You have a French VAT number, your return is filed, and a few weeks later a reminder arrives saying the VAT is still unpaid. It is one of the most common surprises for foreign sellers in France. Filing and paying are two separate steps, France only accepts electronic payment, and the usual method, a SEPA direct debit, silently fails if one small setting at your bank is missing.
This guide explains who collects your VAT, which payment methods work for a business based outside France, the deadlines, and what to check when a payment does not arrive.
Who collects VAT from foreign businesses
Companies registered for VAT in France without an establishment there are handled by a dedicated office: the SIE des entreprises étrangères (SIEE), the tax office for foreign companies within the French tax administration (DGFiP). It processes your returns, collects the payments and sends any reminders and penalty notices. All of it happens through your espace professionnel on impots.gouv.fr, the online business account linked to your French VAT number.
If you sell on Amazon from French stock, have goods in a French warehouse or sell to French consumers above the EU distance-selling threshold without using OSS, you file French VAT returns. Most foreign sellers file monthly on the CA3 form; how often you file depends on your regime and on how much VAT you pay. Our guide to VAT returns in France covers the filing side.
France accepts electronic payment only
Every business subject to VAT in France has to file and pay online. A cheque or a payment slip is not accepted, and paying the wrong way counts as not paying, with a surcharge. In practice a foreign seller has two options.
1. SEPA B2B direct debit (télérèglement)
This is the standard method if your business account is in the SEPA area (EU, EEA, UK, Switzerland and a few others). You create a SEPA business-to-business (B2B) mandate in your espace professionnel for the account you want to pay from. When the return is submitted, you or your accountant link the payment to that mandate. The amount is debited on the due date, not on the day you file.
The step that is most often missed: a B2B mandate only works if your own bank knows about it. Unlike a consumer direct debit, many banks reject B2B debits by default. You have to give your bank a signed copy of the mandate, or register the creditor (the DGFiP) and the mandate reference in your online banking, before the first debit. If you skip it, the bank refuses the debit, the tax office records the VAT as unpaid, and the first thing you hear about it is the reminder.
2. Bank transfer, if your account is outside SEPA
Businesses without a SEPA account, for example sellers who bank in the United States, China or the UAE, can pay the SIEE by international bank transfer. The tax office gives you the account details. What matters most is the payment reference: it identifies your company and the period you are paying for. A transfer without the reference, or with the reference of another period, cannot be matched automatically. Your account then shows a debt and a separate unallocated credit, until someone sorts it out by letter.
Send the transfer early. International transfers can take several days and the bank’s charges must not reduce the amount: France must receive the full amount of VAT due.
Deadlines
For companies managed by the SIEE, the monthly or quarterly return and its payment are due on the 19th of the following month. For a direct debit, the money leaves your account on that date. For a transfer, it must have arrived by then.
If you work with an accountant or a VAT service provider, they will ask for your sales data well before the 19th, often in the first days of the month, so they have time to prepare and check the return. That earlier date is your provider’s deadline, not the law’s. If you miss it, though, there is usually no time left to file on time.
| What | When | How |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly CA3 return + VAT payment | 19th of the following month | Online; SEPA B2B debit on the due date, or transfer received by then |
| OSS return + payment (if France is your OSS country) | End of the month after the quarter | Bank transfer with the OSS reference of that quarter |
| Credit (more VAT paid than collected) | Claimed in the return, or as a refund request | No payment due; a refund can trigger questions and supporting documents |
OSS VAT is a separate payment
If you are registered for the One-Stop Shop in France, the OSS return and the OSS payment are separate from your French domestic VAT return. OSS VAT is paid by bank transfer quoting the reference of that specific OSS return, which combines your OSS number and the quarter. Paying OSS and domestic VAT in a single transfer, or using the domestic reference for OSS, is a classic cause of payment reminders. Our OSS guide explains how the scheme works.
What a late or missing payment costs
- Late-payment surcharge: 5% of the unpaid VAT.
- Late-payment interest: 0.20% per month of delay, on top of the surcharge.
- Late filing: if the return itself is late, the surcharge is 10%, and it rises to 40% if you do not file within 30 days of a formal notice (mise en demeure).
A failed direct debit counts as late payment even if the money was in your account. That is why it is worth checking the first debit after you set up a new mandate or change bank account.
Received a payment reminder? Check these five things
- Was the debit rejected? Look at your bank statement around the 19th. A rejected B2B debit almost always means the mandate was not registered at your bank, or the bank blocks B2B debits on that account.
- Is the mandate active and linked? In your espace professionnel, check that the mandate is listed for the right IBAN and was selected when the return was submitted.
- Did a transfer arrive without the right reference? Compare the reference you used with the one the tax office gave you for that period.
- Did OSS and domestic VAT get mixed up? One payment for two returns leaves one of them looking unpaid.
- Did you change bank account? A new IBAN needs a new mandate, and your bank has to register it again.
If the payment did go out, keep the proof (bank statement, transfer confirmation). The SIEE can allocate a payment that arrived with the wrong reference, but only once you show them it was made.
If you have a tax representative
Some foreign sellers, depending on where they are established, need a tax representative in France. The representative is jointly liable for your VAT. Often they file and pay on your behalf, and you transfer the money to them before the deadline. In that case the deadline that matters to you is the one in your representative’s payment request. A late transfer to them becomes a late payment to France.
How hellotax helps
hellotax files your French VAT and OSS returns and, with each return, tells you how much to pay, by when and with which reference. If you pay by SEPA mandate, we check that the mandate is linked to the return. If a reminder or penalty letter arrives, our French accountants read it and tell you what it means and what to do. Talk to our team if you sell from French stock or are about to register in France.
The post How to Pay VAT in France as a Foreign Seller: SEPA Mandate, Bank Transfer and Deadlines appeared first on Hellotax Blog.
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This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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