Distance selling regime evolution in the EU:
Until June 30, 2021, the distance selling system in terms of VAT was based on the principle of taxation in the country of consumption of the good when the annual sales exceeded a certain threshold freely set by each Member State of the European Union, which was to be between € 35,000 and € 100,000.
This regime has undergone a recent evolution, on July 1, 2021, with a harmonization of the distance selling threshold in all EU member states. This threshold is now set at € 10,000.
Exceeding the VAT threshold under the old regime and regularization:
For certain French operators, who had exceeded the thresholds set by other Member States under the old system, i.e. for whom VAT should have been collected in the Member State of destination of the goods but who have Wrongly subject all of their sales made in the EU to VAT in France. The question arises of how to adjust the VAT wrongly collected in France.
Note that if they regularize their situation by paying the VAT due in the Member State of destination, they will find themselves in a double taxation case because they already have made their sales in the EU subject to French VAT .
In this situation, there is a possibility to get a VAT refund wrongly collected in France.
What are the formalities to obtain a VAT refund wrongly collected in France?
The French tax administration indicates that “Operators or their representative can file with the managerial service on which they depend, requests for the refund of the tax wrongly collected, which must imperatively be accompanied by supporting evidence for distance sales operations concerned by the request as well as the proof of the actual payment of the resulting VAT to the French public treasury. “
It also adds that “In addition, insofar as the recovery period may vary from one Member State to another, an automatic relief procedure, by virtue of the provisions of article R. * 211-1 of tax procedures book (LPF), may be implemented and the request for restitution may then extend over a longer period than that provided for in B of article R. * 196-1 of the LPF, provided that operators or their representative will be able to justify effective double taxation on the same transactions. “
Have you paid VAT wrongly in France for your distance selling transactions in the EU? And you don’t know how to get it returned?
Eurotax helps you with your administrative procedures related to VAT in France and in the EU. Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
