What Are The Consequences For A Cross-Border Seller With A French VAT Account Who Has Not Made French VAT Declaration?

When cross-border sellers successfully register French VAT numbers, it means that they must begin to meet the corresponding domestic French tax obligations. Two aspects are involved: they must declare VAT comply and on time, then pay it in full and on time.

If the cross-border e-commerce companies fail to meet their VAT declaring obligations, they will face a reminder letter from the French tax authorities as well as penalty. And penalties for late declaring or paying range from 5% to 10% of the amount of tax payable.

If the cross-border e-commerce companies fail to declare sales data for a long period of time, the French tax authorities will self-approve an amount of VAT payable according to the criteria for a reminder and may impose a penalty.

The French tax authorities will contact your French tax representative as soon as the penalty is incurred. If you are found to have committed an egregious violation, the percentage of penalty can be up to 80%. And in severe case, your tax number may even be cancelled directly.

Therefore, once you have registered your French VAT number, be sure to work with your French tax representative to submit your sales data and pay your VAT on time each month to avoid bigger problems later on.

If you are in need of professional tax representation services, please feel free to contact with us.