Réunion: octroi de mer for local producers

Source status and boundary

This is a source-cited draft of the producer compliance framework. The July 2025 customs circular includes the underlying 2004 law and implementing decree, but predates the February 2026 amendments. The retrieved 2026 article 2 preserves the threshold below and changes the agricultural definition. A full consolidated-law check through 22 October 2026, including recodification effects, remains outstanding. Do not treat this draft as clearance to file or as confirmation of the current regional tariff.

Identify production and the relevant turnover

The retrieved article 2 covers independent production and uses the preceding calendar year's production turnover, with a €550,000 inclusive threshold. Its amended production definition includes manufacture, transformation, renovation, extractive activity and agricultural activity under Rural Code article L.311-1. Transformation uses a change of tariff heading at the four-digit HS level. The legal form and treatment under other taxes do not decide the threshold. Law 2004-639, article 2, retrieved 2026 version.

The circular distinguishes production sales from total business revenue: services, purchased goods resold without production and production of immovable property are excluded from this turnover measure. Include production sold locally and exported, and aggregate the producer's relevant establishments across the five French overseas departments. Exclude VAT, octroi de mer and regional octroi from the threshold measure. Customs circular, paragraphs 16–22, pages 12–13

The €550,000 rule concerns local producers' deliveries. It is not a blanket exemption for goods imported by a small business. Imports and remunerated deliveries by producers are separate taxable categories under article 1. Customs circular, annex II, article 1, page 66

Partial years and when liability starts

For an activity started during the reference year, adjust the threshold for the operating period. Under the circular's example, six months gives €275,000: production sales of €280,000 exceed that threshold. Liability starts on 1 January of the following calendar year, rather than immediately on the sale that crosses it. A full-year producer at exactly €550,000 also meets the threshold. Customs circular, paragraph 19, page 13

Illustration: €300,000 of production sales plus €400,000 of separate services over a full reference year does not reach the €550,000 production threshold. That arithmetic says nothing about VAT or import taxes. Classification of the services and manufactured goods must first be supported by the underlying transactions. Customs circular, paragraphs 16–22, pages 12–13

Customs identification and changes

The circular requires the identification documents before 31 January of the year after the threshold is reached, while liability already begins on 1 January. It specifies a copy of the business existence declaration or, in its absence, a K bis extract, and the preceding year's production turnover split by product nomenclature. Confirm the current administrative submission route with customs; the circular's references to business-formality bodies are not a verified 2026 portal instruction. Customs circular, paragraphs 102–103, pages 44–45

Notify changes in the nature of production and the specified changes in business circumstances within 30 working days. Businesses with establishments in different overseas departments identify in each; multiple establishments in one department are handled at the principal establishment with the others listed. Customs circular, paragraphs 102–103, pages 44–45

Quarterly returns, invoices and records

The circular sets the return deadline at the 24th of the month after each calendar quarter, with payment where due. File even when there were no sales. These are nominal deadlines; this draft has not verified weekend, holiday or exceptional extensions. The return annexes separate sales by product code and rate from exports by product code. Customs circular, paragraphs 104–106, page 45

Invoices to another taxable producer must show product nomenclature and the amounts and rates of both octroi taxes. For deliveries wholly exempt under a regional decision, including a zero rate in that setting, the circular requires the exemption wording it specifies. Keep taxed, exempt and outside-scope operations separately identifiable in the accounts. Its stated customs record-retention period is three years; this does not establish the retention period under other accounting or tax legislation. Customs circular, paragraph 107, page 46

Before using this for a transaction

Obtain the production start date, preceding-year production ledger, other-department establishment details, product classification, import records and the applicable regional decisions. Confirm the current consolidated law and filing channel. Regional rates and exemptions need the product code and effective date; no universal octroi rate is supplied here. Article 27 in the circular assigns rate setting to the regional authority, and Finance Law 2026 article 99 amends the communication/effective-date framework. 2026 Finance Law, article 99.

Current product rates, deductions/refunds, suspension, special production cases, penalties and the full amendment chain remain outside this initial Guide. Independent source review and accountant attestation are pending.

Contributed by Ryan Duguid.