Definition
In late January, a freelance developer based in Nantes signs a €2,000 project with an agency in Brussels. Before approving the quote, the client asks for his EU VAT number.
He goes back through his registration documents: nothing. Nobody ever issued him one, and he cannot see anywhere to ask for it.
He thinks he has a problem with his status, when all he has is a request to send, free of charge, that fits in a few lines.
The EU VAT number is the tax identifier that lets member state administrations track transactions between businesses inside the European Union.
Under the VAT exemption scheme, it is not issued automatically when the business is created: in 2026, you ask for it through the secure messaging service of your espace professionnel (your online business account) on impots.gouv.fr.
Issuing it is entirely free, as the DGFiP (the French tax administration) states plainly on the page devoted to that very question.
The number is issued by the service des impôts des entreprises (your local business tax office) and then appears in your professional account.
The three cases that make it mandatory
The real question is not whether the number is useful, but whether it is required. In 2026, the DGFiP fact sheet on micro-entrepreneur obligations sets out three situations.
The first covers purchases of goods from a supplier established in another member state, above €10,000 a year in 2026.
Take round numbers: a reseller orders €4,000 of equipment in Germany in spring 2026, then €7,000 in the autumn.
The running total reaches €11,000, the limit is crossed on the second order, and a number becomes necessary.
The second covers services exchanged with a business in another member state, sold or bought, from the very first euro.
No threshold, no grace period: the Nantes developer is caught by his very first Belgian invoice.
This is the case that then calls for the VAT reverse charge at the client's end and for filing a European services declaration.
The third is the one almost everyone forgets, and it belongs to online shops: distance sales of goods to private individuals in another member state, above €10,000 a year in 2026, which can be reported through the VAT one-stop shop.
Many pages stop after the first two cases and leave sellers with a consumer client base believing the rule will never reach them.
Convincing letters and emails offer to obtain this number for a fee, with an administrative tone, a file reference and sometimes a deadline to meet.
These are private commercial offers, never an official step: issuing the number costs nothing and only ever goes through your business tax office.
The mechanics are exactly those of Fraudulent register letters, and the one rule that really protects you is to never pay for a formality that arrived unsolicited.
Holding a number does not make you VAT-liable
This is the most widespread confusion on the subject, and it costs contracts: people turn down European work for fear of "going into VAT".
Asking for this number does not cost you the French VAT exemption. What does cost it are the VAT threshold figures in article 293 B of the CGI, the French tax code.
In 2026, they stand at a total national turnover of €85,000 for the previous year and €93,500 for the year in progress.
A sub-threshold of €37,500 and €41,250 applies to services and liberal activities.
As long as you stay below them, your French invoices keep carrying the Article 293 B notice and you file, as a general rule, no VAT return at all.
And the day you went above them, you would not leave the micro-enterprise scheme: the two counters are independent, a service provider becoming VAT-liable at €37,500 while remaining a micro-entrepreneur up to €83,600 of turnover in 2026.
That "as a general rule" is worth reading twice, because the exceptions come precisely from European transactions: intra-EU acquisitions, import VAT, distance selling within the Union.
Obtaining the number therefore changes nothing about your prices or your French invoices; it opens a door for your cross-border work, and it comes with the formalities attached to it.
The number should not be confused with your SIREN number either, which identifies the business to INSEE (the national statistics institute) and to everyone you deal with in France.
One exists so the business exists; the other exists so a foreign tax administration recognises you when a transaction crosses a European border.
There is no point reconstructing yours from a template found online: it is issued to you, and the version shown in your professional account is the one that counts.
This page is up to date as of 5 September 2026: no change is confirmed to date for 2027, and it will be revised when the finance act is published.
Frequently asked questions
Does an EU VAT number cost anything?
No, issuing it is entirely free, and the DGFiP says so on a dedicated page.
Any letter or email offering to obtain it for a few dozen euros is a private commercial offer, not a mandatory formality. No administration charges for the delivery of this number.
How do I request one under the French VAT exemption scheme?
The request goes to your service des impôts des entreprises, through the secure messaging service of your professional account on impots.gouv.fr.
Under the exemption, no number is issued automatically when the business is created: until you ask for it, you do not have one. Once granted, it appears in that same professional account.
Do I need a number to invoice €500 to a Belgian business client?
Yes. Services exchanged with a business in another member state require the number from the first euro, with no threshold and no grace period.
The size of the project makes no difference: a €500 invoice triggers exactly the same obligation as a €50,000 one.
Does requesting this number force me to charge VAT to my French clients?
No, the two subjects are independent.
You stay under the exemption as long as your turnover remains below the thresholds in article 293 B of the French tax code, and your French invoices keep carrying the wording that text requires.
The number serves your European transactions, not your domestic invoicing.