The guidance page on deducting VAT on business purchases, verified on 24 September 2026, restates the deduction conditions: the business is liable for VAT under a real regime (simplifié or normal)
Service Public, neither exempt nor in franchise en baseService Public; the purchase serves the business, not the director's personal purposesService Public; only an invoice carrying the VAT amounts or rates justifies the deductionService Public, and on audit the administration may reclaim wrongly deducted VAT; and deduction runs only once the VAT is exigible at the supplier — on delivery for goodsService Public, with deposits making it deductible immediatelyService Public, or on receipt of payment for services unless the business has opted for the debit regimeService Public.
Certain purchases sit outside deduction altogether; the rewritten page now illustrates the exclusion with passenger transport such as VTC and taxisService Public, alongside the previously listed director accommodation. Where deductible VAT exceeds collected VAT the business holds a VAT creditService Public: it either carries it forward against later returns until exhausted, or claims a refund of all or part of itService Public. Refund frequency follows the regime — yearly, half-yearly, quarterly or monthlyService Public — with a €760 minimum for quarterly claimsService Public and a €150 minimum for the January annual claims
Legifrance, under articles 242-0 A to 242-0 L of annex II to the code général des impôts.
The rewritten page adds the omitted-deduction safety net of article 208 of annex IIService Public: a taxable person that forgets a deductible tax on its VAT return may still enter it, as a distinct line, on a later returnLegifrance, provided that return is filed before 31 December of the second year after the omissionService Public. The worked case is a monthly réel normal filer omitting a credit from its June year-N return, which it may still enter no later than the December year-N+2 return.
Refund and declaration forms are now online-onlyService Public: the forms remain consultable for information but the procedure itself must be completed electronically, in EFI mode through the impots.gouv.fr business account or the Portailpro account, or in EDI mode through exchange softwareService Public, in which case the company or more generally its representative (for example its expert-comptable) keys and transmits the data. The administration grants an extra 15 calendar days for completing the online procedureService Public.
Legal basis: articles 271 to 273 septies E of the code général des impôts, article 208 and articles 242-0 A to 242-0 L of annex II, article 242-0 C (the €150 and €760 thresholds) and article 242-0 I; BOI-TVA-DED-10 to 60.
Note: this card's 31 December N+2 key date uses the page's illustrative June year-N omission; the governing rule is the per-omission deadline of article 208Legifrance, so readers apply it to their own omission year.
Businesses on a real VAT regime should diary the article 208 safety net for any omitted deduction (distinct line, later return before 31 December N+2), file refund claims electronically only, and strip VTC/taxi and director-lodging VAT from deductions.
