Who this is for: This guide is for businesses in France, including micro-entrepreneurs and foreign companies registered in France, that buy from or sell to other EU businesses and need to understand the intra-community VAT number.
If your business trades with companies elsewhere in the European Union, you will keep encountering the intra-community VAT number (numéro de TVA intracommunautaire). It is not a separate tax; it is the identifier that makes cross-border EU trade work correctly, and quoting it, or your customer’s, on the right invoices is what allows VAT to be handled properly between two countries.
Table of Contents
What it is and what it looks like
The intra-community VAT number is your business’s individual VAT identifier for EU transactions. A French number has a consistent format: the country prefix FR, followed by a two-character key, followed by your nine-digit SIREN. For example, it looks like FR XX 123456789. It is unique to your business and is used across the EU to identify you for VAT.
How the number is built
Part | Example | What it is |
Country prefix | FR | France |
Computer key | 40 | Two characters derived from the SIREN |
SIREN | 123 456 789 | Your company’s nine-digit registration number |
Any counterparty can verify a number in seconds on the European Commission’s VIES tool, and serious suppliers will. An invalid or missing number is one of the fastest ways to lose the zero-rating on an intra-EU sale.
Why you need one
- Intra-EU sales of goods to a VAT-registered business in another member state can be zero-rated only if both parties’ valid VAT numbers appear on the invoice.
- Intra-EU purchases and B2B services are generally handled through the reverse charge, which relies on both numbers.
- Invoicing: the number must appear on invoices for intra-community transactions.
- Verification: you can and should check a counterparty’s number in the EU’s VIES database before treating a sale as zero-rated.
Who gets one, and how
A business already registered for French VAT is generally assigned an intra-community number as part of its file. The point that catches people out is the micro-entreprise: even a micro-entrepreneur operating under the VAT franchise (franchise en base) must request an intra-community VAT number once they buy services from, or sell certain goods or services to, businesses in other EU countries. In that situation the number is obtained from your business tax office (Service des Impôts des Entreprises), and for foreign companies registered in France, through the SIEE.
Having the number does not by itself change your domestic VAT position; a micro-entrepreneur under the franchise can hold an intra-community number and still not charge French VAT on domestic sales. The number governs how cross-border EU transactions are treated, which is a separate question.
Typical situations
Your situation | What happens |
French company registered for VAT | The number is issued automatically with VAT registration |
French business under the VAT franchise (micro-entrepreneur) | No number by default; you request one from your tax office when buying or selling across the EU above the thresholds |
Foreign company with French VAT obligations | The number comes with French VAT registration through the SIEE |
EU company selling into France under OSS | Usually keeps its home-country number; no French number needed |
The official walk-through is on service-public.fr. For the underlying French VAT registration itself, the rules for foreign companies are a separate subject with their own traps.
Common mistakes
- Zero-rating an intra-EU sale without checking the buyer’s VAT number in VIES.
- Leaving the number off invoices for intra-community transactions.
- Assuming a micro-entrepreneur never needs one — EU trade can require it even under the franchise.
- Confusing the intra-community number with a French domestic VAT registration — they are related but not the same question.
Where we come in
Expand CPA is a Franco-American accounting and tax advisory firm with offices in Paris, New York and Tel Aviv. We obtain intra-community VAT numbers for businesses and micro-entrepreneurs, set up correct invoicing for intra-EU trade, and make sure the reverse charge and VIES checks are handled properly so your cross-border sales stay compliant. If you are starting to trade with EU businesses, we can put the right VAT identification in place from the outset. See also our guides to creating a subsidiary in France and the micro-entreprise regime, or get in touch.
Disclaimer: VAT identification and intra-community rules depend on your activity and can change. This article is general information only, not tax advice. Please consult a qualified adviser about your situation.
Checking a number on VIES, step by step
Before zero-rating any intra-EU sale, verify the customer’s number on the Commission’s VIES tool. The routine that survives an audit:
- Select the customer’s country, enter their number without the country prefix, and enter your own number in the requester fields — that generates a consultation record tied to you.
- Save the result with its consultation number, date and time. A screenshot alone is weaker evidence than the reference VIES itself issues.
- Re-check at reasonable intervals for recurring customers. A number valid at contract signature can be revoked later, and the exemption is assessed transaction by transaction.
An invalid result does not always mean fraud. Some member states register domestic-only businesses without activating the intra-EU number, and newly issued numbers can take days to propagate. The safe reflex is the same either way: no confirmed number, no zero-rating — charge VAT until the customer produces a number that validates.
Invoicing with the number: the B2B rules that matter
The number is not decoration; it is one of the conditions for the exemption on intra-Community supplies. For a zero-rated B2B sale of goods from France, the invoice and file need:
- Both VAT numbers on the invoice — yours and the customer’s, each valid at the time of supply.
- Proof the goods left France — transport documents, CMR, carrier invoices. Since the 2020 quick fixes, the customer’s valid number is a substantive condition, not a formality.
- The right legal mention — for services under the general B2B rule, the customer self-accounts and the invoice carries the “autoliquidation” (reverse charge) wording instead of French VAT.
- The statistical side — cross-border goods flows feed the EMEBI survey (the successor to the DEB) and the recapitulative statement; service supplies feed the European services declaration (DES).
Miss the customer’s number or the transport evidence and the administration can reassess French VAT on the whole flow, years later, with interest. The official overview is on service-public.fr.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a French VAT number look like?
The prefix FR, a two-character key, then your nine-digit SIREN, for example FR XX 123456789.
Does a micro-entrepreneur need one?
Yes, once you buy from or sell to businesses in other EU countries, even while under the VAT franchise.
How do I check a customer’s number?
Validate it in the EU’s VIES database before treating an intra-EU sale to a business as zero-rated.
