E-invoicing in France: the 2026-2027 reform explained

What the reform changes

The reform has three parts. Electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) covers sales of goods and services between businesses established in France and subject to French VAT. E-reporting of transactions covers operations that are outside e-invoicing: sales to private individuals and transactions with businesses established abroad. E-reporting of payments covers services for which VAT becomes due on payment.

In legal terms, an electronic invoice is issued, transmitted and received in a dematerialised form, contains a minimum set of structured data, and reaches the customer through an approved platform. A scanned paper invoice or an ordinary PDF sent by email is not an electronic invoice. The platform extracts the required data from each invoice and sends it to the tax authorities.

The stated aims are to reduce VAT fraud, to lighten administrative work for businesses and, in time, to allow VAT returns to be pre-filled. VAT returns still have to be filed for now.

Who is concerned

The reform applies to every business subject to VAT and established in France, whatever its turnover, legal form or VAT regime. This includes businesses that do not charge VAT because they benefit from the franchise en base (VAT exemption for small businesses), and therefore micro-entrepreneurs, freelancers and liberal professions.

A business that issues no invoices to other businesses is still concerned as a buyer: it must be able to receive the electronic invoices of its suppliers, for example for energy, telephone or internet. If its customers are private individuals, it is concerned by e-reporting.

• Sales to other VAT-registered businesses established in France: e-invoicing.
• Sales to private individuals and other non-taxable persons: e-reporting of transactions.
• Exports, intra-Community supplies and acquisitions, and other operations with businesses established abroad: e-reporting of transactions.
• Activities exempt from VAT under articles 261 to 261 E of the French tax code (for example certain health and education services): no obligation to issue electronic invoices or send e-reporting data, but the business must still receive electronic invoices as a buyer.
• Invoices to public bodies: already electronic through the Chorus Pro platform, which remains in use. They can also be sent through an approved platform connected to Chorus Pro.

Timetable: 1 September 2026 and 1 September 2027

The obligations come into force in two stages, according to the size of the business. The legal timetable was maintained and the first stage took effect on 1 September 2026. E-reporting follows the same timetable as the issuing of invoices.

Size is assessed using the usual French categories. A micro-business has fewer than 10 employees and turnover or a balance sheet total below EUR 2 million. A small or medium-sized company (PME) has fewer than 250 employees and turnover below EUR 50 million or a balance sheet total below EUR 43 million.

• Since 1 September 2026: all businesses, whatever their size, must be able to receive electronic invoices.
• Since 1 September 2026: large companies and mid-sized companies (entreprises de taille intermédiaire) must issue electronic invoices and send e-reporting data.
• From 1 September 2027: small and medium-sized companies and micro-businesses, including micro-entrepreneurs, must issue electronic invoices and send e-reporting data.
• A business that is not yet required to issue may do so voluntarily before its deadline.

Approved platforms and the role of the State

Electronic invoices must pass through a plateforme agréée (approved platform), the official name of what was previously called a plateforme de dématérialisation partenaire or PDP. These are private operators registered by the tax authorities for a renewable period of three years. The platform issues, transmits and receives invoices, checks their conformity, tracks their status and sends the required data to the tax authorities.

France chose not to create a single free public invoicing portal. The State sets the legal framework and the standards, and manages the national directory (annuaire) that lists each business and the platform it has chosen for receiving invoices, so that invoices are routed to the right place. The public system also collects the invoicing, transaction and payment data sent by the platforms.

Each business chooses one or more platforms freely, and the platform of the supplier may differ from that of the customer. According to the tax authorities, about 150 platforms were approved on 1 August 2026 and more than ten of them offered free or no-extra-cost services covering the basic needs of the smallest businesses.

• Software that is not itself approved can be a solution compatible (compatible solution): it is connected to an approved platform, through which invoices and data pass.
• A business can change platform at any time. The directory is updated within 15 working days at most once the former platform has agreed or its time to object has expired, and the former platform maintains certain services for one year to ensure continuity.
• The list of approved platforms and the directory are published on impots.gouv.fr.

Accepted formats and new invoice mentions

Approved platforms must transmit invoices in one of three formats. A supplier cannot impose a particular format on its customer: the platforms share a common minimum set of formats and convert where necessary.

Four new mandatory mentions are added to invoices as the reform comes in, first for large and mid-sized companies and then, from 1 September 2027, for small and medium-sized companies and micro-businesses. For tax purposes, invoices issued or received in electronic form must be kept in that form for six years.

• UBL (Universal Business Language): a structured data format.
• CII (Cross Industry Invoice): a structured data format.
• Factur-X: a mixed format that combines a structured XML data file and a readable PDF.
• New mention 1: the SIREN number of the customer, when the customer is a business.
• New mention 2: the delivery address of the goods, when it differs from the address of the customer.
• New mention 3: the nature of the operations invoiced - supply of goods, supply of services, or both.
• New mention 4: the words "Option pour le paiement de la taxe d'après les débits" when the supplier has opted to pay VAT on invoicing rather than on receipt of payment.

E-reporting: B2C and cross-border transactions

E-reporting means sending the tax authorities data on operations that do not give rise to an electronic invoice. For sales to private individuals, the data is the total amount of operations per day. For international operations between businesses, the data is sent invoice by invoice. The business sends the data through its approved platform.

Payment data concerns services only, whether or not an invoice was issued. It is not required when the business has opted to pay VAT on invoicing, or for international operations where the customer accounts for the VAT.

The frequency depends on the VAT regime. For example, a business under the franchise en base sends its data every two months. A business under the normal monthly regime sends transaction data three times a month and payment data once a month.

Penalties and the start-up period

The finance law for 2026 raised the penalties. They do not apply to a first offence committed during the current calendar year and the three preceding years, if it is corrected spontaneously or within 30 days of a first request from the tax authorities.

For the start-up phase, the tax authorities have announced that penalties will not be applied to businesses that meet difficulties but are seriously engaged in becoming compliant. They distinguish these situations from inertia or a lasting refusal to enter the system. This is neither a postponement nor a suspension of the obligation.

During this phase an invoice received by email, as a PDF or on paper should not be rejected for that reason alone when it corresponds to a real transaction: it can be processed, paid and the VAT deducted. The supplier who was required to issue it electronically should regularise the situation as soon as possible.

• Failure to issue an electronic invoice: EUR 50 per invoice (previously EUR 15), capped at EUR 15,000 per calendar year.
• Failure to send e-reporting data: EUR 500 per transmission (previously EUR 250), capped at EUR 15,000 per calendar year.
• No approved platform chosen for receiving invoices: formal notice to comply within three months, then a fine of EUR 500, then EUR 1,000 for each further period of three months until the situation is corrected.

What a small business should do now

A small business has until 1 September 2027 to issue electronic invoices, but it must already be able to receive them. The steps below follow the method recommended by the official business portal.

SAREPTA, a chartered accounting firm with offices in Antibes and Valbonne - Sophia Antipolis, helps businesses prepare for the reform in English and French, using Odoo and Tiime. The first 30-minute meeting is free and without commitment.

This guide is general information, checked against official sources on 28 September 2026, and does not replace individual advice.

• Identify your obligations: size of the business, type of customers (French businesses, private individuals, foreign customers), nature of the activity and VAT regime. The tax authorities provide an online test.
• Choose an approved platform for receiving invoices if this has not been done, and check in the directory that your business is correctly listed.
• Ask the publisher of your invoicing or accounting software whether it is an approved platform or a compatible solution connected to one.
• Clean up your customer records: SIREN number of each business customer, billing and delivery addresses.
• Set up a routine for incoming invoices: check each invoice on receipt, validate it, and report any error or dispute on the platform.
• Update your invoice template with the four new mentions before your issuing deadline.
• Keep evidence of the steps taken. It shows that the business is actively working towards compliance if a difficulty arises.