VAT, customs & tax glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms you'll come across most often when dealing with French VAT registration, customs, and cross-border compliance.
Fiscal Representative
A jointly liable intermediary appointed by non-EU companies to fulfil French VAT obligations, including VAT registration, returns and communication with the French tax authorities. The fiscal representative is held jointly responsible for the VAT owed by the company it represents.
Tax Agent
An intermediary appointed by an EU-established company to handle its French VAT formalities (registration, returns, payments) on its behalf. Unlike a fiscal representative, a tax agent is not jointly liable for the represented company's VAT debts.
VAT Registration
The process by which a French or foreign company obtains a French VAT number from the relevant tax office, allowing it to charge, declare and remit VAT on its taxable transactions carried out in France.
VAT Return (CA3)
A periodic return, filed monthly or quarterly, in which a VAT-registered business declares the VAT collected on its sales and the VAT deductible on its purchases, and calculates the resulting VAT payable or carried forward.
VAT Refund
A procedure allowing a business to recover French VAT paid on professional expenses, either because deductible VAT exceeds collected VAT, or because the business is not established in France (8th or 13th Directive refund).
OSS (One Stop Shop)
An EU scheme allowing a business making distance sales of goods to consumers in several EU countries to declare and pay the VAT due in all of those countries through a single quarterly return, instead of registering in each one.
IOSS (Import One Stop Shop)
A scheme allowing VAT to be collected at the point of sale, rather than at import, on low-value goods (up to €150) sold online to EU consumers and imported from outside the EU.
EORI Number
A unique identification number issued by customs authorities to any economic operator carrying out import or export operations with the European Union. It is mandatory for lodging any customs declaration.
EMEBI
The French monthly statistical survey on intra-EU trade in goods (Enquête statistique Mensuelle sur les Échanges de Biens Intracommunautaires). Since 2022 it has replaced the statistical part of the former DEB, and applies to businesses selected by French customs.
Intrastat
The EU-wide system for collecting statistical data on the physical movement of goods between Member States. In France, this obligation is implemented through the EMEBI survey, jointly managed by INSEE and French customs.
Reverse Charge
A mechanism under which the customer, rather than the supplier, accounts for and pays the VAT due on a transaction. It commonly applies to intra-EU acquisitions and to certain business-to-business services.
CA3 (VAT Return)
The French VAT return form, filed monthly or quarterly, on which a business reports VAT collected on sales and VAT deductible on purchases, and settles the resulting balance with the tax authorities.
PASRAU
The dematerialised reporting channel used in France for Prélèvement À la Source (PAS), the French payroll withholding tax on income. Foreign employers paying taxable income in France typically report through PASRAU.
8th Directive
An EU directive governing the refund of VAT incurred in one Member State by a business established in another Member State, via an electronic procedure managed through the applicant's own country of establishment.
13th Directive
An EU directive governing the refund of French VAT incurred by businesses established outside the European Union, subject to a reciprocity agreement between France and the business's country of establishment.
Customs Procedure 42
A customs regime allowing an importer to bring goods into France exempt from import VAT, provided the goods are immediately onward-supplied to another EU Member State, with VAT then reverse-charged by the final buyer.
Distance Selling
The sale of goods to a final consumer, shipped by or on behalf of the seller from one country to another, typically in the context of online retail. Distance sales are subject to specific EU VAT rules, including the €10,000 annual threshold and the OSS scheme.
TGAP
The General Tax on Polluting Activities, due by businesses whose activity generates certain emissions or waste (waste storage, polluting emissions, detergents...), aimed at encouraging reduced environmental impact.