Information on changing the conditions of levying vat in france and facilitation of the tax declaration procedure

The French government introduced certain changes on the collection of the value-added tax on January 1, 2015. Also, the regime for filing tax declarations was simplified.

The main changes are reflected in the Decree No. 2014-1686. In particular, from now on, the necessity to submit a duplicate of the declaration on paying VAT (according to the simplified scheme of reporting submission) is eliminated. The foregoing gives the right to the owners of companies and other organizational and legal forms to provide the declaration no more than once a year.

In addition, if VAT was previously paid in each quarter, now this procedure will be sufficient to conduct only once in six months.

It should be noted that it is envisaged to exclude newly incorporated companies engaged in construction from a simplified reporting system. Such changes for companies will be made during the first 2 years of their operation.

There are changes in the calculation of rates of value added tax. So, a reduced rate of 5.5% will not be applicable for companies engaged in real estate construction in the regions of France, recognized as financially safe, from 01.01.2015 to 31.12.2024.

France also changed the tax policy regarding the sale of tickets for sporting events. So, now the tax rate of 5.5% is applicable to them.

The rate of 5.5% on the import of works of art is renewed, which includes the sale of antiques and original works.

The rate of 10%, which accompanies the procedure for obtaining copyright for works of art, remains unchanged.

Sale of art objects by a third party (intermediary, gallery) assumes a tax at a rate of 20%.

The changes did not concern the sale of items of cultural value.

For more information, please contact Law&Trust International.