Description

When royalties are collected through collective management organizations such as the Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique (SACEM) and the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD), these organizations collect and declare VAT on behalf of authors under Article 285 bis of the Code Général des Impôts (CGI). The author has no additional e-invoicing obligation for those royalties.

When an author collects royalties directly, standard VAT rules apply unless they qualify for the basic exemption regime (régime de franchise en base). Self-billing (use cases 19b and 23) is commonly used when a professional buyer creates invoices on behalf of the author. No specific billing framework or invoice type code exists for author notes and standard codes apply.

Key characteristics

Royalties through an organization

Organizations such as SACEM collect and declare VAT per Art. 285 bis, so there is no author e-invoicing obligation.

Direct royalties

Authors are subject to standard VAT, unless they qualify for the basic exemption regime.

Non-royalty operations

These operations follow the standard tax regime, which can involve e-invoicing or e-reporting depending on the context.

Self-billing

Professional buyers commonly use self-billing for author invoices (use cases 19b and 23).

Billing framework or invoice type code

There is no specific billing framework or invoice type code for author notes.

Obligations

There are no additional obligations beyond Article 285 bis from the CGI.

Relationship to other use cases

Use case 35 is a clarification use case that maps to existing flows: Use case 19b (self-Billing) or use case 23 (self-billing between individual or professional) applies when the buyer creates invoices for the author. Standard e-invoicing applies for direct B2B royalties. The organization-collected scenario is outside the author's e-invoicing scope entirely.

Business and tax context

Legal and regulatory framework

Article 285 bis CGI designates collective management organizations as VAT collectors for author royalties. Authors collecting through these organizations have no direct VAT obligation for those amounts. For direct collections, standard VAT rules apply. Authors may benefit from the basic exemption regime if they are below the threshold.

Common business scenarios

Music royalties

SACEM collects and declares VAT on behalf of composers and lyricists.

Publishing royalties

The publisher self-bills for authors (use cases 19b and 23).

Direct licensing

The author licenses directly to a company, with standard invoicing.

Performance fees

The author issues invoices directly to the event organizer.

Tax and accounting implications

For organization-collected royalties, the organization handles all VAT obligations. For direct collections, the author must determine their VAT regime and comply accordingly. When the buyer has a billing mandate, self-billing simplifies the process.

Key data requirements

No specific data requirements beyond standard invoice fields. When self-billing applies, BT-3 is equal to 389 (self-billed), as defined in use cases 19b and 23.

Implementation considerations

Seller considerations

Authors through organizations

There is no e-invoicing obligation for organization-collected royalties.

Direct royalties

Standard invoicing obligations apply based on the VAT regime.

Buyer considerations

• May use self-billing (billing mandate) for author invoicing (use cases 19b and 23).

• Must know the author's VAT regime for correct self-billing.

General considerations

• Standard PA-E or PA-R configuration applies.

• When applicable, self-billing follows use cases 19b and 23.

SCI mapping

• Standard SCI invoice mappings apply.

• There are no author-specific SCI fields.