Definition
A freelance developer sends a first invoice to a small company: €2,000, a single line, no VAT anywhere.
Three days later the client's accountant sends it back with a terse note, invoice non-compliant, VAT treatment not stated.
She is right, and nothing is missing in the figures: what is missing is a sentence.
The article 293 B notice is that sentence.
It is the line that every invoice issued by a business under the VAT exemption scheme must carry, and its reference wording is "TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI" (VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the French tax code).
It points to article 293 B of the code général des impôts, which relieves of VAT the businesses staying below the exemption thresholds: €85,000 of total national turnover and €37,500 for services in 2026.
That second figure is a sub-threshold, not a replacement threshold: a service provider has to stay below both.
Its purpose fits in one line: telling whoever receives the Invoice why it carries no VAT.
Without it, an accounts department cannot tell an exempt invoice from a badly drafted one, and it will treat yours as the second.
Three accepted wordings, not one
The invoice templates in circulation all present the classic formula as the only possible one. That is inaccurate.
The Bulletin officiel des finances publiques (the official tax doctrine) accepts three: "TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI"; a reference to article 293 B bis of the same code, for the EU-wide exemption; or a reference to article 284 of directive 2006/112/EC.
An invoice carrying any one of those three wordings is compliant, and a client asking you to rewrite yours because it does not match their internal template is mistaken.
This sentence replaces nothing: it is added to the Mandatory invoice details every invoice must already show.
And since no VAT is charged, the invoice carries no tax line and no VAT-inclusive total distinct from the net total: the price you quote is the price you collect.
The day the notice has to come off
A consultant invoices services throughout 2026 with the article 293 B notice.
The counter that decides her fate is the turnover actually collected, not invoiced: a December invoice paid in January falls into the following year.
| Payment received in 2026 | Running total | Article 293 B notice |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice paid on 3 October | €38,000 | Yes: basic threshold crossed, effect deferred |
| Invoice paid on 17 November | €42,000 | No: higher threshold crossed |
On 3 October she has passed the €37,500 basic threshold, and nothing happens immediately: the exemption runs until 31 December, and she becomes liable for VAT on 1 January of the following year.
A single overrun is enough to trigger that switch: since 1 January 2025 it is no longer possible to exceed the basic threshold two years running and keep the exemption.
On 17 November she crosses the €41,250 higher threshold applicable in 2026, and the rule changes completely: her transactions are subject to VAT from that very day, and the article 293 B notice gives way to a VAT line, mandatory in its turn.
On that effective date the Urssaf page states "from the first day of the month in which the threshold is exceeded", which both the French tax code and impots.gouv.fr contradict.
Follow the statute, and plan for corrective invoices on whatever was already issued that month, deposits included.
The detail of the two tiers and their effective dates lives in the VAT threshold entry.
The real danger is not forgetting the notice, it is replacing it with a VAT line.
A badly configured billing tool, a template borrowed from a VAT-registered colleague, and the tax appears on the document.
Any VAT written on an invoice becomes payable simply because it was written there, even by mistake.
You cannot offset it, since the exemption denies you any right to deduct VAT on your purchases.
And the third effect is the one most often overlooked: VAT charged in error is not deductible for your client, who loses it outright.
One wrong setting therefore costs money to the person paying you.
What the notice does not say
"VAT not applicable" reads like a blanket dispensation, and that is not what the sentence means.
The franchise en base is not a VAT exemption by nature: the transaction stays within the scope of the tax, it is the business that is relieved of it as long as it stays below the thresholds.
An exemption by nature attaches to the activity itself and depends on no amount collected.
The difference becomes concrete the day the thresholds are crossed: the notice disappears, while the activity has not changed at all.
The article 293 B notice should not be confused with the VAT reverse charge wording either, which answers a different question: who declares the tax when the customer is established in another country.
The two can meet on the same invoice, but one never replaces the other.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if the notice was missing from an invoice already sent?
The invoice is incomplete, and fixing it does not mean writing the sentence by hand on the copy your client holds.
You issue a corrective invoice, referring to the first one and carrying the notice this time. The client replaces it in their books, and your numbering stays unbroken.
Should the notice appear on quotations?
The obligation applies to invoices.
Nothing stops you from showing it on your quotations as well, and it is a good idea: it heads off the question about the final amount, since under the exemption the price quoted is exactly what the client will pay.
A quotation silent on this point suggests a tax will be added on signature.
Does my invoice change when the client is abroad?
Yes, and the logic is no longer the same.
For a service supplied to a business in another member state, you need an EU VAT number from the first euro, and the invoice carries the reverse-charge wording on top of your exemption status.
That number is not issued automatically under the exemption: you request it from your business tax office, and it is issued free of charge, whatever the letters offering to obtain it for a fee may claim.
The French tax administration also points out that some European transactions require a return to be filed despite the exemption.
What changes on 1 January 2027?
The wording changes its reference, not its meaning: until 31 December 2026 it remains "TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI"; from 1 January 2027 it becomes "TVA non applicable, article L. 233-3 du CIBS".
That day, VAT rules leave the code général des impôts for the code des impositions sur les biens et services. The move was planned for 1 September 2026: article 17 of ordonnance no. 2026-671 of 27 July 2026 pushed it back to 1 January 2027.
The same ordonnance renumbered that code, and the definition of an exempt business now sits in article L. 233-3. Do not copy "L. 223-3", which pages written before the summer still quote, official ones included: from 2027 that number points to a different article.
There is no rush either: an invoice still carrying the old reference remains accepted until 30 June 2028. For an invoice dated 2027, use the new one.
This page is up to date as of 10 September 2026.