declare the TVA for all EU consumers; the French provider charges French TVA on digital services.
The EU VAT e-commerce reforms have significantly impacted online sellers and marketplaces. All amounts in Euros (EUR). For related reading, see our VAT Guide → and Starting a Business Guide →.
OSS — One-Stop Shop
- Simplified filing: The OSS allows a company to file a single quarterly TVA return for all intra-Community distance sales and digital services sold to consumers in the EU. The return is filed quarterly (by the end of the month following the quarter). The OSS replaces the need to register for TVA in each EU member state.
- Threshold — €10,000: The OSS is mandatory once the intra-Community distance sales (goods and services) to consumers in other EU countries exceed €10,000 in the previous calendar year or in the current year. Below the threshold, the seller can apply the TVA rate of its own country.
Marketplace Liability
- Deemed supplier: Under the 2021 EU VAT e-commerce reform, online marketplaces are deemed to be the supplier for goods sold by non-EU sellers to EU consumers. The marketplace must: (a) collect the TVA from the customer at the time of sale, (b) remit the TVA to the French tax authorities (or to the EU member state where the customer is located), (c) file a TVA return (the OSS return) for the marketplace's sales. This applies to platforms like Amazon, eBay, Cdiscount, Vinted, Fnac, and Uber Eats.
For the IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) for goods under €150, see the European Commission's IOSS portal. For the French TVA rates applicable to different categories of goods, see our VAT Guide →.