France to implement VAT obligations for online marketplaces from 2020

2 September 2019

From January 2020, France will require online marketplaces to verify the Value Added Tax status of foreign sellers using their online platforms.

The new rules will require digital platforms to verify VAT registration numbers of third party merchants using their platforms. This is in order to ensure they are VAT registered and accounting for VAT on their sales correctly.

Under the new rules, tax authorities will also notify marketplaces of any potential VAT fraud undertaken by their sellers. The marketplaces will then be expected to block the fraudulent merchants from trading on their platforms with immediate effect.

The new rules are similar to the marketplace VAT obligations recently introduced in UK, Germany and Italy.

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