Invoicing abroad
Invoicing to France: VAT, reverse charge and mandatory details
To a business in France you invoice without VAT and add the reverse-charge note. Your customer accounts for the tax in France; you need their valid VAT ID for that.
This page is written for freelancers and small businesses in Germany and Austria. Pick your country below — the rules differ.
Do you charge VAT?
From Germany to a business in France: no VAT, with the reverse-charge note. The basis is § 3a Abs. 2 in Verbindung mit § 14a Abs. 1 UStG. The standard rate in France is 20 % — but your customer accounts for it, not you.
From Austria to a business in France: no VAT, with the reverse-charge note. The basis is § 3a Abs. 6 UStG 1994 in Verbindung mit Art. 196 MwStSystRL. The standard rate in France is 20 % — but your customer accounts for it, not you.
Private customers: Reverse charge never applies to consumers. Up to €10,000 in total you charge your own domestic VAT; above it you owe the destination country’s VAT and report it through the One-Stop Shop (§ 3a Abs. 5 UStG). Note the €10,000 is cumulative across the whole EU, not per country.
The sentence for the invoice
No exact wording is prescribed; the note only has to be unambiguous. This is the customary form:
Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers (Reverse Charge)
Both VAT IDs belong on the invoice: yours and your customer’s. Without a valid recipient VAT ID the reverse-charge mechanism does not apply.
Do you have to report it?
Yes. The supply belongs in the recapitulative statement, with your customer’s VAT ID and the net amount — by the 25th day after the end of the reporting period. It is a report rather than a tax return, but it is forgotten regularly, and it is the most common reason a tax office asks about EU supplies.
Yes. The supply belongs in the recapitulative statement, with your customer’s VAT ID and the net amount — by the end of the following month. It is a report rather than a tax return, but it is forgotten regularly, and it is the most common reason a tax office asks about EU supplies.
Does France’s e-invoicing mandate apply to you?
France’s B2B e-invoicing duty has been live since 1 September 2026: every French business must be able to receive e-invoices through an approved platform. Businesses not established in France are explicitly exempt from the e-invoicing duty — you may still send a PDF by email. One caveat: if you make supplies taxable in France you may be caught by the separate e-REPORTING duty (transmitting transaction data). That is a different obligation and worth checking with an adviser.
In short: the duty is your customer’s, not yours. You send a normal invoice; they do whatever their own system requires of them.
The most common mistake
Since 1 September 2026 French clients have been writing to foreign suppliers claiming they now need a platform e-invoice. For a business not established in France that is wrong — the duty binds French businesses among themselves.
Sources
- impots.gouv.fr — Facturation électronique — https://www.impots.gouv.fr/professionnel/facturation-electronique
- BOFiP BOI-TVA-LIQ-20 (Normalsatz 20 %) — https://bofip.impots.gouv.fr/bofip/1053-PGP.html
Verified on 2026-09-06. VAT rates and e-invoicing timetables change several times a year — this article is general information and does not replace tax advice.