France VAT (TVA) Calculator

French VAT (TVA) 20%: rules and examples

French VAT goes by the name TVA (Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée). The standard rate sits at 20%. Below that you'll find an intermediate 10% for restaurants, hotels, transport and certain renovation work, a reduced 5.5% covering basic food, books, energy and cultural goods, plus a super-reduced 2.1% that applies to reimbursed medicines, the press and live shows. The math is short: TTC = HT · 1.20 and HT = TTC / 1.20. So a net price (HT) of €100 turns into €120 TTC, and the €20 difference is what the DGFiP collects.

Practical applications

If you run a Brazilian e-commerce shop sending B2C orders to France, you'll need to tack on 20% TVA through the EU IOSS scheme for parcels under €150. Merchants on the French side often go the other way, stripping TTC prices back to HT for margin work and bookkeeping. And exporters selling B2B to French clients can invoice without TVA at all under reverse charge, as long as the buyer's TVA number checks out in VIES. In that case the buyer self-assesses the tax.

FAQ

What do HT and TTC mean? HT (Hors Taxes) is the net price before TVA, while TTC (Toutes Taxes Comprises) is the gross price with the TVA already baked in. A French invoice lists both lines, and the tax amount alongside.

When does 5.5% apply? Think basic groceries, water, school books, equipment for disabled people, energy supply for housing (there are caveats), and cinema or theatre tickets. The 2.1% band is much narrower, kept for reimbursed medicines and the daily press.

Are there regions with different rates? Yes. Corsica runs reduced rates of its own (for instance, a 13% standard rate on some goods), and the overseas departments (DOM-TOM) sit under a separate regime entirely. The four rates above are what you'll see on the mainland.