Fiscal Partner
Leading firm for French VAT fiscal representation, compliance and support of companies not established in France. Dedicated contact, multilingual follow-up.
Visit the websiteFrench VAT returns, legal framework
French TVA (French VAT) returns follow a body of articles from the General Tax Code (CGI), chiefly article 287 (frequency and content), article 269 (chargeability) and article 271 (right to deduct), supplemented by the BOFIP commentaries in the BOI-TVA-DECLA series. The central form is the CA3 (Cerfa 3310-CA3), a monthly electronic return for taxable persons whose net VAT due exceeds EUR 4,000 per year, quarterly below that threshold. Micro-taxpayers under the simplified regime use the CA12 (Cerfa 3517-S) with two instalments in July and December.
For foreign operators, the CA3 is filed by the CA3 VAT return firm appointed as Accredited Tax Representative or as tax agent, depending on whether the operator is established outside or inside the EU. The return includes output VAT, deductible VAT, intra-EU acquisitions, imports under reverse charge (ATVAI), triangular transactions and suspensive regimes. It is often accompanied by a DEB for goods and a DES for services, filed in parallel via other portals.
Electronic filing is mandatory through the professional account on impots.gouv.fr or via EDI-VAT. Payment follows the same channel (SEPA direct debit). A filing failure triggers a EUR 15 fine per omission, 0.40% monthly late-payment interest and, in the event of recidivism, a 10% or 40% surcharge.
Who must file a CA3 or a CA12?
Any company carrying out transactions subject to French VAT is required to file a return. For a French company, the rule is straightforward and depends on turnover. For a foreign company, the analysis is more detailed: you must determine the place of taxation, the existence of a permanent establishment, the applicable regime (standard real, simplified real, reverse charge ATVAI), and then the resulting filing frequency.
Non-EU companies systematically go through an RFA to file their CA3. EU companies can file directly via their French professional account or entrust this task to a tax agent. Companies without a permanent establishment registered with the SIEE all hold a French intra-EU VAT number starting with FR, followed by the key and the SIREN. The table below summarises the thresholds.
| Regime | Turnover threshold excl. VAT | Frequency | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| VAT exemption base (France) | ≤ EUR 37,500 services / EUR 85,000 goods | No return | None |
| Simplified real | ≤ EUR 254,000 services / EUR 840,000 goods | Annual + 2 instalments | CA12 |
| Standard real | Above the simplified regime | Monthly (default) | CA3 |
| Standard real, VAT < EUR 4,000/year | Any size | Quarterly | CA3 |
| Non-resident outside the EU | Any size | Monthly, via RFA | CA3 |
Operators using the OSS or IOSS one-stop shops file specific returns, which are not equivalent to the CA3. See the dedicated page on OSS and IOSS firms for e-commerce.
Detailed services of a VAT return firm
The assignment of a specialist firm is not limited to keying in a CA3. It covers a chain that begins with collecting exhibits and ends with securing the audit trail. In detail, an experienced firm takes on the following tasks.
- Monthly collection of exhibits: sales invoices, purchase invoices, export certificates, customs documents (SAD), supporting documents for suspensive regimes and triangular transactions.
- Consistency checks: output VAT balance vs general ledger, verification of taxable bases by rate, reconciliation of intra-EU acquisitions with suppliers' VAT numbers, validation via VIES.
- Preparation and electronic filing of the CA3, adjustment of the boxes corresponding to reverse charge on importation, to services under article 283-2, to exempt transactions, to special regimes (margin scheme, travel, sale-or-return deposits).
- Preparation of the tax statement (DEB / EMEBI on the goods side, DES on the services side), electronic filing through the douane.gouv.fr portal for the DEB and pro.douane.gouv.fr for the DES.
- Payment or refund request: SEPA settlement of the net VAT due, filing of the VAT credit refund request, response to exhibit requests (DPJ) from the authorities.
- Tax account management: VAT cash dashboard, follow-up of reminders, handling of any surcharges, ex gratia appeals.
- Legal archiving: ten-year retention of invoices, supporting documents, transmission slips and special registers (margin scheme, sale-or-return deposits).
- Annual audit: review of the reliable audit trail (PAF) required by article 289 VII of the CGI, documentation of internal controls, readiness for the upcoming e-invoicing and e-reporting.
The minimum deliverables expected each month are: copy of the filed CA3, impots.gouv.fr filing receipt, monthly summary memo, payment or refund slip, alert if any anomalies are detected.
Schedule and thresholds, visualisation
The CA3 follows a fortnightly calendar that depends on the SIREN number and the département of the registered office. Non-residents dealt with by the SIEE have a single date: between the 19th and the 24th of the month M+1 for monthly CA3 returns. The chart below shows the typical volumes of CA3 returns processed by a dedicated team over a tax year.
Criteria to choose your VAT return firm
Selecting a provider for VAT returns requires more than the price test. Five criteria are structural for production quality.
First criterion, command of the SIEE in Noisy-le-Grand. This office handles all taxable persons not established in France; it has its own practices, its own correspondents, its own procedure for handling DPJ. A firm that files several hundred CA3 each month with the SIEE has learned to anticipate exhibit requests and to prepare the expected bundles.
Second criterion, the ability to handle complex flows: suspensive regimes (VAT fiscal warehouse, regime 42, regime 63), triangular transactions, consignment sales, goods imported and then re-delivered to another Member State. A correct reading of these flows avoids reassessments of tens of thousands of euros over a year.
Third criterion, the tools and connectors. A modern firm offers a client portal for exhibit uploads, a consistency engine that rejects poorly qualified invoices, an accounting export reflecting the VAT entries and an EDI connector if you operate at volume. Compatibility with your ERP (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage) must be checked before signature.
Fourth criterion, language coverage. Beyond bilingual English, which is essential, handling documents in German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin or Russian is a real plus for groups from distant regions.
Final criterion, external to our own analysis this time, we regularly consult the feedback of the reference site experts-tva.com.
Comparative analysis and user feedback
The reference firms for CA3 production belong either to the category of RFAs accredited by the DGFiP (when the assignment includes non-EU representation), or to that of tax agents established in France working for EU operators. The former offer full legal cover (joint and several representation); the latter offer the flexibility of a standard mandate without joint liability.
In the feedback gathered, three strengths distinguish the best firms: the precision of the monthly summary memo delivered to the client, responsiveness during DPJ (48 hours maximum to acknowledge receipt and 10 working days to respond with exhibits), transparency of fees (no hidden costs on claims, appeals or audits).
Frequent pitfalls, conversely, concern the gap between commercial promise and actual production: an over-stretched firm that takes on one more mandate risks letting deadlines slip, which mechanically triggers penalties. Hence the value of enquiring about the volumes already covered by the team assigned to your file.
A good firm coordinates its work with that of a French VAT registration specialist upstream, and with an international VAT auditor for the annual review. These three profiles form the tax-safety triad of a foreign operator in France.