Anyone reclaiming VAT from France for the first time often assumes that the rules are the same throughout the EU. That is partly correct: the application itself runs through the same portal of the tax authority everywhere, and the minimum amounts are set EU-wide at 400 euros for an application covering a period of at least three months and 50 euros for an application covering a full calendar year. What does differ is what France as the refund country subsequently does with your application.
The reason for this is in the directive itself: the refund country tests a foreign request against its own national deduction rules, not against the Dutch ones. A French entrepreneur who deducts VAT in France itself may or may not offset certain expenses — and France applies those same restrictions to a Dutch entrepreneur who reclaims VAT on fuel, entertaining expenses, or a hotel bill there. As a result, an expense category that is fully granted in Germany may be partially or completely rejected in France.
Why France does not use the same list as other countries
Each EU country determines for itself which business expenses within its borders entitle it to a deduction. France, like other countries, has its own tradition on that point: certain expenses related to personal vehicles and entertaining are traditionally more sensitive there than in, for example, the Netherlands or Belgium. For the refund, this means in practice that an expense category does not automatically provide a fixed percentage refund — the answer depends on how France treats that expense category internally. The tax authority maintains a Requirements list per refund country in which such differences are listed, and that is also the source we refer to whenever it comes to France specifically.
This immediately explains why two entrepreneurs with comparable receipts — one from France, the other from Spain — can receive different outcomes. Not because the application was submitted differently, but because the refund country uses a different standard for the same expense category.
Language and substantiation: where France is slightly more particular
A second difference is not in the expense categories themselves, but in what a refund country expects from the substantiation. Some countries accept an invoice without further explanation; other countries — and France is often among them — ask for a further description of the business nature of the expense when in doubt, sometimes in their own language. This is not an additional hurdle imposed by the Netherlands, but a question that comes back from France itself after the request has arrived there. If you do not respond to this within the set deadline, you run the risk that the request will be rejected for that part.
What this means for how you structure a French refund
The practical consequence is that a request directed at France cannot simply be copied from a request that previously worked in another country. The breakdown into expense categories is the same everywhere — the directive stipulates that — but the assessment behind it is national. For an installation company working on changing project locations in France, this means, for example, that toll costs and overnight stays are usually granted without discussion, while expenses related to a company vehicle are more likely to prompt a supplementary question from France.
Because these differences are laid down per country and do not change per application, it is primarily a matter of knowing in advance what you are dealing with. in a few questions see what is relevant for your situation gives a first indication of this, even before an application is drawn up. Anyone wanting to know how such an indication comes about and what sources it is based on will find that the page where we explain where our information comes from.
One process, with a different outcome per country
Submitting the application itself does not change: the request runs through the Dutch portal, is forwarded to France, and France then assesses for itself what is granted. That does not make France more complicated than other countries, but it is slightly more specific on the points where French deduction rules differ from what you are used to in the Netherlands. For businesses that operate in multiple countries at the same time, that is often the reason not to start over per country but to have the process carried out based on what each Member State permits. On the overview page per situation worked out is how that works out per cost category and per country.
Have you incurred costs in France and want to know what is likely to be eligible? Do the free quick-scan or read the other topics in the knowledge base — without needing an account for it.