French General Tax Code
In force1 The chargeable event for the tax occurs:
a) At the time when the supply, the intra-Community acquisition of goods or the provision of services is carried out;
a bis) For supplies other than those referred to in c of 3° of II of article 256 and for the supply of services which give rise to successive statements of account or collections, at the time of expiry of the periods to which these statements of account or collections relate ;
a ter) For supplies of goods, services and intra-Community acquisitions deemed to have been made pursuant to 1° of V of Article 256 and III of Article 256 bis, at the time when the transaction in which the taxable person is involved is carried out;
a c) For supplies of services for which tax is payable by the service provider pursuant to 2 of article 283, which take place continuously over a period of more than one year and which do not give rise to statements of account or payments during this period, at the end of each calendar year, as long as the provision of services has not been terminated ;
ad) For the supplies and transfers referred to in I of article 262 ter carried out continuously over a period of more than one calendar month, at the end of each calendar month ;
a sexies) For supplies of goods by a taxable person deemed to have acquired and supplied the goods in accordance with a and b of 2° of V of Article 256 and for the supply to that taxable person, at the time when payment has been accepted;
b) For self-supply of new buildings taxed under 2° of 1 of II of l'article 257, at the time when the filing at the town hall of the declaration provided for by the regulations relating to planning permission is required ;
c) (Repealed);
d) For self-deliveries of real estate work referred to in 1° of 3 of I of Article 257, at the time of completion of all the work.
However, by way of derogation from the previous paragraph, the chargeable event for the tax occurs on the last day of each quarter for self-deliveries of maintenance work carried out during that quarter.
e) (Repealed).
2. The tax is payable:
a) For the supplies referred to in a and a ter of 1, when the chargeable event occurs. However, if a deposit has been paid in advance, the tax becomes chargeable when it is collected, up to the amount collected.
However, for supplies of electricity, gas, heat, refrigeration or similar goods giving rise to successive statements of account or collections, the tax may, at the option of the taxpayer, become chargeable at the time of debiting; in any event, it becomes due as soon as advance payments are received and up to the amount of the advance payments, where they are requested before the chargeable event or debit takes place;
aa) For the supply of buildings to be constructed, on each payment of the sums corresponding to the various instalments provided for in the contract depending on the progress of the work;
b) For the transactions referred to in a sexies, b and d of 1, when the chargeable event occurs;
b bis) For supplies of services for which tax is payable by the hirer pursuant to Article 283(2), when the chargeable event occurs, or when the advance payments are collected;
c) For supplies of services other than those referred to in ba, upon receipt of the payments on account, the price, the remuneration or, at the option of the taxpayer, on the basis of the debits.
In the case of the discounting of a commercial paper or the transfer of a debt, the liability occurs respectively on the date of payment of the commercial paper by the customer or on the date of payment of the debt transferred into the hands of the beneficiary of the transfer.
Property works contractors may, under conditions and for works that are set by decree, opt for the payment of tax on deliveries.
By way of derogation from the first paragraph of this c, the option formulated by a single taxable person constituted pursuant to article 256 C may be exercised by sector of activity;
c bis) For construction leases, at the time of their conclusion with regard to the value of the right of repossession referred to in article 266, paragraph 5 and, where applicable, at the time of collection for rental payments;
d) For intra-Community acquisitions and for supplies and transfers exempted pursuant to I of Article 262 ter, on the 15th of the month following that during which the chargeable event occurred.
However, the tax becomes due when the invoice is issued, provided that it precedes the due date stipulated in the first paragraph and that it is not a progress invoice.
