A company registered for French VAT without any establishment in France is outside e-invoicing entirely: it cannot issue through the network, cannot hold a reception address in the directory, and its French customers treat it as a foreign supplier. But it is inside e-reporting: its sales located in France for VAT purposes must be declared to the French tax authority, through an accredited platform, on the calendar of its size. That split, one foot out and one foot in, is the whole regime. Here is where each line runs, and what to do about the declarations.
How you end up in this position
The usual routes to a French VAT number without an establishment: distance sales to French consumers above thresholds or by option, goods stored in France (a marketplace's warehouse counts), certain domestic supplies where you owe the VAT, imports cleared in France. EU companies register directly; non-EU companies typically appoint a fiscal representative. The registration brings a French SIREN of a specific kind: the register records a foreign head office, and the SIREN lookup flags exactly this case, "e-reporting only".
An establishment (a branch, an office with means) changes everything: with one, you are a French business for the reform, network included. This page is about registration without establishment.
Outside e-invoicing
No establishment means no place in the domestic B2B exchange: you cannot connect to the network as an issuer, and the directory holds no reception address for you. Invoices to French business customers leave you like any foreign supplier's: a compliant Factur-X by email, with your French VAT number among your identifiers, reverse charge or French VAT coded as the deal requires. Your customers declare their purchases; nothing changes there.
Inside e-reporting
Your sales located in France for VAT (the distance sales, the domestic supplies from French stock) carry e-reporting duties on your side: transaction data, and payment data for services, transmitted through an accredited platform on the schedule your size dictates, since September 2026 for large and mid-sized companies and from September 2027 for the rest. B2C sales go as aggregated totals; the mechanics mirror what French businesses do.
Practically, this runs through an accredited platform able to onboard a non-established company. Be warned that onboarding support for this case varies across the market, ours included: if this is you, contact us and we will state plainly what we can cover today rather than promise. The legal duty, meanwhile, is yours whichever provider carries it, and the fines for missing transmissions apply on the same terms as to French companies.
Frequently asked questions
We are EU-based with a French VAT number for distance sales. Must our invoices go through the French network?
No: without an establishment you have no access to it. Your e-invoicing life is unchanged; your French-located sales carry e-reporting duties on your side.
Can we get a reception address to receive French suppliers' invoices?
No: the directory serves businesses established in France. French suppliers invoice you as a foreign customer, outside their domestic network flow.
Who files our e-reporting, our fiscal representative?
The filing goes through an accredited platform; who operates it, you, your representative or an agent, is an arrangement between you. The representative's existing VAT role does not automatically include it.
What exactly gets declared for B2C distance sales?
Aggregated transaction data per period and VAT rate, not customer identities, on the calendar your size dictates. Payment data follows for services.
How do we know if we count as established?
Broadly: human and technical means in France that render the supplies. Stock alone, or a registration alone, does not establish you; a staffed branch does. The line has case law behind it, and this footer's caveat applies with full force.
Published 25 September 2026. Sources: French VAT registration rules for non-established companies, e-reporting provisions of the reform. GetFacturX is not an accredited platform (Plateforme Agréée); transmission is operated by an accredited partner platform, and onboarding of non-established companies should be confirmed before relying on it. This article is not tax or legal advice. Dates, frequencies and amounts are those known at publication and may change; check them before relying on them.