🇫🇷 How do I pay my VAT in France?

Principle

In France, the SEPA direct debit form is the sole means of payment of VAT. For this purpose, we will provide you with a direct debit form after registration, which you can sign and submit to your bank.

In exceptional cases, the French tax authorities may encounter delays during the activation of your online log-in; in this case, we will inform you about the necessary activation of a new direct debit form with a new SEPA reference, which replaces the original mandate and should be submitted to your bank again.

The prerequisite for setting up a B2B direct debit is always the approval of your bank for the "SEPA B2B direct debit" function. You can check this functionality under the following link:

IBAN CHECKER

The field "SDD B2B" (= SEPA Direct Debit B2B) should then contain a "YES".

Manual transfer with Taxdoo is not possible

Please note that it's generally not possible with Taxdoo to pay your ongoing French VAT by manual transfer.

• Direct debit offers a convenient way to ensure that you meet all payment deadlines.
• In the case of manual payment, the French tax authority charges additional costs of 1% of your tax liability, but at least €60 per return. Naturally, we'd like to save you these costs.

As is the case with any rule, there are exceptions.

Exception 1: Transfer after switching

If you are switching to us from another provider, we may ask you in exceptional circumstances, to transfer your VAT to the French tax authority manually. The reason for this is that reallocating your online, login with the French tax authority can take some time. To save time in this case (and avoid default interest), our partners submit paper-based returns until the complete reallocation of your login, which you need to transfer manually. You can find the payment instructions in our messages confirming the return submitted.

Afterwards, payment will be switched to direct debit as quickly as possible.

Exception 2: Transfer after failed direct debit collection

A direct debit collection may fail for various reasons. In these cases, the outstanding amount also needs to be transferred manually; the French tax authority does not attempt to collect an amount more than once. In this case, we will send you specific payment instructions for the bank transfer.

Exception 3: Transfer of penalty payments

Penalty payments in France likewise need to be transferred manually. If this is necessary, we'll send you all the necessary payment instructions for the bank transfer.