In France, the importation of goods constitutes a taxable act for VAT purposes pursuant to Article 293-A of the General Tax Code. The tax must be paid by the person designated as the actual consignee of the goods on the import declaration. However, this tax is jointly due by the customs declarant.

Before the existence of the auto-liquidation of import VAT:

At the time of each customs clearance, you receive an invoice from your forwarder including his transport service, customs duties and import VAT. Then, via your periodic turnover declaration (CA3), you file a request for a refund of your VAT credit to recover it. The recovery time ranged from 2 to 4 months.

Now the auto-liquidation of import VAT exist:

The reverse VAT payment is a derogatory simplification that avoids the disbursement of VAT. Declared each month on the CA3 form, the import VAT can then be deducted from the turnover declaration before it is paid, thus eliminating the security costs.

A. Eligible companies

The reverse payment of VAT due on importation is a system that is available as an option to companies that are:

• established in the customs territory of the European Union and having a valid French VAT identifier;

  If you are established in the European Union, you must register and then submit your VAT returns to the following service: Foreign Business Tax Service (FBT) 10, rue du Centre TSA 20011 93,465 NOISY-LE-GRAND CEDEX For more information contact 01 72 95 20 31 Email : [email protected]

• liable in France for the VAT due on importation;

• subject to the normal effective tax regime (régime réel normal in French)

  Taxable persons subject to the simplified VAT regime (IHR) who wish to auto-liquidate the VAT due on importation must opt for the "régime réel normal".

⚠️ Operators that are not established in the customs territory of the European Union must use a customs representative holding an authorisation as an economic operator in customs simplifications; these operators must appoint a tax representative in France to carry out accounting formalities

B. Conditions of authorisation

To benefit from the reverse charge of VAT, companies established in the EU must:

1. make at least 4 imports into the EU in the last 12 months

   Operators who do not usually clear customs in France may present as proof copies of import declarations made via the customs clearance systems of other Member States.

2. have a customs and tax records management system to monitor import operations;

3. justify the absence of serious or repeated infringements of customs and tax provisions;

   The verification responsibility rests with the customs office processing the request

4. provide proof of their solvency over the last 12 months.

   The verification responsibility rests with the customs office processing the request. This condition shall be deemed to have been met when the taxable person:

   • has not been the subject of a default in payment to the tax authorities
   • is not subject to liquidation or legal redress

⚠️ Taxable persons established outside the EU must remove the goods from customs through a customs representative holding an authorised economic operator's authorisation.

⚠️ Attention, as from 1 January 2020, the conditions for the authorisation of the reverse charge change:

• companies that have been in existence for at least 12 months will also be eligible (even if the 4 imports were not made during the 12 months preceding the application and if the other conditions are met);
• an additional period of 1 month will be introduced to auto-liquidate imports in the absence of the import declaration;
• the absence of serious or repeated infringements of customs and tax provisions will be required of the company's CEO;
• regularisations will be possible via the turnover declaration.