I am a small micro, not registered for VAT. I have just had an email from DHL asking for my VAT number for an order from UK.
I have replied explaining I don’t have a VAT number but they have come back saying …
If this import is for professional use, to clear the shipment we need your VAT number valid. Please contact your Tax office to obtain your French VAT number. This number is requested for all professional (company, auto entrepreneur, micro entrepreneur…).
When I go into the link there is an option that says " How to request your intra-community VAT Number" but I am a little confused whether I am “A company liable for VAT” or “Company not liable for VAT”
I am having a thick day and am a little worried about doing the wrong thing ?
My partner got a VAT number for people not registered for VAT in exactly your circumstances. The French tax people kow you need one for the UK even though VAT is irrelevant to you here.
It’s been some time but AFAIR you will be regarded as a company not liable for TVA based on your turnover but nonetheless entitled to a TVA number based on your French business status.
I don’t think you will be able to claim the UK VAT back now but the point at which it would have been significant is when the order was placed with the UK supplier.
Thanks Angela - Do you know if he registered as “A company liable for VAT” or “Company not liable for VAT”
I’m having a stupid day not understanding the meaning of these phrases - I am liable to pay VAT but I am not liable to charge VAT ?!!?
I don’t now recall how we got ours… I think you can request it from the tax office or maybe your online account but you get a paper document confirming the number and other businesses can search for it to confirm its validity.
It’s the “not liable for VAT” one - I’ve double checked with my partner.
He got his from the tax office and there was not problem with that - he went to visit them as he found it easier than engaging with their on-line facility (which was a bit erratic at the time)
We’ve certainly found it best to go and see them for anything that is remotely out of the standard run of things. I don’t know who they put on the “fielding the online stuff” desk at our local office but they aren’t exactly on the ball
Whilst it is necessary to obtain the correct paperwork, I seem to recall that there was a direct correlation between the SIRET and the TVA numbers.
Looking at our old papers from 2011 I see that the TVA number begins with FR25 but then the numbers that follow match the SIRET exactly.
You could use this resource to check if it’s valid in the meantime… (if it works, use at your own risk of course)
Thanks Graham, good idea but unfortunately it said my number wasn’t valid, my EORI number was just my siret with FR but the VAT is being a little trickier
It probably needs to be validated first before it becomes useable.
It’s probably the first two digits after FR (25 in my example) as they may be a mathematical check (such as is the case with Credit Card numbers) against the other numbers or a combination of them as a fraud avoidance measure.
I might be late in responding here, but you send off an application to your local SIE and it comes back. It won’t cost anything and it was relatively painless, and yes, it is just a permutation of you SIRET, but it still needs to be set up by local tax office.
I needed mine as I was charging clients outside of France.
Pardon my ignorance but if you register for TVA as a ME to avoid paying TVA on an import upon which you have already paid VAT, will you not then need to charge TVA on your services/goods going forward?
This sounds like it could open up a whole can of worms with the French TVA services in future?
not if you are not fully TVA registered.
Your selling price will/should take account of your purchase price and be made TVA inclusive and noted as such on your invoice similar to the rules existing in the UK (which are EU based anyway).
Your business tax situation will be based on the total of your sales inclusive, not - as in the case of a TVA registered business - nett of TVA.
To make that more clear - sale of item excl TVA 100€ = sales price inclusive accounted for of 120€ which is taxable. The same item by a TVA registered enterprise would sell at 120€ but account for sales of only 100€ and 20€ to TVA repayment.
When I sell throught Etsy
Say the price is 100E, if you are in France the price is 100E, but if you are in UK the price is 100E plus the VAT that Etsy collects for UK - Total 120E
I’m not charging any TVA/VAT the 100E just goes into my quarterly declaration for cottisations - should I be doing anything more ?
Any sales over (I think) £135 through my websit to UK I don’t add VAT and it is charged at the UK end.
