CPA for transport and logistics

If you run a foreign transport or logistics company operating in France, an international fleet operator with French drivers, or a foreign investor entering the French logistics market, French regulatory and accounting requirements in this sector are significantly more complex than in most other European countries. From the unique TICPE fuel tax rebate to mandatory collective agreements for French drivers and strict transport licensing rules, working with a French chartered accountant who understands your cross-border context is essential.

They run the items that actually drive a carrier's margin: the partial diesel excise refund (EUR 15.56 per hectolitre in mainland France and EUR 14.21 in Corsica for freight in 2026, EUR 21.56 and EUR 20.21 for public passenger transport), IDCC 16 payroll with its equivalent working durations, the annual heavy-vehicle tax from 12 tonnes, cost per kilometre, and cash flow in a working-capital-heavy cycle. Cabinet Hayot Expertise, registered with the Île-de-France Chartered Accountants Association, works with transport and logistics businesses in Paris and across France.

Yes. A specialist transport and logistics accountant manages what actually drives your margin, where a generalist stops at statutory accounts: the diesel excise (ex-TICPE) refund (EUR 15.56 per hectolitre in mainland France in 2026), the annual heavy-vehicle tax, IDCC 0016 driver payroll (driving time, per diems, amplitude guarantee), cost-per-kilometre and a tight working-capital cycle. For a foreign group, that is the difference between a defensible French file and an URSSAF reassessment.

To operate road transport for hire or reward in France, your company needs a Licence de Transport Interieur (LTI), or for international routes a Licence communautaire europeenne (LCE). Key requirements:

• A gestionnaire de transport (transport manager) certified with a French or EU-recognised professional competence certificate (CPC) must be appointed
• The company must meet financial standing requirements (minimum capital or financial guarantee per vehicle)
• Good repute requirements for the company and its directors
• Vehicles must be registered or authorised in France for domestic French operations

Foreign companies operating in France under their home country licence have strict limits on cabotage: the number of French domestic transport operations they can perform (currently 3 operations within 7 days under EU rules before they must leave or set up locally).

For foreign logistics companies wanting to permanently operate in France, setting up a French subsidiary and obtaining the LTI is the proper route. We work with legal partners to coordinate the commercial, accounting and licensing setup.

The accise sur le gazole (formerly the TICPE) is France's domestic excise duty on diesel. Transport companies running heavy goods vehicles (GVW 7.5 tonnes and above, registered in the EU) can recover part of it on professional diesel. The procedure changed in 2026: for fuel consumed from 1 January 2025, the claim is no longer filed with the customs authority (DGDDI). It is now handled by the DGFiP and reported on the annexe 3310-TIC of your VAT return, with an annual summary statement (état récapitulatif annuel, ERA) detailing the refund per vehicle, due by 31 January of the following year.

The 2026 refund rate is EUR 15.56 per hectolitre in every mainland region, including the Paris region, and EUR 14.21/hl in Corsica. Road passenger transport follows a separate regime, at EUR 21.56/hl in mainland France and EUR 20.21/hl in Corsica, with no 7.5-tonne threshold. The weighted flat rate no longer applies from 1 January 2026. For a long-distance truck burning about 35,000 litres a year, that is roughly EUR 5,446 recovered; for a fleet of 10 vehicles, on the order of EUR 50,000 a year. The refund is booked as income (account 7588), not as a purchase discount.

Transport tax levers at a glance#

Claiming the TICPE rebate correctly requires:

• Maintaining proper fuel purchase records (invoices per vehicle and per period)
• Reporting the claim on the annexe 3310-TIC of the VAT return and preparing the annual ERA per vehicle
• The claim being linked to the company's French VAT registration (a dedicated procedure applies to operators with no French VAT-filing obligation)

For foreign logistics companies operating French-registered vehicles, this rebate is often missed because home-country accountants are unfamiliar with the French claim process. We handle TICPE rebate declarations as part of our transport sector accounting service.

French transport payroll is governed by two main collective agreements (conventions collectives) depending on the type of transport:

• CCN Transport Routier de Marchandises (IDCC 0016): Covers goods transport by road. Applies to most freight and logistics operators
• CCN Transport Routier de Voyageurs (IDCC 0016 variant): Covers passenger transport

These collective agreements define:

• Minimum salary grids by driver category (national, regional, occasional)
• Guaranteed minimum income (salaire minimum garanti) even for variable-pay drivers
• Frais professionnels (professional expenses): Per diem allowances for meals, overnight stays and daily absences that are partially exempt from social charges
• Overtime calculation rules that differ from standard French labour law
• Night-work supplements, Sunday and holiday premiums

For a foreign logistics company hiring French drivers, these collective agreements are mandatory and non-negotiable. Mistakes in applying the salary grids or expense allowances lead to URSSAF penalties and potential back-payment claims from employees.

We handle French transport payroll including the correct application of CCN Transport, URSSAF declarations, DSN monthly filings and driver expense reimbursements.

A public passenger transport business does not follow the rules that apply to a freight carrier, and treating the two alike is expensive.

• Excise refund: the passenger regime covers vehicles with more than 9 seats including the driver's, registered in the European Union. There is no 7.5-tonne threshold. The 2026 rates are EUR 21.56 per hectolitre in mainland France and EUR 20.21 in Corsica, materially higher than the freight rate.
• Financial standing: EUR 1,500 per vehicle of no more than 9 seats including the driver; above 9 seats, EUR 9,000 for the first vehicle and EUR 5,000 for each additional one.
• VAT: passenger transport is subject to the reduced 10% rate, and the supply is located in France in proportion to the distance actually travelled in France. VAT charged on passenger transport is not deductible for the customer, except for public passenger transport operators.
• Payroll: the IDCC 16 agreement does cover passenger transport, but the travel allowance scale extended in February 2026 does not.

Mobile staff in road transport work under durations treated as equivalent to the statutory working time, which is the single most misunderstood point in French transport payroll:

Overtime is counted beyond those durations, and the Transport Code reasons by quarter, never by month. Daily working time for mobile staff is capped at twelve hours. Compensatory rest is triggered by thresholds: on a quarterly basis, 1 day from the 41st to the 79th overtime hour, 1.5 day from the 80th to the 108th, 2.5 days beyond; on a four-month basis, 1 day from the 55th to the 105th, 2 days from the 106th to the 144th, 3.5 days beyond.

Travel allowances at 1 January 2026 (amendment no. 81 of 2 December 2025, made binding by the extension order of 3 February 2026):

The extension order covers road freight, auxiliary transport activities, removals, cash-in-transit and logistics services. Road passenger transport is outside the scope of that extension and follows a separate protocol.

Electronic invoicing. From 1 September 2026, every VAT-registered business must be able to receive an electronic invoice, whatever its size. The obligation to issue invoices electronically and to report transaction data applies from that date to large and mid-sized companies, and from 1 September 2027 to SMEs and micro-businesses. Most carriers fall into the second wave for issuing, while being concerned from September 2026 for reception.

VAT recodification, postponed. The French Tax Code provisions on VAT are due to move to Book II of the Code on Taxation of Goods and Services. That transfer, initially set for 1 September 2026, has been postponed to 1 January 2027, and the period during which the former Tax Code references remain usable now runs to 30 June 2028. The substance of the rules does not change: this is a recodification. In practice, invoice mentions and terms of business citing French Tax Code articles remain accurate throughout 2026, and updating the references is a 2027 exercise.

The claim is filed by the French tax administration route, on schedule no. 3310-TIC attached to the VAT return, since consumption from 1 January 2025 onwards. Customs remains competent only for earlier consumption, and the SIDECAR application is closed for this scheme. Three practical points decide whether a claim goes through:

• Calculate vehicle by vehicle, on actual consumption. Any method based on an estimated average consumption is expressly rejected. In practice this means fuel card statements matched to registration numbers, not a global litre count divided across the fleet.
• Prepare the annual recapitulative statement. It is required, detailed per vehicle, and due by 31 January of the year following the one in which the excise became chargeable. It does not have to be sent spontaneously: the administration asks for it when it wants it, which is precisely why it must exist before it is asked for.
• File electronically. A claim submitted on paper is inadmissible in form and is systematically rejected.

Carriers established outside France with no French VAT filing obligation follow a separate route, through the online procedure handled by the non-residents tax directorate, on a quarterly or annual basis.

One figure that circulates and should not be used: a supposed cap of 40,000 litres per vehicle per year. It is a remnant of the former customs regime and appears in none of the texts in force, neither the Code on Taxation of Goods and Services, nor the March 2025 decree, nor the current administrative guidance.

• Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes: EUR 9,000 for the first vehicle, EUR 5,000 for each additional one.
• Vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes only: EUR 1,800 for the first vehicle, EUR 900 for each additional one.
• Mixed fleet: EUR 9,000 for the first vehicle, EUR 5,000 per additional vehicle over 3.5 tonnes, EUR 900 per vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes.

Where own funds fall short, guarantees from financial institutions are accepted, capped at half of the required amount. The national electronic register of road transport undertakings publishes three separate lists, for freight operators, passenger operators and freight forwarders, updated on Mondays and Thursdays.

Under French accounting rules, fleet costs are recorded as follows:

• Owned vehicles: Depreciated over 4-7 years (depending on type) on the company's balance sheet. Heavy trucks typically over 5 years
• Leased vehicles (credit-bail): Under French PCG, operating leases are off-balance-sheet (unlike IFRS 16); financial leases are capitalised
• Fuel costs: Fully deductible operating expense (before TICPE rebate recovery)
• Tolls and motorway charges: Deductible operating expenses; VAT fully recoverable on commercial vehicles (HGVs, vans) when the receipt shows the vehicle registration and company details
• Vehicle purchase VAT: Input VAT is not recoverable on passenger vehicles; commercial vehicles (lorries, vans) allow full VAT recovery

For foreign groups with French transport subsidiaries, these accounting rules affect both local P&L presentation and consolidated group reporting.

Transport and logistics businesses face a structural cash flow challenge: fuel, payroll, tolls and maintenance are paid immediately, while clients pay on 30-60 day terms. Combined with fuel price volatility, this creates liquidity risk.

We help foreign transport companies operating in France:

• Track fleet costs and payroll against billing to understand real operating margin
• Monitor accounts receivable aging (French law gives you the right to charge statutory late payment penalties automatically)
• Manage TICPE rebate as a regular cash recovery item
• Plan for French tax payment deadlines (quarterly IS instalments, monthly VAT, URSSAF)

Transport is a working-capital-heavy business: diesel and payroll are paid out immediately, while large shippers (retail chains, industrial groups) often settle at 60 days end of month or later.

Measuring a carrier's working capital requirement#

We calculate and track monthly: carrier DSO, supplier DPO (fuel cards typically at 30 days, leasing paid in monthly instalments) and the resulting cash cycle. Any drift (a shipper moving from 45 to 75 days) triggers an action plan: renegotiation, transport factoring, early payment discounts, or a specialised factoring provider.

Financing tools specific to transport#

• Transport factoring or Dailly assignment of shipper receivables;
• Long-term rental, lease-purchase or finance lease for vehicles, each with a different treatment under French accounting rules;
• Bpifrance guarantees (green loans for fleet energy transition, growth loans);
• ADEME support schemes for heavy-vehicle energy transition;
• URSSAF payment spreading on social charges during a temporary cash squeeze;
• Seasonal campaign pre-financing for harvest, agricultural or construction carriers.

Seasonality patterns by speciality#

Peaks and troughs vary with the segment you serve:

• Retail and e-commerce: November-December peak (Black Friday, Christmas);
• Construction and materials: March-October peak, winter trough;
• Refrigerated transport: summer peak (drinks, ice cream) and a year-end peak (catering, festive food);
• Harvest and agricultural work: short, very intense campaigns.

1. Steering the business on revenue alone#

Volume growth is worthless if diesel, subcontracting or fleet costs absorb all of it. The right indicator is the cost per kilometre compared with your average selling price per kilometre.

2. Underestimating the impact of late invoicing#

Good operations invoiced late produce fragile cash and blur real performance. Our golden rule: invoice within 48 hours of delivery (signed CMR), with automated reminders at day 30, day 45 and day 60.

3. Buying trucks without a cash projection#

A vehicle that looks profitable on paper becomes a liquidity problem when financing, maintenance, real utilisation (km per year) and residual value are poorly anticipated. A 5-year total cost of ownership review should precede every purchase.

4. Losing sight of payroll variables#

When management cannot connect social costs to field activity (overtime, travel allowances, bonuses), decisions get slower and less reliable. CCN Transport driver payroll is one of the first items URSSAF inspectors reassess.

5. Leaving the fuel excise refund on the table#

For a fleet of 10 heavy trucks, the diesel excise (ex-TICPE) refund is worth around €50,000-60,000 per year. Too many operators leave that cash unclaimed for lack of fuel card set-up and follow-through on the 3310-TIC annex of the VAT return.

• Company setup (SAS or SARL) and French VAT/URSSAF registration
• French transport payroll under CCN Transport, including driver expense allowances
• TICPE fuel rebate declarations and recovery
• Fleet cost accounting and depreciation schedules
• Monthly bookkeeping under French PCG standards
• Cash flow reporting and management accounts in English
• French corporate tax filings

For transport companies operating international road freight to/from France, the CMR document (Convention relative au contrat de transport international de marchandises par route) is the mandatory international consignment note. Every international road freight shipment covered by the CMR convention must be accompanied by a properly completed CMR note (3 originals: sender, carrier, recipient).

Accounting implications of CMR:

• The CMR note confirms delivery of goods and triggers the right to invoice under French revenue recognition rules
• Claims periods under CMR (7 days for visible damage, 21 days for invisible damage after delivery) create provisions in French accounts when claims are received but not yet settled
• CMR insurance: French transport companies must maintain CMR liability insurance covering their statutory liability (€8.33 SDR per kg gross weight). Premium costs are fully deductible.

EU transport operators performing cabotage in France (domestic French transport after an international delivery) must respect the 3 opérations en 7 jours limit. Cabotage operations must be billed separately from the international leg (different VAT treatment and different regulatory regime).

From an accounting standpoint, foreign EU operators performing French cabotage must:

• Register for French VAT for services physically performed in France
• Apply French VAT at 20% to domestic transport operations
• Comply with détachement rules: drivers posted temporarily from another EU country for cabotage must receive French minimum wage during the cabotage legs, and the employer must complete a prior notification (déclaration de détachement) on the French SIPSI portal

Missing the detachment obligations is one of the most frequently penalised infractions in French transport inspections (DREAL road checks).

French transport is subject to both the EU Driver Working Time Directive and the French code du travail provisions for heavy vehicle drivers. Practically, this means:

• Maximum 9 hours of daily driving (extendable to 10h twice per week)
• 45-hour rest after 6 driving days
• Mandatory tachograph data recording

For payroll calculation, tachograph data must reconcile with time sheets. Discrepancies between tachograph records and payroll declarations are a primary audit trigger for both URSSAF (social contribution assessment) and the Inspection du Travail. We cross-reference tachograph data with payroll calculations to ensure full reconciliation.

Cost per km mixes fixed items (independent of distance) and variable ones. Indicative orders of magnitude for long-distance haulage:

Indicative 2026 total: 19t rigid EUR 0.90 to 1.20/km, 40t artic EUR 1.20 to 1.60/km. This is the ratio to compare with your average selling price per km.

For tax optimisation, the choice between purchase and lease depends on your current-year profitability: high-profit years favour accelerated depreciation (outright purchase with degressive rates); lower-margin years may favour operating lease (smooth expense recognition).

For supply-chain operators running goods across French borders, VAT on transport services and the structure of subcontracting (sous-traitance affretement) are where errors quietly accumulate. The place-of-supply rule changes how you invoice: a transport service billed to another VAT-registered business is generally taxed where the customer is established, while domestic French legs (including the cabotage operations covered above) carry French VAT at 20%. Getting this wrong distorts both the VAT return and the real margin per route.

Affreightment is central to the cross-border model: most carriers buy and sell transport capacity at the same time. Each subcontracted leg is a purchase invoice with its own VAT treatment, and each sold leg is revenue. If subcontracting is not tracked as a distinct cost line, the income statement shows turnover that has already been spent on other hauliers, masking the thin margin that actually remains.

Practical points we watch for foreign-controlled French operators:

• Whether intra-EU transport services should be invoiced with French VAT or reverse-charged to the customer
• Reconciling subcontracted legs (affreightment in) against billed legs (transport out) on a per-route basis
• Keeping the CMR consignment note and the matching invoice aligned so revenue is recognised on the correct date
• Separating the international leg from any French domestic operation, since each follows a different VAT and regulatory regime

For groups with a French entity inside a wider European structure, these flows also feed the consolidated reporting, so the local treatment has to be defensible both to the French administration and to the parent.

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