EU/UK VAT · FR · EU member · Euro area
France VAT
France VAT rates, number format and cross-border validation, from the European Commission VAT rates database and the EU VIES service.
- Standard rate
- 20%
- Reduced rate
- 10% / 5.5%
- Number format
- FR + 2 chars + 9 digits
- Validation
- VIES
How France's 20% rate compares
France's 20% standard VAT rate is a little below the median of 21%. It also applies a reduced rate of 10% on restaurants, transport, hotels, renovation work, a second reduced rate of 5.5% on food, books, energy, gas, electricity, and a super-reduced rate of 2.1% on newspapers, certain medicines, tv licence. That is 3 non-standard tiers spanning 12 distinct goods-and-services categories in our rate table, more tier structure than most of the jurisdictions we track, which typically run one or two. The most recently revised of these non-standard tiers is the reduced rate, in effect since 2014-01-01. The current rate has been in effect since 2014-01-01, unchanged for several years.
By standard-rate proximity, France matches Austria's standard rate almost exactly. VAT numbers in this country can be validated via the VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) cross-border validation service.
Derived from PlainVAT per-country rate table sourced from the European Commission's official VAT rates database. See methodology for the EU-wide rate range, refresh cadence, and source-linking policy.
All VAT rates
Standard rate
20%Most goods and services
In effect since 2014-01-01
Reduced rate
10%Restaurants, transport, hotels, renovation work
In effect since 2014-01-01
Reduced rate
5.5%Food, books, energy, gas, electricity
In effect since 2014-01-01
Super-reduced rate
2.1%Newspapers, certain medicines, TV licence
In effect since 1989-01-01
VAT number format
- Prefix
- FR
- Format
- FR + 2 chars + 9 digits
- Example
- FRXX123456789
- Validation service
- VIES (European Commission)
Tax authority
Direction generale des Finances publiques
Official guidance: https://www.impots.gouv.fr/
Source: European Commission Taxation and Customs Union EU VAT Rate Registry · 2026
Countries with similar standard rates
Related references
Disclaimer: This information is for general reference only and should not be considered legal, tax, or financial advice. Confirm with your accountant or the relevant tax authority for your transaction.
PlainVAT renders country-rate figures from the European Commission's Taxation and Customs Union VAT-rate registry; explanatory guidance links to its relevant authority sources. Country rates are computed directly from the European Commission's VAT-rate registry, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.