How do I file my VAT return online? Complete guide

By Maëlys De Santis

Published: October 19, 2024

How do I file my VAT return online? And how to avoid the classic pitfalls when filling in your VAT return?

VAT, or value-added tax, is a tax collected by businesses and paid to the Treasury. Unless you are exempt from VAT, your business is affected. An intra-Community number is assigned to you for this purpose.

Whether you use the simplified or actual VAT system, the VAT credit and VAT to be declared must be calculated correctly, in accordance with the accounting requirements.

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How do I file my VAT return online?

To make a VAT declaration, a company must fill in a declaration form and submit it to the tax authorities.

CA3 or CA12 VAT return: which form to file?

Each tax regime has its own VAT declaration form:

standard tax system: form CA3,
simplified tax system: form CA12,

Page 1/2 of CA3 TVA régime réel 2020/Ministère de l'action et des comptes publics

Who needs to file a CA3 or CA12 VAT return?

CA3 or CA12 VAT return?
Tax system	Companies concerned	VAT declaration	Declaration frequency
Standard actual system	Sales in excess of : 818,000 € for commercial activities, 247,000 € for services.	CA3 declaration form	Monthly declaration or quarterly if annual VAT paid is less than €4,00
Simplified actual regime	Sales excluding VAT between : 85,800 € and 818,000 € for commercial activities, 34,400 and €247,000 for services.	CA12 declaration form	Half-yearly declaration or annually if the basis for calculating advance payments is less than €1,000.

💡 Whether a company is subject to corporation tax (IS) or income tax (IR) due to its BNC or BIC regime, it can claim the simplified actual regime if it meets the VAT amount conditions.

How do I complete a VAT return?

What do you need to enter on your return?

sales excluding VAT for the period concerned (box A, line 01),
amounts subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20% (box B),
amounts subject to VAT at the reduced rate of 10% (box B),
amounts subject to VAT at the reduced rate of 5.5% (box B),
amounts subject to VAT at the special rate of 2.1% (box B),
amounts subject to VAT at the special rate applicable in Corsica and the French overseas departments (box B),
total gross VAT due (line 16),
the amount of deductible VAT that the company can reclaim (lines 0702 and 0703),
the amount payable (VAT due - VAT paid).

💡 Note: lost? A leaflet is available with the form when you declare your VAT online.

Example of a VAT return

How do I calculate my monthly VAT return and pay it online? The Direction Générale des Finances Publiques explains in this video, using the example of a company that :

has generated sales of €10,000 over the reporting period,
has €1,200 in deductible VAT.

👉 This video is a step-by-step tutorial for calculating and reporting VAT online.

Where can I file my VAT return?

Option n° 1: declare online (EFI declaration)

You can declare your VAT via the "Declare VAT" section of your Professional space ( EFI mode , Electronic Forms Exchange), on your online account on the tax authorities' website. EFI simplifies the dematerialized declaration process.

💡 "For your first payment, you'll need to have previously sent a mandate to your bank" (source: impots.gouv.fr)

Option no. 2: go through a partner (EDI declaration)

EDI, for Electronic Data Interchange, is a data exchange format for dematerializing tax data.

Your EDI partner can be :

your chartered accountant,
an approved organization,
a specialized service provider.

Whoever it is, you'll need EDI-compliant accounting software.

When should VAT be declared?

VAT must be declared every year, even if the amount to be declared is zero. In this case, specify "nil". Only the frequency of VAT declarations may vary according to your tax regime.

For companies under the standard actual tax regime

VAT declarations are made monthly. It concerns VAT that became due during the previous month.
If the annual amount of VAT is less than €4,000, it is possible to make a quarterly declaration and payment, instead of a monthly declaration.

For companies under the simplified actual tax regime

If the financial year corresponds to the calendar year: declare no later than two working days after May 1st,
If the financial year does not correspond to the calendar year: declare within three months of the end of your financial year.

VAT is paid in two instalments:

55% in July,
45% in December.

The amount of the instalments is calculated on the basis of the amount of VAT paid in the previous financial year. If this amount is less than €1,000, then the tax can be paid in a single instalment.

ℹ️ All VAT due dates are available on the official website of the French tax authorities.

How do I prepare my VAT return?

Like other administrative formalities, VAT declarations can be a daunting, or at least time-consuming, task for managers and small businesses. Have you been procrastinating and now need to get your hands on all the amounts to declare?

Here are our tips for simplifying your VAT return next month.

Make an Excel VAT return preparation table

Build a simple Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your collected VAT. For each applicable VAT rate, you can list :

VAT collected,
VAT paid,
your sales.

Example of a preparatory table for a VAT/Zervant declaration

By setting up automatic formulas in your Excel spreadsheet, you can quickly obtain the amounts to be declared each month or half-year.

Automate VAT calculation with accounting software

Why use accounting software rather than Excel to prepare your VAT return? Here are a few advantages

automated calculations with the correct VAT rates,
no need to re-enter data,
ready-to-use returns,
online VAT filing,
traceability of your company's accounting data, including VAT returns, for you and your accountant,
the guarantee of a standard-compliant return.

Which software to choose? In addition to the advantages listed above :

Sage 50cloud Ciel supports VSEs and SMEs with a personalized diary showing the dates for filing your returns, and tracking the sending and receipt of returns;
Yourcegid Finance Y2 manages multi-company data import, VAT consolidation and regularity checks for SMEs and ETIs.

Want more choice? Discover more accounting software

How does the VAT return work? A reminder of obligations

In France, companies collect VAT on behalf of the government. With the exception of autoentrepreneurs (or microentrepreneurs), all businesses are subject to VAT and must file a VAT return.

However, as we've seen, there are several different systems, and depending on your company's tax status, your obligations will differ.

Businesses collect VAT, but consumers pay the tax (VAT collected).
Businesses pay VAT to their suppliers.
Businesses can reclaim the VAT they have paid on their purchases: this is deductible VAT.
VAT can be reclaimed if the amount of deductible VAT exceeds the amount of input VAT.
Conversely, the company pays VAT to the State when the amount of deductible VAT is less than the amount of collected VAT.

💡 VAT on debits corresponds to sales of goods. VAT on receipts corresponds to supplies of services.