Invoice or till receipt in a card shop: the guide

At the counter, a customer pays for a card and leaves with a receipt. For a business, an invoice is required. This is where the line falls, what the invoice must contain, and the special case of second-hand cards.

Over the counter, to a consumer

Over the counter, an invoice is not due to a consumer: the document is the till receipt, printed on request since 1 August 2023. The shop may issue a named invoice if the customer wants one: it is the simplest proof of purchase for the legal guarantee. Echo TCG issues it from the receipt, under its own invoice number, quoting the receipt's number.

When a document is due

• The customer buys for their business activity, even in the shop: an invoice is mandatory, with its legal mentions (art. 289 of the French tax code and L. 441-9 of the commercial code).
• Parcel to a consumer in another EU member state: an invoice is mandatory (BOFiP, § 80), unless the shop declares these sales through the OSS one-stop shop. To a consumer in France, the order confirmation or receipt is enough for tax purposes.
• Service (tournament entry, grading, workshop): a note is due for €25 including tax and above, and on request below that (order of 3 October 1983). A receipt detailing the service takes its place.

Mentions and deadline

The invoice identifies the issuer (for a sole trader: name followed by “EI”, address, SIREN, trade register number and city; for a company: name, legal form, share capital, registered office, SIREN, trade register number and city; in both cases, the seller's intra-EU VAT number) and the buyer, carries a unique sequential number, its issue and transaction dates, a description of the cards with quantities and unit prices, the VAT rates and the totals excluding and including tax (service-public.fr).

In France, it is issued on delivery. Several deliveries to the same customer within a month can be covered by one summary invoice, issued by the end of that month at the latest. The 15th of the following month applies only to intra-EU deliveries and reverse-charged services (BOFiP, § 580 and 640).

From 1 September 2026, four mentions are added to all invoices between businesses, on paper as well as electronic: the customer's SIREN, the delivery address if different, the nature of the operation and the option to pay VAT on receipts of payment (service-public.fr). The details are in our article on electronic invoicing.

New, second-hand, VAT exemption: the VAT wording

• New cards: 20% VAT on the selling price, shown on the invoice.
• Second-hand cards bought back, under the margin scheme: VAT does not appear (art. 297 E of the French tax code) and the invoice carries “Régime particulier – Biens d'occasion” (art. 242 nonies A, Annex II).
• Shop under the VAT exemption (franchise en base): no VAT charged, with the wording “TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI”.

With Echo TCG

The till records the sale and issues a receipt for every sale. The invoice for a sale can be produced from the receipt, with your VAT regime wording, and business-to-business invoicing in the Factur-X format is included in the Business plan.

Official texts

• BOFiP, BOI-TVA-DECLA-30-20-10 (in French): invoice rules, issuing invoices (§ 30, 40, 80, 580, 640)
• Service-public.fr (in French): invoices, mandatory mentions, cases, changes from 1 September 2026
• Articles 297 A to 297 G of the French Tax Code (Légifrance, in French): margin scheme, including the ban on showing VAT (art. 297 E)
• Article 242 nonies A, Annex II of the French Tax Code (Légifrance, in French): the “Régime particulier – Biens d'occasion” mention

This article is informational and does not replace the advice of an accountant or lawyer.