Dropshipping accountant in France: IOSS VAT

Quick answer. A French accountant for a dropshipper frames four workstreams: VAT (the IOSS scheme for imported consignments worth EUR 150 or less, the OSS scheme for goods shipped from EU stock, import VAT on the French VAT return when the store imports in its own name), sales recorded at gross value against the net payouts of Stripe or Shopify Payments, purchases from non-EU suppliers, and the choice of legal structure against the 2026 thresholds. The frame is set before the first order, then kept month after month.

Updated 2 September 2026. Informative content reviewed by a chartered accountant registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables d'Île-de-France.

The engagement is designed for dropshipping stores (Shopify with AliExpress, Spocket or CJ Dropshipping) and print-on-demand stores (Printful, Printify, Gelato) operated through a French company or micro-entreprise, including founders based abroad. What makes the model different: no inventory to value, but a VAT treatment that depends on where the parcel ships from and what the consignment is worth, a legal status that flips at precise thresholds, and a large number of small transactions to reconcile without error.

Yes, under conditions. Dropshipping is a lawful business model in France. Legality rests on several obligations:

• Adequate legal structure: KBIS, RCS registration, choice between micro-BIC, EI, EURL, SASU
• Legal mentions: terms and conditions (CGV) compliant with French consumer code
• Pre-contractual information: price, shipping fees, real delivery times (often 15-30 days for CN dropshipping), country of origin
• Right of withdrawal: 14 days mandatory
• VAT: the IOSS scheme for imported consignments with an intrinsic value of EUR 150 or less, the OSS scheme for sales shipped from stock located in the EU to other member states (above EUR 10,000 a year when the stock is in France), import VAT on the French VAT return (CA3) when the store imports in its own name (details below)
• DGCCRF vigilance: no fake scarcity, no misleading promotions

DGCCRF obligations for dropshippers

The DGCCRF is the French consumer-protection authority. To the points listed above it adds the reference-price rule: any struck-through price must refer to the lowest price charged in the 30 days before the reduction (article L112-1-1 of the French Consumer Code). An accounting engagement is not legal advice, but it checks that refunds triggered by withdrawals, credit notes and payment disputes are properly recorded: that is where declared revenue and real revenue can drift apart. For the compliance method, see DGCCRF controls on dropshipping in 2026.

The flow to record: a purchase from a supplier usually located in China or Hong Kong (AliExpress, Spocket, CJ Dropshipping), an import delivered straight to the customer, a sale to an EU consumer. The books separate three things that store exports blend together: revenue excluding VAT, VAT collected country by country when the IOSS applies, and the purchase cost attached to each order. Without that split, the margin shown by the store dashboard is wrong, because it ignores refunds, payment fees and the VAT remitted.

VAT is the model's first risk item, because the applicable rule depends on two facts the store never shows: where the parcel ships from and what the consignment is worth. Since 1 July 2021, VAT is due from the first euro on goods imported from outside the EU; the old exemption for consignments under EUR 22 no longer exists. The three situations below cover most stores.

1. Direct shipment from outside the EU, consignment worth EUR 150 or less: the IOSS scheme

The IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) applies to distance sales of goods imported from a third country to EU consumers, in consignments with an intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150 (price excluding VAT, excluding shipping and insurance invoiced separately). A seller registered for IOSS charges the VAT of the customer's country at checkout, so the price displayed is VAT-inclusive, and the import itself is VAT-exempt: the parcel is not held at customs for VAT payment. Since 1 July 2026, however, these consignments bear a flat customs duty of EUR 3 per article line (see point 3).

• Registration: a company established in France registers itself for the one-stop shop from its professional account on impots.gouv.fr, the French tax portal. An intermediary established in France is only compulsory for a seller not established in the EU.
• Return: monthly, with the VAT collected broken down by country of consumption, and payment in the same movement.
• Without IOSS: the customer pays the VAT on delivery, plus the carrier's customs presentation fee, and may refuse the parcel. The seller then recovers neither the product nor the margin.

IOSS removes none of the French obligations: revenue still has to be declared, books still have to be kept, and the VAT collected through IOSS must appear in the accounts, isolated from revenue excluding VAT.

2. Selling through a marketplace: the platform is the deemed supplier

When the sale is facilitated by an electronic interface (marketplace, platform, portal), the deemed-supplier rule (article 256, V, 2° of the French Tax Code, due to move unchanged in substance to Book II of the Code des impositions sur les biens et services on 1 January 2027) deems the platform to have bought and resold the goods in two cases: distance sales of imported goods in consignments of EUR 150 or less, and supplies within the EU made by a seller not established in the EU. The platform then collects and remits the VAT. The seller remains responsible for consumer information, terms of sale, the withdrawal right and the declaration of its own revenue: DGCCRF compliance cannot be delegated.

3. Orders above EUR 150 or stock inside the EU: the French VAT return and the OSS scheme

Above EUR 150 of intrinsic value, IOSS no longer applies. The parcel clears customs with import VAT and customs duties at the tariff rate. For consignments of EUR 150 or less, the customs duty relief was abolished on 1 July 2026: a flat duty of EUR 3 per article line applies to distance sales of imported goods until 1 July 2028, paid by the customs declarant (the IOSS holder or its representative first); the EUR 150 IOSS threshold for VAT is unchanged. If the store imports in its own name (delivered duty paid), import VAT has been declared and deducted on the French VAT return (form CA3) filed with the DGFiP, the French tax administration, since 1 January 2022: the online return is pre-filled on the 14th of the month from customs data, and the VAT is collected and deducted in the same movement, with no cash advance. This is compulsory for every business registered for VAT in France.

If the supplier ships from stock located inside the EU (a European print-on-demand provider, an agent's warehouse), the sale is no longer an import but an intra-EU distance sale. Stock in France: below EUR 10,000 of annual sales to other member states, French VAT applies; above it, the VAT of the customer's country applies, and the OSS scheme lets the seller declare it without registering in each country. Stock in another member state: French VAT does not apply; the safe route is to declare the VAT of the country of delivery through the OSS from the first sale, and a local registration may be needed in the country where the stock sits for orders delivered there. In both cases, the EUR 10,000 threshold has nothing to do with direct shipments from China, which fall under point 1.

The classic trap is to book as revenue the amount the payment provider wires to the bank account. That amount is net of fees, refunds and disputes: booking it as is understates revenue, makes payment fees vanish from expenses and distorts VAT. The method used in the engagement:

• Sales at gross value: each order is recorded at the VAT-inclusive amount charged to the customer, split between revenue excluding VAT and VAT collected (by country when IOSS or OSS applies), from the store export and not from the bank statement.
• One clearing account per provider: Stripe, PayPal, Shopify Payments, Klarna or Alma each get a suspense account. Receipts enter at gross value, fees leave as expenses, and the bank payout clears the account. A balance that does not return to zero flags an order, a refund or a dispute left untreated.
• Monthly three-way reconciliation: store orders, provider payout reports, bank statement. This control is what surfaces forgotten refunds and chargebacks, which are booked as expenses and not as a mere cancelled sale.
• Purchases from non-EU suppliers: an AliExpress or CJ Dropshipping invoice carries no French VAT, so there is no input VAT to deduct on the purchase itself; VAT is dealt with at import (IOSS, or the CA3 return if the store imports in its own name). The purchase cost is attached to the order to obtain the real margin per product.
• Payments in foreign currency: supplier payments in dollars or yuan, often routed through a multi-currency account, are booked at the exchange rate of the transaction date (the payment date when the order is paid on placement); the exchange difference is recorded separately, not blended into the purchase price.

Depending on volume, these steps run through the bank and payment connectors of the accounting software, completed by a periodic export of orders. See our Pennylane tool page for connector details.

The choice rests on three thresholds that do not line up:

What these thresholds mean for a dropshipper:

• Micro-entrepreneur does not mean VAT-free. Between EUR 85,000 and EUR 203,100 of sales, a micro-entrepreneur stays in the micro regime but charges and files VAT. The sentence "in micro, VAT cannot be recovered" is only true under the small-business exemption.
• The micro regime taxes a notional income, not the real margin. The 71 % flat-rate deduction on sales amounts to assuming a 29 % margin. Social contributions under the micro-social scheme are due at 12.3 % of revenue collected, whatever the margin. A dropshipping business whose net margin, after advertising, fees and refunds, is below 29 % therefore pays tax and contributions on income it never earned.
• A company is judged on its result. A SASU, or an EURL that has opted for corporate tax, deducts purchases, advertising, fees and actual costs, and pays corporate tax at 15 % up to EUR 42,500 of profit. Dividends paid out afterwards bear, in a SASU, the flat tax of 31.4 % (12.8 % income tax plus 18.6 % social levies); in an EURL, the share of dividends above 10 % of share capital and shareholder loan account is subject to the manager's social contributions. The full comparison is made on disposable income, after the director's pay and after distribution.

The right moment to incorporate therefore depends on the real margin and is decided on the store's own numbers. For company formation, see our company formation service in Paris.

• Scoping before the first order: where suppliers ship from, consignment values, countries of sale, structure and VAT regime; the IOSS, OSS or CA3 decision recorded in writing.
• Tool set-up: Pennylane connected to the bank and to the payment providers, one clearing account per provider, a chart of accounts that separates revenue, VAT collected by country and purchase cost per order.
• Monthly rhythm: reconciliation of orders, payouts and bank, IOSS or CA3 return, follow-up of refunds and disputes, real margin per product.
• Year end: annual accounts, French tax return, and a review of the thresholds (VAT exemption, micro cap, corporate tax) to decide on a change of structure before it is forced.
• Documents expected from the founder: order exports, payout reports from payment providers, supplier invoices, multi-currency account statements, proof of delivery in case of dispute.

Assumptions for the example, rounded figures: a Shopify store run as a French micro-entreprise makes EUR 120,000 of sales excluding VAT over the year, shipped directly from China in consignments of EUR 150 or less. Supplier purchases, shipping, advertising and payment fees add up to EUR 95,000. The real margin is therefore EUR 25,000, just under 21 % of sales.

• VAT: at EUR 120,000 of sales, the small-business exemption (EUR 85,000) is exceeded; the store charges VAT and, for imported consignments of EUR 150 or less, the IOSS scheme lets it collect the customer's country VAT at checkout. It stays in the micro regime, since the EUR 203,100 cap is not reached.
• Social contributions: the micro-social rate for sales of goods is 12.3 % of revenue, i.e. EUR 14,760, to be set against a real margin of EUR 25,000.
• Income tax: the notional taxable income is EUR 120,000 less the 71 % deduction, i.e. EUR 34,800, whereas the real margin is EUR 25,000: the EUR 9,800 gap is taxed without ever having been earned.
• As a company: the same business run as a SASU (or an EURL that has opted for corporate tax) is taxed on its actual result. Before the director's pay, a EUR 25,000 profit bears corporate tax at the reduced rate of 15 %, i.e. EUR 3,750, under the conditions recalled above; what follows depends on the salary paid and the dividends distributed (flat tax of 31.4 % in a SASU).

The example does not say a company must be formed; it shows that the decision is made on the real margin and on the thresholds, and that the calculation has to be done before the financial year in which the switch happens.

Quote issued after a first scoping call, based on order volume, number of countries sold to and the VAT scheme retained.

Related pages: multi-channel e-commerce, marketplace sellers (Amazon FBA, TikTok Shop) and DNVB and e-commerce startups. For setting up a dropshipping SASU in Paris, for our Pennylane page, and for consumer compliance, DGCCRF controls on dropshipping.

For a dropshipping store that sells to French or EU consumers, the engagement covers the VAT framing (IOSS, OSS or the CA3 return), the accounting of payment flows and non-EU purchases, and the choice of structure against the 2026 thresholds. The first call is used to put these three points on your own numbers.