Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Do you buy second-hand, vintage or antiques from private sellers and sell in France? Then you pay VAT on your margin, not on the selling price. And you keep a register that has nothing to do with VAT — and that is often forgotten.
Written by Griet Coussement, founder of Vintro Pro and Vintiques Export
When you buy from a private seller, you pay no VAT, so there is nothing to deduct. The régime de la marge means that when you sell, you only pay VAT on what you earn.
The VAT is inside the margin, not on top of it.
The French rate is 20%. If that is already in the amount, the share is 20/120: one sixth, or 16.67%. For goods at a reduced rate, such as books, the margin follows that rate.
You keep €500. Your invoice shows only €1,000, with no VAT amount. If you cannot prove the purchase price, VAT is due on the full €1,000.
Which items: second-hand goods, works of art, collectors’ items and antiques (over 100 years old). Not: precious metals and precious stones. Anything you buy from a private seller counts as second-hand, even if it was never used.
Bought from:
Never under the margin: goods you import yourself, goods bought with VAT on the invoice, and taxable intra-EU acquisitions. Since 1 January 2025 there is no longer a 5.5% rate for art and antiques under the margin scheme.
One item sold at a loss makes the difference.
Chair A cost €200 and sells for €500 (+€300). Cabinet B cost €300 and goes for €200 (−€100).
If you bought more than you sold in a period, the excess is added to next period’s purchases. It is never refunded, not even when you stop trading. In the first period of each year you adjust for stock: stock on 31 December minus stock on 1 January of the year before. Separate accounts per rate and per method are required.
This is separate from VAT and applies to every trader who buys second-hand movable goods to resell them. You notify the préfecture in advance, and you keep a daily register showing for each purchase:
A paper register is kept for five years, in indelible ink; an electronic one for ten. Not keeping one can cost six months in prison and a €30,000 fine. In a company, the directors are responsible.
One of these three statements, written exactly like this, and no VAT amount:
You do not deduct VAT on your purchases of margin goods. VAT on your own costs, such as restoration materials, you do. You may also choose normal VAT sale by sale, on the full price.
Franchise en base. If your turnover in goods stays under €85,000 (with leeway up to €93,500), you charge no VAT. For that threshold your total turnover counts, not your margin. The plan to lower it to €25,000 was dropped in 2025.
On 1 January 2027 the VAT rules move out of the CGI into a new code, the Code des impositions sur les biens et services. Articles 297 A onwards are repealed there. According to the French tax authority this is à droit constant: the rules stay the same, only the numbers change, and old references apply to the new articles. We will update this page as soon as the new numbers are confirmed.
21%, and only per period (global method) — never per item — Read more
21%; the global method is compulsory for furniture, clothing, art and antiques, opting out is possible — Read more
20%; per item is the basic rule, the global method is allowed without prior election
20%; per item, and global accounting only for items up to £500 — Read more
Vintro Pro keeps the purchase price, the seller and the selling price of every item, and works out your margin VAT with the French method: per item, or per period. The right statement goes on the invoice, with no VAT amount. Vintro Pro does not keep the livre de police for you; you do have the details of every item at hand.
One sixth of your margin (20/120), or 16.67%, because the VAT is included in it. On a margin of €600 that is €100.
The basic rule is per item, and a loss then counts as zero. The global method per period is allowed for all margin goods, without prior election.
The register every dealer in second-hand goods keeps daily: seller, ID document, description, sequence number, price and payment method. You notify the préfecture in advance. Kept five years on paper, ten electronically.
'Régime particulier-Biens d'occasion', '-Objets d'art' or '-Objets de collection et d'antiquité', and no VAT amount.
Under €85,000 turnover in goods (leeway up to €93,500) you fall under the franchise en base and charge no VAT. Your total turnover counts, not your margin.
The article numbers: the VAT rules move to the Code des impositions sur les biens et services. According to the French tax authority, the rules themselves stay the same.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Everything checked on 7 November 2026 on Légifrance, the BOFiP and service-public.gouv.fr; check with your accountant before you choose a method.
Vintro Pro keeps purchase price, seller and margin for every item, and works out your margin VAT per item or per period with the French method.