In France, companies under VAT regulations must generate, transmit, and receive electronic invoices with other VAT-registered entities. Additionally, they must transfer the invoicing and transaction data to the tax authorities.
Starting in 2026, all businesses subject to VAT must comply with this new regulation. From July 1, 2024, electronic invoicing will become mandatory for all taxable persons on the receiving end. However, the implementation of electronic invoicing for transmission will be phased in gradually. Large companies must comply from July 1, 2024, ETIs from January 1, 2025, and SMEs and micro-enterprises from January 1, 2026. The exact timeline will be followed to implement other transaction data obligations (e-reporting).
The reform will impact all entities under the VAT regulations and is expected to affect approximately 2 billion invoices annually.
France’s adoption of this reform places it among several other countries, especially within the European Union, already undergoing a similar transformation.
The implementation of inter-company electronic invoicing is being supported by the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP) through a dedicated project department. The AIFE has been assigned to develop the public invoicing portal, which will have a critical role in the system. The portal will be modeled after the Chorus Pro solution, used for the electronic invoicing of public entities from 2017 to 2020.
The public invoicing portal will be a directory for routing invoices and transmitting invoicing and transaction data to the tax authorities. Companies can also use the portal and private partner dematerialization platforms to generate or receive invoices.
The requirement to digitize all invoices was a significant aspect of the legal framework established in 2021 under Ordinance No. 2021-1190, which pertains to the widespread adoption of electronic invoicing in domestic business-to-business (B2B) transactions, as well as the transmission of transaction data in international B2B and B2C transactions, as well as payment data.
