Credit notes in France: how to correct an invoice with an avoir

An invoice that has been issued can never be changed or deleted, even when it is wrong. In France you correct it with a credit note, an “avoir”. Here is when you need one, what it must show, how it corrects the VAT, and a worked example.

A wrong price, two chairs returned, a discount agreed after the invoice was sent: sooner or later every business has to correct an invoice. In France you never edit or delete an invoice once it has been issued. You issue a credit note (“avoir”) that cancels all or part of it, and, if needed, a new correct invoice.

When you need a credit note

• An error on an invoice already issued: wrong price, quantity, VAT rate or customer.
• Goods returned, or a service not delivered in full.
• A price reduction granted after the invoice: a discount for a defect (“rabais”), a reduction (“remise”) or a year-end volume rebate (“ristourne”).
• An order cancelled after it was invoiced, or a deposit to be refunded.

Never change or delete an issued invoice

• Once issued, an invoice is final: the numbering must stay continuous, the customer already has it and may have recorded it.
• To correct it, issue a credit note for the wrong part, or for the whole invoice and then a new invoice with a new number.
• Deleting the invoice, or sending a new one with the same number, leaves a hole or a duplicate in the sequence: exactly what an audit looks for.

What a credit note must show

• The word “Avoir” (or “Facture d’avoir”) and a unique number in a continuous sequence: the same sequence as your invoices or a separate one for credit notes.
• The date of issue.
• The number and date of the invoice it corrects.
• The seller and the customer, as on the original invoice.
• What is credited: lines and quantities, or an amount, with the amount excluding VAT, the VAT rate, the VAT and the total including VAT.
• The reason, for example “Return of 2 damaged chairs”.

Total or partial credit

• Total: the credit note cancels the whole invoice and nothing is left to pay.
• Partial: it credits some lines, some quantities or an amount, and the customer owes the rest.
• Several credit notes can correct the same invoice, but together they can never credit more than the invoice.

What happens to the VAT

• A credit note with VAT reduces the VAT you collected, in the VAT return of the period when you issue it. Your business customer must reduce the VAT they deducted by the same amount.
• Always use the VAT rate of the original invoice, even if the rate has changed since.
• A credit note without VAT is possible for a commercial gesture, but then you cannot reduce your VAT: it stays as declared on both sides.
• Small-business VAT exemption: no VAT on the credit note either, with “TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI”.
• An unpaid invoice is not a reason for a credit note: you can only recover its VAT once the debt is definitely lost, for example after the customer’s liquidation.

Refund or deduction

• If the invoice is not paid yet, the credit note simply reduces what the customer owes.
• If it is already paid, you refund the customer or deduct the credit from the next invoice. Agree which, and keep a trace of it.

A worked example

• Invoice F2026-0187: 20 chairs at 60 € excluding VAT = 1,200 € + 240 € VAT (20 %) = 1,440 €.
• The customer returns 2 damaged chairs. Credit note R2026-0012, “Return of 2 damaged chairs, invoice F2026-0187 of 22/10/2026”: 2 × 60 € = 120 € excluding VAT + 24 € VAT = 144 €.
• The customer now owes 1,296 €, and the VAT you collect on the sale goes down from 240 € to 216 €.

With e-invoicing

Once your business must issue e-invoices (September 2026 for large and mid-sized companies, September 2027 for SMEs), credit notes go through your approved platform too, as a document of their own that refers to the original invoice. A PDF sent by e-mail will no longer be enough for a business customer. See our guide on e-invoicing in France for the calendar.

Common mistakes

• Editing the PDF of the original invoice, or deleting it, instead of issuing a credit note.
• A new corrected invoice without a credit note for the first one: the customer is invoiced twice and the VAT is declared twice.
• No reference to the original invoice on the credit note.
• Today’s VAT rate instead of the rate of the original invoice.
• Accepting a “credit note” written by your customer: only you can issue it, unless you have agreed in writing that the customer invoices on your behalf (self-billing).
• Forgetting the rest: sales figures and sales commissions still count the credited sale.

Outside France

The EU VAT directive treats any document that amends an invoice as an invoice (article 219) and lets the VAT go down when a sale is cancelled or its price reduced (article 90). Belgium and Luxembourg call it a “note de crédit”, with the same logic: a numbered document that refers to the invoice and corrects its VAT.

And Tavalle?

In Tavalle a finalized invoice can never be changed or deleted: you correct it with a credit note. Credit the whole invoice, some lines and quantities, or an amount, and give the reason. Tavalle numbers it in its own gap-free series, dates it the day you issue it, refers to the invoice and uses its VAT rate, and never lets you credit more than what is left. A fully credited invoice shows as “Credited”, and credit notes are counted in your finance figures, payment reminders, sales commissions and the accounting export for your accountant. See invoicing and VAT and sales commissions.

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check service-public.fr, impots.gouv.fr and with your accountant.