e-Invoicing in France: A Complete Guide For Your Business

The obligation to issue e-invoices for Business to Business (B2B) transactions is expanding across Europe. Italy and Greece have already introduced mandatory e-invoices. Also, Spain announced its plan to implement e-invoicing. Similarly, the French government understood the importance of implementing e-invoicing in France.

Accordingly, the French Tax Authority, Directorate General of Public Finance (DGFIP), has announced that businesses shall implement e-invoicing and e-reporting w.e.f 1 July 2024.  However, the authority has postponed the e-invoicing initiative scheduled for 1 July 2024.

It is to be noted that the French government has already been implementing e-invoicing for Business to Government (B2G) transactions since 2017 in phases till Jan 2020 via the national e-invoicing platform "Chorus Pro".

The e-invoicing regulation is part of the government’s effort to curb tax fraud by seamlessly transmitting all transaction data to the tax authority.

This article explains all about e-invoicing in France, including e-reporting, e-invoicing applicability, implementation date, etc.

What is e-invoicing in France?

Electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) means exchanging invoices between trading partners electronically, eliminating the need for paper invoices.

The French government announced that once they introduce e-invoicing, businesses should not send invoices directly to customers. Instead, they should send the same through a government portal or a private third-party platform.

Article 153 of 2020 of French Finance Law mandates B2B e-invoicing mandatory for all businesses registered under France Value Added Tax (VAT).

Every transaction shall go through 

• Portail Public de Facturation (PPF), or
• Approved partner dematerialisation platform (PDP) or 
• Dematerialising operators (ODs)

Why is e-invoicing being introduced?

The French Government is committed to the implementation of e-invoicing for businesses. This reform aims to:

• Strengthen their competitiveness due to the reduction of the administrative burden and the productivity gains resulting from dematerialisation.
• Simplify their reporting obligations by pre-filling in VAT returns.
• To curb fraud cases and benefit the genuine businesses
• Improve real-time knowledge of the business activity.

e-Invoicing in France: Rollout dates

Every business in France is obligated to receive e-invoices from 1 July 2024. However, the authority has postponed the e-invoicing initiative scheduled for 1 July 2024. This decision provides the necessary time to implement this structuring reform successfully. Further, the new implementation date will be mentioned in Finance Law 2024 and guarantee the concerned companies migrate to electronic invoicing under the best possible conditions.

The obligation to send e-invoices is in phases based on the company’s size. The table below provides the rollout dates of France e-invoicing:

The government assesses the company's size on 30th June 2023 using the last financial year’s figures and decides the e-invoicing applicability. If it is a new business, the administration will assess the company size based on the first financial year.

Hence, the applicable businesses must understand the e-invoicing regulations and prepare for compliance according to the respective timelines. Further, all the e-invoicing applicable businesses must archive the e-invoices electronically and retain them for ten years.

What is e-reporting in France?

Businesses shall e-report the specific invoice data of transactions that do not fall under France e-invoicing. Further, foreign companies which do not have a permanent establishment in France shall do e-reporting.

As per the French tax administration, the below transactions fall under e-reporting:

• Business to Consumer (B2C)
• Exports
• Imports
• The European Union (EU) intra-community dispatches
• The European Union (EU) intra-community acquisitions

What are the benefits of e-invoicing in France?

Here are a few benefits of e-invoicing in France:

• Enhanced data sharing
• Increased productivity due to faster processing times
• Optimised cash flow with shorter payment times
• Increased visibility of all processes & performance
• Lowered operating costs
• Easy preparation of VAT returns
• Reduced VAT frauds
• Better supplier relationships

What are the penalties for non-compliance with France e-invoicing?

Suppose an applicable business does not comply with e-invoicing rules and regulations in France; they must pay the following penalty:

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FAQs

1. What is e-invoicing?

An e-invoice or electronic invoice is issued, transmitted, received and processed electronically. It is digital throughout its life cycle, from when the point seller created it till the recipient processes it. However, all digital invoices are not e-invoices.

2. What is Chorus Pro?

Chorus Pro is the French centralised portal for public sector e-invoicing administration. This portal receives the invoices electronically from the issuer, processes them and sends them to the right recipient. 

3. When does the French e-invoicing mandate come into effect?

The French government planned to implement e-invoicing in three stages. In the first stage, large taxpayers shall implement e-invoicing and e-reporting w.e.f 1 July 2024.  However, the authority has postponed the e-invoicing initiative scheduled for 1 July 2024.

4. Who needs to prepare for the e-invoicing mandate in France?

The Directorate General of Public Finance (DGFIP) categorised the businesses into three categories and mentioned 1 July 2024, 1 January 2025 and 1 January 2026 as the implementation date. However, the authority has postponed the e-invoicing initiative scheduled for 1 July 2024 and new date will be announced along with Finance Law 2024.

5. What is e-reporting in France?

e-Reporting means transmitting specific transactional and payment data to the administration. The e-reporting applies to B2C transactions, exports, imports, EU intra-community dispatches and EU intra-community acquisitions.

6. Do debit notes fall under the e-invoicing scope?

Debit notes do not fall under the invoice category. Hence, there is no need to issue e-invoices for debit notes.

7. What is a PDP, PPF & OD?

PDF, PPF & OD are different methods for implementing e-invoicing in France. These help businesses send and receive e-invoices.

8. What e-invoice file format will be required in France?

The taxpayers directly transmit the e-invoice data to the centralised platform shall follow the UBL, CII, or Factur-X formats. Further, e-invoices exchanged between two registered service providers can use any structured format. However, taxpayers may submit their invoices in an unstructured PDF format during the transitional period, i.e., until December 2027.