France withdraws repondant for non-resident traders for VAT reverse charge |
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22 December 2011 Following a recent European Court of Justice ruling, France is to withdraw the 'repondant' facility for declaring VAT on imports into France by non-resident suppliers. In 2006, France introduced the 'repondant' facility, whereby non-resident traders no longer had to register for French VAT to reclaim VAT paid on imports. Instead, a French VAT-registered agent, the repondant, paid the cash and reported the transaction through their own French VAT return. Aside from relieving the trader of the cash flow burden, the procedure also helped cut down on VAT fraud. The ECJ has ruled that traders should instead use the reverse charge mechanism, and the customer account for the VAT instead. |
