The postponed accounting for import VAT now applies to all the persons liable to VAT who import in France and are identified in France with an individual VAT number, without requiring a particular customs procedure.

Since January 2017, a new application form for postponed accounting is available. The operators can request it from the Business Consulting Unit of the regional directorates for customs? or download it here:

• Application form for postponed accounting for VAT – the liable person is established in the customs territory of the Union [French version]
  Warning: only applications using the French form will be accepted.
  Nevertheless, the English version of the form can be consulted to facilitate the filling of the application.
• Application form for postponed accounting for VAT – the liable person is not established in the customs territory of the Union [French version]
  Warning: only applications using the French form will be accepted.
  Nevertheless, the English version of the form can be consulted to facilitate the filling of the application.

Therefore, the new regulation is a key to competitiveness for the companies in France and a lever to promote customs clearance in France: the postponed accounting for import VAT is opened to all the persons liable to VAT, whether they are established in the customs territory of the Union or not, and without requiring a customs procedure or an audit. The only requirement is to meet some conditions in order to secure the process.

A secure perimeter: conditions have to be fulfilled to benefit from the postponed accounting authorization (in French "ATVAI")

• The need to secure this simplification is an absolute necessity : the new article 1695 of the tax code specifies that the postponed accounting requires an authorization.

• Regarding the operators established in the customs territory of the Union, 4 criteria have to be met :

  • to have carried out at least 4 import operations within the customs territory of the Union during the last 12 months preceding the application;

  • to have a system of managing customs and fiscal records which allows the follow-up of the import operations;

  • the absence of any serious infringement or repeated infringements of customs legislation and taxation rules during the last 12 months preceding the application;

  • to have good financial standing during the last 12 months preceding the application (without any requirement of guarantee or caution).

More precisely, the customs will have to verify the criteria, on the basis of the information available in the customs and fiscal systems.

The customs authorities will register without further examination and within a short time limit the operators holding the AEO status. The other operators will not be subject to a customs audit.

• Regarding the operators established outside the customs territory of the Union: they will have to appoint a customs representative holding the AEO status for their import procedure. This requirement will ensure the same reliability level as for European operators.