Definition
A freelance developer became liable for VAT in the spring of 2026. Since then, every invoice she sends carries a VAT line.
Her hosting provider, for its part, has been charging her VAT from day one.
While preparing her first return, she realises that those two VAT amounts do not live separate lives: the second one is subtracted from the first.
Input VAT is the VAT your suppliers charged you on your business purchases, and which you are entitled to subtract from the Output VAT on your sales.
You hand over to the Treasury only the difference between the two.
That right exists only from the moment you are registered for VAT: as long as you fall under the VAT exemption scheme (franchise en base), you charge no VAT and you reclaim none.
The Bulletin officiel des finances publiques (the official tax doctrine) says so plainly, and it is the most tangible price of the exemption: a laptop, a software subscription or an office rent cost you their VAT-inclusive price, permanently.
One quarter, line by line
Take that same developer. Over one quarter, she charged VAT to her clients, and her suppliers charged her VAT on her purchases.
The amounts below are the ones written on the invoices, for illustration only: the applicable rate depends on each product or service and is read off the supplier's invoice.
| Transaction during the quarter | VAT shown on the invoice | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Assignments invoiced to clients | €1,800 | Output |
| Laptop | €260 | Input |
| Software subscriptions | €96 | Input |
| Desk in a shared workspace | €144 | Input |
| Left to pay | €1,300 | €1,800 less €500 |
She pays €1,300 instead of €1,800. Her €500 of input VAT is not a gain: it is an advance she gets back, nothing more.
The VAT-exclusive price of the laptop remains entirely her own cost. When input VAT exceeds output VAT over a period, the difference is not lost either: it becomes a VAT credit, which you carry forward to the next period or claim as a refund.
Reclaiming VAT is not deducting a cost
This is the most expensive confusion on the subject, because both ideas borrow the same verb. Reclaiming VAT belongs to the machinery of VAT.
Deducting a cost belongs to income tax, and there the answer never moves: under the micro-enterprise regime, no expense is deducted from taxable profit.
The Standard allowance does that job for you, 34% in 2026 for a liberal activity taxed as BNC and 50% for BIC services, whether you spent a great deal or nothing at all.
Becoming liable for VAT changes none of this: you reclaim the VAT on the laptop, and its VAT-exclusive price stays outside your tax calculation.
The second confusion is a more reassuring one: crossing a VAT threshold does not cost you the micro regime.
A service provider becomes liable for VAT above €37,500 of turnover in 2026, while the micro ceiling runs up to €83,600 for the years 2026 to 2028.
That €37,500 is not a stand-alone threshold but a sub-ceiling: you must also stay under the total national turnover figure, all activities combined, set in 2026 at €85,000 for the previous year and €93,500 for the current one.
Between the VAT threshold and the micro ceiling, he charges VAT, reclaims it on his purchases, and keeps declaring VAT-exclusive turnover to the URSSAF.
VAT that a supplier charges you by mistake is not deductible on your side.
A fellow freelancer still under the exemption whose billing tool added a VAT line owes that VAT simply because it was written, but you cannot reclaim it: you lose it outright.
Before paying, check whether the invoice carries a VAT amount or the Article 293 B notice, which signals a supplier under the exemption.
Two other wordings are accepted for that notice, including a reference to the European directive: what counts is the absence of a VAT amount, not the exact phrase.
If it is wrong, ask for a corrective invoice instead of attempting the deduction.
The three conditions for reclaimable VAT
Deduction is not decided when the return is filed, it is prepared at the moment of purchase.
The purchase must serve your business: a private expense opens no right, and mixed-use spending is reclaimable only in proportion to its business use.
You must hold an invoice made out in your business name, on which the VAT appears separately. Finally, the transaction must come after your VAT registration.
The deduction is then exercised in your VAT return, set against the output VAT of the same period.
Frequently asked questions
Can you reclaim VAT as a micro-entrepreneur?
Only once you are registered for VAT. Under the franchise en base, the answer is no, with no exception available: no VAT charged, therefore no VAT reclaimed.
You may waive the exemption and register voluntarily, a decision taken with your business tax office, and one that mostly makes sense when your clients are VAT-registered themselves.
What about VAT on purchases made before registration?
The right to deduct starts with registration: earlier invoices do not slip into the first return.
Adjustment rules exist for stock and equipment still held on that date, but they are handled case by case with your business tax office, never improvised on a spreadsheet of your own making.
Does reclaimed VAT reduce my social contributions?
No, and the two calculations never meet. Your contributions and your income tax are computed on the VAT-exclusive turnover you collect, a gross figure from which no expense is subtracted.
Input VAT affects what you hand over to the Treasury, and not one cent of what you owe the URSSAF.
How do you deduct VAT on a service bought in another EU country?
Through the VAT reverse charge: you declare the VAT due on that purchase yourself and deduct it in the same return, on the basis of an invoice issued without VAT by the European provider.
The French tax administration points out that some of these transactions require a return even under the exemption.
That is where the trap lies: in that case you owe the VAT without being able to deduct it, since the exemption opens no right to deduction.
The exemption thresholds themselves sit in article 293 B of the French tax code. This page is up to date as of 5 September 2026.