Professional firms · lawyers, notaires, chartered accountants · client gifts
The bottle that thanks a client without embarrassing them
Closing a file, a signing, the end of the year: a firm has three moments to say thank you, and one rule to respect for each. Here are the budgets that fit, the VAT threshold, and how to send a bottle to a client with the discretion the profession demands. For the cellar of a client who is buying a house or passing on an estate, see your clients' wine.
Three moments, three bottles
The thank-you
The file is closed, the client has paid. A bottle at €20–30 sent the following week, with a card signed by the partner who handled the matter.
The moment
At the notaire's, the deed signed; at the lawyer's, the settlement reached. A bottle on the table, €25–40, that leaves with the client.
The list
The firm thanks its regular clients all at once. Three levels according to the client's fees, a grouped order in November.
The birth year
For the client who matters most, a bottle from their birth year. Our birth-year vintage tool tells you what still drinks well.
The €73 threshold and VAT
Under French rules, VAT (TVA) on a gift to a client can be recovered as long as its value does not exceed €73 incl. VAT per recipient per year, delivery included. Above that, the VAT on the whole gift cannot be recovered. A firm that gives the same client a €30 bottle in June and a €50 one in December goes over the threshold for the year. The page VAT on wine sets out the rule, the borderline cases and the documents to keep for the accountant, who, in your case, may be you. For your clients who give gifts themselves, a simulator to pass on to them does the same calculation on their figures.
For the year-end list, the client gifts calculator gives the total by level, the number of bottles and the order deadline for delivery before 15 December.
Budgets by client level
Three levels are enough. The occasional client: a bottle at €15–20, a cru bourgeois or a three-year-old Saint-Émilion. The regular client: €25–40, a great château's second wine or a Pessac-Léognan. The client who makes the firm's year: €60–150, a classified growth, a magnum, or a case of six if the relationship justifies it and the VAT threshold is knowingly exceeded. The guide which wine to give describes what each budget buys.
Discretion and logistics
The bottle goes to the client, at their office or home as you instruct, in plain packaging: neither the wine merchant's name nor the firm's on the parcel, the card inside. For a year-end list, you send us the addresses, we ship, and you receive a single invoice in the firm's name with the breakdown per recipient that the accounts require.
One grouped order a year, in November, covers most firms. For thank-yous when files close through the year, a stock of two or three cases at the office, topped up by a simple email, saves ordering one bottle at a time.
Reply within 48 working hours. No commitment.
Can a law firm give wine to its clients?
Yes, within the professional ethics rules of each profession: a customary gift, of moderate value, unconnected with a matter in progress. A €30 bottle after a file closes is a customary gift; a case while the matter is still being handled is not.
Does the €73 threshold apply per bottle or per year?
Per recipient per year, all gifts together, delivery included. Two €40 bottles to the same client in a year go over the threshold.
How do you send a bottle to a client discreetly?
Plain packaging, card inside, shipped to the address you give. The parcel carries neither the wine merchant's name nor the firm's; only the recipient knows who sent it, when they open the card.
What to choose for a client whose tastes you don't know?
A red Bordeaux at €25–40, between five and eight years old: almost everyone likes it and it keeps. Avoid sweet wine and very old vintages, which need an enthusiast.