Foreign companies – modalities of presenting the accounts file referred to in I of article L. 47 A of the book of tax procedures (LPF)
updated on 24 September 2014
1. The branch offices of foreign companies taxable in France are subject to the obligation of presenting their bookkeeping in electronic form as provided for in paragraph I of the article L. 47 A of the book of tax procedures (LPF).
According to I of article L. 47 A of the book of tax procedures (LPF), the taxpayers
mentioned in the first paragraph of the article 54 of the general tax code (CGI) who keep their books using computerized systems are obliged to present them in electronic form during a tax control.
The second paragraph of this article extends the obligation to present in electronic form all accounting records that are to be obligatorily kept as indicated in the general tax code.
According to jurisprudence, the branch offices of foreign companies, even though they are not subject to the obligation of keeping the accounting books as provided in articles L. 123-12 and following of the Commercial Code, must present to the tax administration accounting documents and records mentioned in article 54 of CGI so as to justify the accuracy of the results indicated in the declarations that they are obliged to submit under article 53 A of this code.
The branches subject to VAT must also present the accounting documents and records referred to in article 286 of CGI (accounting or special register2).
The branch offices of foreign companies taxable in France are therefore obliged to present, according to the French tax rules, accounting records justifying their declarations.
They therefore fall under the obligation of providing those documents in electronic form during a tax control as provided for in I of article L. 47 A of LPF.
2. The compliance of the copies of accounting records of the branch offices of foreign companies with the nomenclature of the general accounting is not required.
According to point I of article L. 47 A of LPF mentioned above, the copies of accounting records must respect the standards laid down in article A. 47 A-1 of this book.
The branch offices of foreign companies taxable in France are not, however, subject
to the obligation to keep the accounting books as provided for in articles L. 123-12 and following of the Commercial Code.
In such cases, the foreign companies can deliver to the controller a corresponding table with the French accounting standards or even deliver to the tax administration a copy of files with their accounting records after having converted them into the French accounting standards.
In any event, the compliance of the copy of the accounts files with the nomenclature
of the general accounting or with any other nomenclature defined by the French accounting regulator is not required.
More specifically, the number lines or accounts names do not have to make reference to French standards (paragraph 75 of BOI-CF-IOR-60-40-10).
In practice, the accounts files presented by the foreign companies do not have to make reference to:
- accounting records journal code (information 1);
- accounting records journal name (information 2);
- number and name of the sub-account (information 7 and 8).
Those fields can, if appropriate, show no input.
If the information « debit » and « credit » is not presented in the company’s computerized system, the information 12 and 13 can be replaced by « amount » and « position » respectively as in the model below:
| INFORMATION | FIELD NAME | FIELD TYPE |
| 12. Amount | Amount | Digital |
| 13. Position | Position | Alphanumeric |
In any event, the accounting records file name can be indicated in French or any other foreign language on the condition that they are translated by a sworn translator, according to the second paragraph of article 54 of CGI.
3. The case of foreign companies subject to VAT in France with no permanent establishment in France
According to 3° of I of article 286 of CGI, the entities subject to VAT in France must keep accounting records to justify their transactions that they make, taxable or not, and that are mentioned on the submitted VAT declarations.
If the taxpayer does not keep accounting books, he must have a special register with numbered pages in which he writes down day by day, with no traces of correction fluid or crossing-outs, the amount of each of his transactions, distinguishing between those taxable or not.
This register must obviously be supported by corresponding documents such as purchase invoices.
The entities subject to VAT are therefore obliged to present the books or the special register in electronic form as provided for in I of article L. 47 A of LPF if they keep those documents using computerized systems.
3.1 Obligation to present the accounts in electronic form
The foreign companies subject to VAT in France who keep their accounting books using computerized systems are obliged to present them in electronic form as provided for in I of article L. 47 A of LPF.
Similarly, taxpayers who do not keep accounting books, being few in practice, are obliged to present in electronic form the special register mentioned in 3° of I of article 286 of CGI, when it is kept in this same form.
Otherwise, the penalty under article 1729 D of CGI is applicable.
3.2 Accounting records file standards
According to I of article L. 47 A of LPF mentioned above, the copies of the files of accounting records must respect the standards laid down in article A. 47 A-1 of this book.
Foreign companies subject to VAT in France without being established there are however not subject to the obligation to keep books as provided for in Articles L. 123-12 and following of the Commercial Code.
The compliance of the copy of the accounts file with the nomenclature of the general accounting or with any other nomenclature defined by the French accounting regulator is not required.
More specifically, the number lines or accounts names do not have to make reference to French standards (paragraph 75 of BOI-CF-IOR-60-40-10).
In such cases, the foreign companies can deliver to the controller a corresponding table with the French accounting standards or even deliver to the tax administration a copy of files with their accounting records after having converted them into the French accounting standards.
Similarly, for the foreign companies who do not keep books, the accounts files established on the basis of the special register referred to in 3° of I of article 286 of CGI that they must prepare in electronic form does not have to make reference to :
- accounting records journal code (information 1);
- accounting records journal name (information 2);
- number and name of the sub-account (information 7 and 8).
Those fields can, if appropriate, show no input.
Regarding the information « debit » and « credit », please refer to the elements showing in point 2 of the present document.
In any event, the accounting records file name can be indicated in French or any other foreign language on the condition that they are translated by a sworn translator, according to the second paragraph of article 54 of CGI.
In any case, the accounts file must obviously include all information of the special register referred to in 3° of I of article 286 of CGI and in article 37 of the annex IV of this code (breakdown of taxable and non-taxable transactions, VAT on each transaction, amount excluding VAT, name and address of the clients and suppliers…).
Regarding the names and addresses of the clients and suppliers, they must be entered in the field “record name”. The number of the characters is not limited but condensed information is preferred for readability (name, city, country).
In addition, the full details should appear clearly on the supporting documents.
The attached table summarizes the information to be included in the accounts file (FEC) of the foreign companies subject to VAT in France with no permanent establishment in France who keep a journal-register instead of the accounting books.
1 CE 13 July 2011 N° 313440, 9e and 10e s.-s., Sté Stanford Research Institute International : RJF 11/11 N° 1133.
2 Register with numbered pages in which it is written down day by day, with no traces of correction fluid or crossing-outs, the amount of each of his transactions, distinguishing between those taxable or not.