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France: standard rate: 20% reduced and special rates: 10% 5.5% 2.1%
VAT Calculator calculates the VAT amount as well as the price with and without VAT. The VAT % is pre-filled, but you can change it or clear the value. The results are rounded to your desired precision. You can also make a currency conversion.
You can also choose the VAT% by clicking the percentages in the tables below.
France | |
| standard rate | 20% Most goods and services, including alcoholic beverages. Since 1 August 2025, subscriptions for electricity and natural gas supplies are also subject to the standard rate. Since 1 March 2025, the supply and installation of boilers capable of using fossil fuels no longer qualify for the reduced rates applicable to renovation work. |
| reduced and special rates | 10% Includes hotel and similar accommodation, passenger transport, restaurant services and prepared food for immediate consumption, certain non-reimbursable medicines, qualifying improvement, alteration, fitting-out and maintenance work on residential property completed more than two years ago, and certain housing and agricultural transactions. 5.5% Includes many food products, printed and electronic books, menstrual hygiene products and condoms, certain equipment and services for people with disabilities, qualifying residential energy-renovation work, certain network-supplied heat and cooling, specified social housing, works of art, collectors’ items and antiques where the margin scheme is not used, and qualifying residential photovoltaic equipment with a capacity of up to 9 kWp. 2.1% Includes medicines reimbursable by the French social security system, certain blood products, qualifying newspapers and news periodicals, admission receipts from the first performances of certain shows, and certain sales of live animals for slaughter to persons who are not subject to VAT. |
| exempt with deduction | Exports of goods outside the EU VAT territory and intra-Community supplies of goods to another Member State are exempt from VAT when the statutory conditions are met. Certain transactions connected with international transport are also exempt. Input VAT attributable to these transactions generally remains deductible. |
| exempt without deduction | Subject to the statutory conditions, exemptions include certain medical and paramedical care, specified education and training activities, insurance, many banking and financial transactions, and certain lettings and real-estate transactions. Input VAT directly attributable to exempt transactions without deduction rights is generally not deductible. |
| out of scope | Activities performed under a relationship of subordination and therefore not carried out independently are outside VAT. Genuine compensation paid solely for damage is also not taxable when it is not consideration for a supply of goods or services. A transfer of a whole business or an independent part of a business between taxable persons is relieved from VAT where the conditions of Article 257 bis of the French Tax Code are met. |
| reverse charge | Under the reverse-charge mechanism, the customer accounts for VAT instead of the supplier. It applies, among other cases, to certain transactions in France by suppliers not established there where the taxable customer is identified for French VAT, and to qualifying construction work carried out by a subcontractor for a taxable customer. It also applies to specified transactions such as transfers of emission allowances. |
| margin scheme | The margin scheme applies in particular when a taxable reseller resells second-hand goods, works of art, collectors’ items or antiques acquired from a private individual or another person who was not entitled to charge VAT on the sale. VAT is calculated on the positive difference between the selling and purchase price rather than on the full selling price. Input VAT on goods sold under the margin scheme is not deductible. Subject to the statutory rules, the reseller may choose normal VAT treatment for an individual transaction. Since 1 January 2025, the reduced 5.5% rate applying to works of art, collectors’ items and antiques cannot be combined with the margin scheme. VAT Margin Scheme calculator. |
| small business VAT exemption | The French small-business VAT exemption allows qualifying businesses not to charge or remit VAT; they generally cannot deduct input VAT. In 2026, sales of goods, food and drink for consumption on the premises and accommodation have a basic annual threshold of EUR 85,000 and a current-year upper threshold of EUR 93,500. For most services the corresponding thresholds are EUR 37,500 and EUR 41,250. Special thresholds apply to certain professions. Since 2025, eligible EU businesses may also use the cross-border SME scheme subject to conditions, including an EU-wide annual turnover ceiling of EUR 100,000. |
The rates shown above are the rates for Metropolitan France, excluding special territorial regimes. Corsica applies several special rates. In Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion, the standard rate is 8.5% and the main reduced rate is 2.1%, together with other special rates. VAT is currently not applicable in French Guiana or Mayotte.
| Past changes: | |
| 21 Feb 2026 | Cooling energy supplied through networks becomes subject to the reduced VAT rate of 5.5%. BOFiP – French tax administration |
| 1 Oct 2025 | A reduced VAT rate of 5.5% applies to the supply and installation in residential property of qualifying photovoltaic equipment with a capacity of up to 9 kWp that meets the required environmental and technical criteria. BOFiP – French tax administration |
| 1 Aug 2025 | The reduced 5.5% VAT rate on subscriptions for electricity and natural gas supplied through networks is abolished. These subscriptions become subject to the standard 20% rate. BOFiP – French tax administration |
| 1 Mar 2025 | The supply and installation of boilers capable of using fossil fuels cease to qualify for reduced VAT rates on residential renovation and become subject to 20%. Maintenance and repair of these boilers may continue to qualify for 10%. French tax administration |
| 1 Jan 2025 | The reduced 5.5% VAT rate is extended to qualifying sales of works of art, collectors’ items and antiques under the normal VAT rules. The reduced rate cannot be combined with the margin scheme. BOFiP – French tax administration |
Note! The VAT information on this page is general information, not tax advice. The information is not exhaustive. VAT rules include many exceptions and special cases. Check the treatment of your situation in the tax administration's guidelines. The information was checked on 22 Sep 2026.
VAT rounding: the EU, the UK and other European countries
The EU VAT Directive and the Court of Justice of the European Union leave VAT rounding rules to be decided at national level. National rules vary. In the UK, HMRC allows VAT on B2B invoices to be rounded down to the nearest whole penny.
Roundings in VAT calculation: Mathematically impossible prices?
There are a whole range of VAT-inclusive prices that cannot be mathematically arrived at if the tax is calculated from the VAT-free price. One example is 3.99. These prices are also possible, but then the VAT-free price must be interpreted as rounded.
VAT Gap - How much VAT is left uncollected in EU countries?
9.5% of VAT was left uncollected in EU countries. See the list of EU countries and candidate countries.
In Europe there is VAT - in the US sales tax
In Europe, companies belonging to the production chain account for the VAT paid by the consumer to the state in proportion to their value added. The US sales tax, on the other hand, is billed entirely by the company that made the consumer sale. Sales tax is paid to local operators, not to the state.
Many of today's taxes were already in use in Antiquity. Deciding on taxation has moved from autocrats to parliaments and the level of taxation has risen. In earlier times taxes were used to wage wars, today taxes are used to maintain welfare states.
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