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Local VAT due on registration fees
When a company organizes an event - conference, seminar, trade fair, congress, etc. - abroad, it must in principle charge local VAT on the revenue from the registration fee charged to participants.
For example, a company organizing its annual conference in France should normally charge French VAT on its registration fees.
The question that arises at this point is whether the admission ticket should be subject to the standard rate of VAT or whether it should qualify for a reduced rate. The VAT Directive allows each country to apply a reduced rate of VAT to admission to shows, theatres, circuses, fairs, amusement parks, concerts, museums, zoos, cinemas, exhibitions and similar cultural events and facilities.
What are the rules in France?
France has opted for a reduced rate of 10% to all admission fees to exhibitions, sites, and installations with a cultural, recreational, educational, or professional (art. 279, b, CGI)
This extension does not apply to services that do not constitute admission fees such as the rental or provision of equipment, materials or rooms, guide services or the organization of festive events. It does not apply either to access to sports facilities (including within outdoor and leisure centers), to automatic devices other than fairground lotteries (arcade games, video games, table football, etc.), establishments of lustful nature or gambling. Finally, the regime applicable to shows (cinema, theatre, races, sporting events, etc.) and zoos are not affected.
Source: Bulletin Officiel des Finances Publiques, 23/09/2020
The VAT expert's eye
Organizing an event abroad? The question of the VAT rate on your income is crucial, especially if the delegate cannot deduct it. Each Member State can decide whether to apply a reduced VAT rate to the right of access of an event or not.
Applying a reduced rate on your registration fee can increase your profit margin. But beware: local law is often ambiguous on the subject of reduced rates, opening the door to discussions with local tax authorities.