French General Tax Code
In forceI. - The following are exempt from value added tax:
1° The supply of goods dispatched or transported within the territory of another Member State of the European Union to another taxable person or to a non-taxable legal person who is identified for value added tax purposes in a Member State other than that in which the dispatch or transport began and who has provided the supplier with his value added tax identification number.
The exemption does not apply where the supplier has not filed the recapitulative statement referred to in Article 289 B or where the recapitulative statement he has filed does not contain the information referred to in II of the same Article 289 B, unless he can duly justify his failure to do so to the administration.
The exemption does not apply where it is shown that the supplier knew or could not have been unaware that the presumed recipient of the shipment or transport had no real activity.
The exemption does not apply to supplies of goods by taxable persons referred to in article 293 B and to supplies of goods, other than excisable products or new means of transport, dispatched or transported to persons referred to in a, b and c of 2° of I of article 256 bis.
The exemption does not apply to the supply of second-hand goods, works of art, collectors' items or antiques by taxable resellers who apply the provisions of l'article 297 A.
1°a In the case of successive supplies of the same goods dispatched or transported within the territory of another Member State of the European Union directly from the first vendor to the last purchaser in the chain, the supply referred to in 1° of this article is deemed to be that made to the intermediary operator.
By way of derogation, the supply referred to in 1° of this article is deemed to be that made to the intermediary operator.
By way of derogation, the supply referred to in the same 1° is deemed to be that made by the intermediary operator when he has communicated to his supplier the individual value added tax identification number allocated to him in accordance with Article 286 ter.
For the purposes of this 1°, the supply is deemed to be that made to the intermediary operator when he has communicated to his supplier the individual value added tax identification number allocated to him in accordance with Article 286 ter.
For the purposes of this 1°a, a taxable person in the chain, other than the first seller, who dispatches or transports the goods either himself or through a third party acting on his behalf, shall be deemed to be an intermediary trader.
2° Transfers assimilated to the supplies referred to in III of the article 256 which would benefit from the exemption provided for in 1° above if they had been made to a taxable third party.
3° The supply of goods carried out under the conditions mentioned in IIIa of Article 256, when the power to dispose of the goods is transferred like an owner within twelve months of the arrival of the goods in the Member State to which they were dispatched or transported.
II. - Intra-Community acquisitions of goods are also exempt from value added tax:
1° The supply of which in France would be exempt;
2° The importation of which would be exempt pursuant to II of Article 291 of the General Tax Code;
3° For which the purchaser not established in France and who does not carry out supplies of goods or services there would benefit from the right to full reimbursement pursuant to V of Article 271 of the tax that would be due in respect of the acquisition.
III.-Supplies of goods to the taxable persons mentioned in b of 2° of V of article 256 are exempt from value added tax.
>
