French Saint-Martin: TGCA scope, calculation and returns

Scope and evidence date

This Guide addresses the French collectivity (MF). Its legal reference is the official CGI consolidated through 5 June 2026, articles 250–264, printed pages 305–314. The cover says only the underlying deliberations are authoritative. Subsequent amendments have not been exhaustively reconciled; this is a dated research draft, not confirmation of the law for every later transaction. Official CGI.

Collect transaction dates, supplier and customer establishments, goods movements, actual service use, invoices, inventory commitments, receipts, any written debit-basis election and annual tax due before choosing treatment. Sector exemptions under article 253 and special valuation rules require transaction-specific checking.

Decide whether the transaction is taxable

TGCA applies to consideration-based supplies by independently acting taxable persons under article 250. For ordinary goods, article 252 looks at location on dispatch, installation or making available; special rules also cover imported goods and transport supplies. For services, a locally established provider falls within the territorial rule where the recipient is local or the service is used locally. Services of a foreign provider used locally also fall within it. A foreign billing address alone does not establish exclusion. CGI arts. 250, 252.

Article 251 excludes these goods transactions, subject to its conditions:

• Imports, whatever origin. It excludes both import after an overseas delivery and, if delivery did not take place overseas, the first local delivery following import. This does not exempt every subsequent resale.
• Invoiced deliveries by local producers to taxable persons, within the article's production definition.
• Invoiced deliveries to taxable purchasers committing to record the goods as inventory for resale or consumption in production/service provision. Fixed assets remain taxable unless the import or producer exceptions apply. Misuse of the inventory exclusion makes the purchaser liable for tax and penalties; a knowingly participating supplier can be jointly liable under article 260(6).

CGI arts. 251, 260.

For outward goods, article 254 requires an overseas purchaser and shipment outside the collectivity by or on the supplier's instructions. The exemption does not apply to a purchaser in, or shipment to, the Dutch part of the island. Retain invoice, payment proof, transport evidence and destination landing/import evidence signed by the competent authority, or the alternative destination declaration allowed at the tax administration's discretion. For an outward service claimed outside article 252, retain the specified invoice identifying the parties, service and remuneration, stating no local use, plus payment evidence. CGI arts. 252(II)(3), 254.

Rates, base and timing

Rule	Treatment	Source
Ordinary rate	4%	Article 259(1)
Qualifying affordable housing works	2%, limited to the construction and specified other works and housing classifications in article 259(2), linked to the 7 August 2025 financial intervention regulation	Article 259(2)
Ordinary base	Consideration including directly price-linked subsidies; other taxes and invoiced ancillary charges included; TGCA itself excluded	Articles 255–256
Direct customer discounts	Excluded from base	Article 256(II)(1)
Tax becomes payable	On collection of payments and deposits unless a written debit-basis election applies; special self-supplies have their own rule	Article 257
Base rounding	Nearest euro, with €0.50 rounded upward	Article 258

CGI arts. 255–259. Do not treat every building project as eligible for 2%. The qualifying housing classifications are LLTS, LLS, PLS, LLI, PSLA and LES under the referenced regulation. Eligibility evidence remains necessary; this Guide does not independently resolve that regulation's criteria.

The written debit election covers all operations from the first day of the following month and continues until written withdrawal, also effective from the following month's first day. Under that election, unpaid amounts are deducted from taxable turnover when recorded as irrecoverable; subsequent recovery is reported in the receipt period. This specific adjustment is not a general input-tax credit. CGI art. 257(3).

Calculate and file

1. Classify goods/services, territorial scope and any evidenced exclusion or exemption.
2. Determine the appropriate ordinary or special base; separate payments by applicable rate and period. Do not mechanically use gross invoice value for commissions or travel-agency transactions with special article 255 bases.
3. Apply collection timing or the effective debit election, then the statutory base-rounding rule.
4. Multiply the eligible base by the applicable rate and reconcile to invoices and receipts. The official 2026 handbook states that TGCA paid on purchased services and fixed assets cannot be offset against TGCA collected. It describes expense accounting inclusive of TGCA and deduction in computing taxable results; ordinary expense deductibility still requires the appropriate income-tax analysis. Business handbook, page 8.
5. Declare and pay monthly. Quarterly calendar-period filing is allowed where annual tax due is strictly below €2,000. The deadline is the 15th of the month after the relevant period. Register existence within 15 days of starting operations; this applies to foreign-established persons with in-scope operations too. File the cessation/disposal return within 30 days. CGI arts. 255–258, 262–263.

Illustrative calculations, assuming ordinary taxable receipts with no exclusion: €10,000 base × 4% = €400. A fully evidenced eligible housing base of €10,000 × 2% = €200. Annual tax of €1,999 satisfies the quarterly threshold; €2,000 does not. A calendar Q1 return is due 15 April under the code's rule. These examples do not establish any particular taxpayer's eligibility or a special extension.

Nil returns and submission

The 2026 handbook requires TGCA returns even without taxable turnover. Do not drop a period from the filing schedule simply because no sales occurred. Business handbook, page 8.

From January 2026, the official notice directs TGCA PDFs to cfip.sxm.declarations-professionnels@dgfip.finances.gouv.fr, with bank-transfer proof. Use one PDF per return and one recipient. Match email subject, PDF name and transfer reference using NIF, tax, year and TGCA month. The notice permits paper at Concordia for people without internet or unable to transmit a scan. Official filing notice.

Retain the completed return, calculation, transmission and payment evidence. Confirm current bank instructions directly from the authority before payment; this Guide does not reproduce account credentials.

Foreign suppliers and invoice controls

The supplier owes TGCA on taxable supplies. A taxable customer receiving goods/services from a foreign-established person must verify that supplier's tax registration and keep its certificate of liability; otherwise article 260(5) imposes joint liability. Do not replace this with an assumed universal customer reverse charge. Tax shown on an invoice is owed by the issuer under article 260(2), including erroneous charging. Invoice particulars must separately satisfy article 264. CGI arts. 260, 264.

Self-checks and remaining work

• Distinguish MF from the separate Sint Maarten jurisdiction and test the Dutch-side export exclusion.
• Retain the inventory commitment and accounting treatment; an ordinary business customer is not enough.
• Reconcile deposits and receipts to the period, and keep any debit election and effective date.
• Test annual tax, not turnover, against the strict quarterly threshold.
• Complete article 253 sector-exemption and article 264 invoice checks before operational use. Recheck the cited filing notice for changes and reconcile any post-June amendments.

Source-cited draft awaiting independent source and professional review. This Guide does not cover all local taxes, import duties, housing eligibility, penalties or appeals and is not individualized filing advice.

Contributed by Ryan Duguid.