Key Benefits:
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment and the Minister of Budget, Public Accounts and State Reform,
Having regard to Council Directive 86/560/EEC of 17 November 1986 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to the taxes on turnover - modalities for the reimbursement of the value-added tax to the non-established taxpayers in the territory of the Community;
Having regard to Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of the value-added tax, including section 170;
In view of Council Directive 2008/8/EC of 12 February 2008 amending Directive 2006/112/EC with regard to the place of service delivery;
Having regard to Council Directive 2008/9/EC of 12 February 2008 defining the modalities for the reimbursement of the value-added tax, as provided for in Directive 2006/112/EC, in favour of those who are not established in the Member State for reimbursement, but in another Member State;
Vu le General Tax Code, in particular the V of its article 271, and Appendix II to this code;
Vu le book of tax proceduresincluding article L. 208 B;
Vu la Act No. 2000-321 of 12 April 2000 amended on the rights of citizens in their relations with administrations, including article 21;
Vu la Act No. 2009-1673 of 30 December 2009 for 2010, including the VII of its article 102;
The State Council (Finance Section) heard,
Decrete:
Sections 242-0 M to 242-0 U of Schedule II to the General Tax Code are replaced by sections 242-0 M to 242-0 Z decies as follows:
"Art. 242-0 M.-For the purposes of the application of articles 242-0 N to 242-0 Z ter, we mean:
"1° subject not established in France, any subject established in another Member State of the European Union that has neither the seat of its economic activity in France nor a permanent establishment from which the operations are carried out, nor, in the absence of such a seat or institution, its domicile or habitual residence. However, it is considered to be established in France a subject whose seat is located in another Member State but which has in France a structure that, although providing services exclusively to its headquarters, is identified on the basis of the 4° of Article 286 ter of the General Tax Code ;
"2° appellant, the subject not established in France that introduces in France a claim for reimbursement of the value added tax;
"3° tax service, the tax service responsible for the payment of value-added tax refunds to non-established tax payers in France.
"Art. 242-0 N.-A non-established subject in France may obtain the refund of the value-added tax that has encumbered the goods that have been delivered to it or the services that have been provided to it in France by other agents or have encumbered the importation of goods in France, to the extent that these goods and services are used for the following operations:
"1° transactions in which the place of taxation is outside France but which would be entitled to deduction if this place of taxation was located in France;
"2° the operations mentioned in the 2° of Article 242-0 O.
"Art. 242-0 O.-A non-established subject in France must meet the following conditions to obtain the refund of the value added tax referred to in section 242-0 N:
"1° during the period on which the claim for reimbursement is made, the subject must have been established outside France within the meaning of 1° of Article 242-0 M;
"2° in the period on which the claim is made, the subject shall not have made any delivery of goods or services in France except for the following transactions:
"a. transport services and incidental operations which are exempted under I, 7° to 11° bis and 14° of Article 262 of the General Tax Codearticles 262 bis, 263, as well as 2° of the III of Article 291 of the same code;
"b. transactions for which the tax is paid by the purchaser, consignee or lessee referred to in the second paragraph of 1 and 2, 2 ter, 2 quinquies, 2 sexies of theArticle 283 of the General Tax Code ;
"c. deliveries and benefits mentioned in 1°, 2°, 5°, 6° and 7° of I of Article 277 A of the general tax code.
"Art. 242-0 P.-The claim submitted cannot include:
"1° the value added tax amounts charged by mistake;
"2° the value-added tax amounts charged for deliveries of goods that are exempt, or may be charged under the 2° of Article 262 of the General Tax CodeI of article 262 ter and II of article 298 sexies of the same code.
"Art. 242-0 Q.-I. ― In order to receive a refund, a non-established conditioner in France must carry out operations that are entitled to deduction in the Member State of the European Union in which it is established.
“II. ― Where a non-depository in France conducts in the Member State where it is established both deduction transactions and transactions not deductible, the amount of value added tax referred to in section 242-0 No refund shall be paid only to the proportion of this tax that is related to the first transactions as determined in the State of establishment of that subject, in accordance with Article 173 of Directive 2006 / 112 / EC of 28 November 2006.
"If, after the introduction of the refund request, the deductible proportion is corrected according to the provisions of Article 175 of Directive 2006 / 112 / EC, the applicant must therefore correct the amount claimed or already refunded.
"The correction is made on the occasion of a new claim for reimbursement filed in the same calendar year for a period after that for which the refund to be rectified has been requested or obtained, or, if the claimant does not make any claims for reimbursement in that calendar year, by transmitting a special declaration via the electronic portal made available to it by the Member State in which it is established.
"Art. 242-0 R.-I. ― In order to benefit from the refund of the value-added tax, the subject-matter not established in France must send to the tax service a request for refund electronically subscribed by means of the portal made available to it by the State of the European Union where it is established.
“II. ― The subject referred to in I shall electronically attach to the refund request a copy of the invoice or import document when the tax base on the invoice or import document is equal to or greater than a sum of €1,000. However, when the invoice covers fuel costs, this threshold is set at 250 €.
"Art. 242-0 S.-The claim may include:
"1° the purchase of goods or services that was invoiced during the refund period, provided that the tax became payable before or at the time of the invoice, or for which the tax became payable during the refund period, provided that the purchase was invoiced before the tax became payable;
"2° the importation of goods carried out during the period of refund;
"3° of invoices or import documents that have not been subject to prior claims as long as they relate to transactions carried out during the calendar year in which the refund period falls.
"Art. 242-0 T.-The claim relates to a period not exceeding one calendar year or less than three calendar months. However, this application may extend to a period of less than three months if it is the balance of a calendar year.
"The information to be included in the claim for reimbursement shall be determined by order of the Minister responsible for the budget.
"Art. 242-0 U.-If the claim relates to a period of less than one calendar year but equal to or greater than three months, the amount of the value added tax to which it relates cannot be less than the sum of 400 €.
"If the refund period is a calendar year or the balance of a calendar year, the amount of the value added tax cannot be less than the sum of 50 €.
"Art. 242-0 V.-I. ― The Tax Service shall notify the applicant electronically of the date on which the application was received.
“II. ― Subject to the provisions of section 242-0 X, the Tax Service shall notify the applicant of its decision to accept or reject the claim within four months of receipt.
"Art. 242-0 W.-I. ― The tax service may request, electronically within the period referred to in Article 242-0 V, further information, including from the applicant or the competent authorities of the Member State of the European Union in which it is established, when it considers that it is not in possession of all the information necessary to rule on all or part of the claim for reimbursement filed by the applicant. Where such additional information is requested from a person other than the applicant or the competent authorities of a Member State, the request must be transmitted electronically if the recipient of the request is equipped accordingly.
"If it deems it useful, the tax department may request additional information.
"In the course of these applications, the tax service may request the applicant to disclose the original of an invoice or import document when it has reason to doubt the validity or accuracy of a particular debt. The application may apply to all transactions regardless of their amount.
“II. ― Additional information required in accordance with the provisions of I must be provided within one month of the date of receipt of the request for information by the recipient.
"Art. 242-0 X.-When the tax service requests additional information, it shall notify the applicant of its decision to accept or reject the request within two months of the date of receipt of the requested information or, if no response to the request has been received, within two months of the expiry of the period referred to in Article 242-0 W II.
"However, when only one request for additional information has been made, the tax service has at least six months from the receipt of the refund request to notify its decision.
"When the tax service requested additional information, it is required to notify its decision within a maximum of eight months from the date on which it received the refund request.
"Art. 242-0 Y.-When the claim is accepted, the tax service shall refund the amount accepted within ten working days from the expiry of the period referred to in Article 242-0 V, or, in the event that additional information has been requested, upon the expiry of the time limits referred to in Article 242-0 X.
"If the applicant requests that the refund be made in the State in which it is established, the bank charges shall be charged.
"Art. 242-0 Z.-In the event of a total or partial rejection of its claim for reimbursement, the reasons for such rejection shall be communicated to the applicant by the tax service at the same time as the decision. In the absence of a decision by the tax service within the specified time limit, the claimant may file a claim with the competent administrative tribunal upon expiry of the claim.
"Art. 242-0 Z bis.-In the event that a refund has been obtained fraudulently or in an incorrect manner, the tax service directly collects the unduly paid sums, as well as any penalties and interest.
"When penalties or interests have been assessed but have not been paid, the tax service is authorized to suspend any additional refunds to the subject in question to the amount not paid.
"Art. 242-0 Z ter.-When the correction provided for in Article 242-0 Q is effected on the occasion of a new application filed in the same calendar year as the amount to be corrected, the tax service operates the regulation by increase or decrease the amount to be refunded. When the correction makes a special declaration, regularization is subject to a specific payment or recovery.
"Art. 242-0 Z quater.-I. ― Subjects established outside the European Union may obtain the refund of the value-added tax that has been regularly charged to them if, during the quarter or year to which the claim relates, they did not have in France the seat of their activity or a permanent establishment, or, failing that, their domicile or habitual residence and did not, during the same period, deliver goods or services.
"It is considered, however, to be established in France, a subject whose seat is located in third countries but which has a structure in France that, although providing services exclusively to its headquarters, is identified on the basis of the 4° of Article 286 ter of the General Tax Code.
"The provisions of the first paragraph do not apply to the subject-matter established in a country or territory that does not provide comparable benefits with respect to the taxes on turnover to the subject-matter established in France, and that is on a list set by a Budget Minister's order.
“II. ― For the application of I, the operations referred to in 2° of Article 242-0 O are not considered to be carried out in France.
"Art. 242-0 Z quinquies.- is refunded to the subject-matter established outside the European Union the value-added tax that has encumbered the services that have been rendered to them and the movable goods that they have acquired or imported into France during the year or quarter referred to in section 242-0 Z quater to the extent that these goods and services are used for the realization or for the purposes of operations
"Art. 242-0 Z sexies.-The value-added tax is only refunded to non-European Union-registered tax under sections 242-0 Z quater to 242-0 Z decies if it is at least equal to a sum of 25 € or 200 €, as the refund is requested for a year or quarter.
"Art. 242-0 Z septies.-For non-European Union-registered persons, the refund must be requested for tax service before the end of the sixth month following the calendar year in which the tax became payable.
"The application is based on an administrative printed form. It is accompanied by original invoices, import documents and all supporting documents. The subject established outside the European Union certifies that it meets the conditions set out in Article 242-0 Z quater.
"If the subject established outside the European Union requests that the refund be made in the State in which it is established, the bank charges shall be borne by it.
"Art. 242-0 Z octies.-Subsidiaries established outside the European Union are required to make a credit to the tax service a subordinate representative established in France who undertakes to fulfill the formalities and obligations they have, including those provided for in Article 242-0 Z septies. In addition, this representative may be required to present a solvent bond which, in solidarity with him, undertakes to pay unduly refunded money.
"Art. 242-0 Z nonies.- For non-European Union-developed persons who have received a fraudulent refund resulting in criminal proceedings, any subsequent refund may be suspended until the final decision on the penalties incurred.
"Art. 242-0 Z decies.-Subjectories established outside the European Union that are prevalent to the special regime provided for in thearticle 298 sexdecies F of the General Tax Code benefit from the refund referred to in section 242-0 Z quater.
"The provisions of the third paragraph of Article 242-0 Z quater and Article 242-0 Z octies do not apply to the first paragraph. »
I. ― Section 242 nonies A of Schedule II to the General Tax Code is amended as follows:
1° At 4°, the words: « mentioned at 3°, 4° bis, 5° and 6° of Article 259 A of the General Tax Code are replaced by the words: "for which the lessee is liable to tax under 1 and 2 of Article 283 of the General Tax Code » ;
2° At 12°, the reference: "77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977" is replaced by the reference: "2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006".
II. ― Section 172 of the Schedule is repealed.
The Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment and the Minister of Budget, Public Accounts and State Reform are responsible, each with respect to it, for the execution of this decree, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, 27 April 2010.
François Fillon
By the Prime Minister:
Minister of Economy,
industry and employment,
Christine Lagarde
Minister of Budget, Public Accounts
and state reform,
François Baroin
