The European Services Declaration (ESD) can be corrected via an amending declaration for material errors or commercial changes (refunds, discounts), or at the request of the administration if anomalies are detected during audits. The procedure depends on the origin of the error: whether identified by the declarant or reported by the tax authorities.
Who Must Declare?
Service providers established in France (economic headquarters, permanent establishment, domicile, or residence) providing services to VAT-registered entities in other EU Member States—where VAT territoriality is determined by the customer's country—must declare. Exclusions apply to services exempt from VAT in the EU or whose territoriality is not determined by Article 44 of Directive 2006/112/EC. The declaration is mandatory from the first euro.
Identification and Access
The service provider must be identified by their French VAT number and company details (legal name, address). Online access is available via the portals douane.gouv.fr or impots.gouv.fr. Providers under the franchise en base regime (Art. 293 B CGI) may use the paper form CERFA No. 13964.
Declaration Procedure
The declaration is primarily submitted online in XML format according to the DGFiP schema. The deadline is the 10th working day of the month following the VAT due date or notification of a commercial adjustment. Paper declarations are exceptional and reserved for providers under the franchise en base regime.
Required Information
The ESD must include the VAT numbers of the provider and the customer, the reference period, the total amount excluding VAT for each customer (broken down by rate), and commercial adjustments (discounts, refunds). Amounts are rounded to the nearest euro.
Correcting Errors
Errors can be corrected via an amending declaration, which should be submitted as soon as possible. This applies to material errors (impossible dates) or commercial changes (refunds). The correction is made by submitting a new corrected XML file via the same portal used for the original declaration. If administrative audits reveal structural or content anomalies, formal corrections may be required.
Penalties and Exceptions
Correctable errors include incorrect but fixable data and omissions of transactions under €2,000 with fewer than 30 operations per year. Non-correctable errors involve fraud or intentional omissions, subject to penalties of up to €2,000,000 per year. Services not taxable in the EU or whose territoriality is not determined by Article 44 of Directive 2006/112/EC are excluded from the ESD.