Per an order issued on July 23rd, 2020, the French government has defined the list of personal protective clothing eligible for the reduced VAT rate of 5.5%, which had originally been applied since April 25th, 2020 to masks and protective equipment, as well as products intended for personal hygiene.
Article 30-0 G Annex IV of the CGI lists the personal protective clothing benefiting from the 5.5% VAT rate:
Definition of personal protective clothing - Article 30-0 G
(you can read the original article on legifrance.gouv.fr)
Personal protective clothing includes:
Protective goggles and visors (and interchangeable components) including:
- products (defined by standard EN 166: 2001) that have passed appropriate standards (mark 3) during liquid projection tests;
- visors, with the following adaptations:
- Specifications for resistance to aging, corrosion and ignition are not required;
- The optical class is minimum 2;
- The marking and the information provided by the manufacturer indicate a limited application for protection against covid-19;
- products defined by a foreign standard recognized as equivalent to the standard mentioned in a of 1 °;
Medical devices, which are listed below:
- Medical examination gloves falling under class I and surgical gloves falling under class IIa;
- Class I gowns, blouses, labcoats and aprons;
- Mob caps and overshoes falling under class I.
