Farm VAT scheme rewritten: averaged €46,000 test, 20% advances, CA3 option

The official Entreprendre Service Public guidance page on the régime simplifié de l'agriculture, verified on 24 September 2026, restates the entry test for the farm VAT simplified scheme: the €46,000 receipts threshold now applies to the average takings of all the farmer's holdings over two consecutive calendar years, not to each year taken aloneService Public. The page's example makes the change concrete — €35,000 of receipts in year N and €75,000 in year N+1 gives an average of €55,000, so the scheme applies from 1 January of year N+2. The BOI guidance confirms the averaging mechanism and adds that compulsory coverage then runs for a first three-year stretch before yearly renewal by three-year average, with exit only where the three-year average falls below €46,000, signalled to the tax office before 1 February and with no VAT-credit refund taken in the period.

On payment, the rewritten page distinguishes start-up from continuing businesses. In the first year the farmer sets each quarterly instalment itself, at no less than 70% of the tax actually due for the corresponding quarter, paying before the 5th of May, August, November and February with an electronic quarterly slip. In later years each instalment must be at least 20% of the previous year's tax, on the same quarterly datesService Public. Instalments may be skipped where those already paid cover the full tax finally due — the slip must still be filed — or where the previous year's VAT was below €1,000, in which case no slip is needed and the whole year's tax is paid with the annual regularisation return.

The annual regularisation return, form 3517-AGR-SD (CA12 A), covering all of the previous year's taxable transactions, is due no later than the second working day after 1 May of the following year — or, on option where the financial year does not match the calendar year, the 5th day of the 5th month after closing. It is filed electronically, either keyed online in the impots.gouv.fr business account or the Portailpro account (EFI mode) or transmitted through EDI software, in which case the company or more generally its representative (for example its expert-comptable) keys and transmits the data. The tax office grants an extra 15 calendar days for completing this online procedure.Service Public

A further possibility is periodic VAT payment instead of quarterly advances plus an annual return. Under the option the farmer files periodic CA3 returnsService Public and pays monthly or quarterly on actual transactions, so no regularisation return is needed the next year. The option is exercised by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (LRAR) to the service des impôts des entreprises, runs for five yearsService Public, takes effect on 1 January of the year the letter is sent if sent before the CA12 A filing deadline — the second working day after 1 May — and otherwise on 1 January of the following year. Renunciation is likewise by LRAR to the SIE at the start of the year after the five-year period: before 31 January for monthly filers, before 5 February for quarterly filers.

Exigibility follows receipt of the price or deposits, and a farmer under the flat-rate refund scheme may opt into the RSA. The page cites articles 298 bis to 298 quinquies and article 1693 bis of the code général des impôts.

Legal basis: articles 298 bis to 298 quinquies and article 1693 bis of the code général des impôts. The page itself cites BOI-TVA-SECT-80-20-20120912 on the RSA option.