France's e-invoicing mandate: dates, platforms and penalties

France's B2B e-invoicing reform went live on 1 September 2026, on schedule. Since then, every VAT-registered business established in France must be able to receive electronic invoices through an approved platform, and the largest companies must also issue them and report transaction data to the tax authority. Small and medium businesses follow on 1 September 2027.

This guide explains the French mandate in English for foreign suppliers, international groups with French entities, and expats who run a business in France. Every date and amount comes from the French tax administration (DGFiP), BOFiP and Service-public.fr, checked on 14 November 2026.

The calendar at a glance

Who is affected

The reform applies to VAT taxable persons (assujettis) established in France, meaning a registered office or a VAT fixed establishment in mainland France, Corsica, Guadeloupe, Martinique or Réunion. It applies whatever their size, and whether or not they actually charge VAT. Micro-entrepreneurs on the VAT franchise (franchise en base) are in scope; our auto-entrepreneur guide covers them.

Businesses that only have to receive

Businesses whose sales are all VAT-exempt under articles 261 to 261 E of the French tax code (health care, education, finance and insurance, certain real estate, non-profit association activities) do not issue e-invoices or e-report those sales. They must still receive e-invoices from their suppliers since 1 September 2026.

Foreign businesses without a French establishment

The DGFiP is clear: taxable persons not established in France are not concerned by e-invoicing. A foreign company that has a French VAT fixed establishment, however, is treated as established.

Non-established businesses may still have e-reporting duties for operations located in France on which they are liable for VAT, for example sales to French consumers without the OSS or IOSS schemes, or B2B sales to another non-established business. They then e-report from 1 September 2026 if large or mid-sized, from 1 September 2027 if smaller, and from 1 September 2027 for all sizes when they are the liable buyer under reverse charge. Size is judged on the foreign legal entity as a whole, and a platform must be chosen.

Company size decides your issuing date

Size follows French law (LME art. 51 and décret 2008-1354), applied per legal unit, meaning per SIREN number. It is assessed on 1 January 2025, on the last financial year closed before that date, or on the first year closed after it if you are newer. Later growth does not change your date.

A business moves up a category as soon as it exceeds the headcount limit, or if it exceeds both the turnover and balance-sheet limits. Subsidiaries of large groups are a known grey area: the DGFiP judges per SIREN, while the décret considers groups. Ask an adviser if this applies to you.

How invoices travel: approved platforms and the State directory

French e-invoices are exchanged only between plateformes agréées (PA), the approved platforms formerly called PDP. Your platform sends the invoice to your customer's platform, extracts the regulatory data and transmits it to the tax administration. You can choose one or more platforms and switch later.

On 9 November 2026 the official list on impots.gouv.fr showed 152 fully registered platforms and 5 more awaiting interoperability tests. Our approved platforms guide explains how to choose one.

The State no longer offers a free public invoicing portal. Since the 2026 finance law, its role is to run the central directory (annuaire) that tells platforms where to deliver each invoice, plus a data concentrator. See our guide to the French directory.

Accepted formats and four new invoice mentions

Every platform must support a common base ("socle") of three formats:

• UBL, in its EN 16931 version
• UN/CEFACT CII, in its EN 16931 version
• A hybrid format combining structured data with a PDF image, in practice Factur-X

A plain PDF or a scan sent by e-mail is not an e-invoice.

Invoices also carry four new mandatory mentions: the customer's SIREN (for business customers), the delivery address if it differs from the customer's address, whether the operation covers goods, services or both, and the words "Option pour le paiement de la taxe d'après les débits" if the supplier has opted to pay VAT on debits. According to Service-public.fr, these apply from 1 September 2026 for large companies and mid-caps and from 1 September 2027 for SMEs and micro-businesses.

E-reporting: what the tax office receives

Alongside e-invoicing, businesses transmit data that no domestic B2B e-invoice covers, through their platform:

• Transaction data for sales to consumers (aggregated daily) and for international B2B, such as exports and intra-EU supplies and acquisitions.
• Payment data for services where VAT is due on receipt of payment. No payment data is required for reverse-charge operations.

Frequency depends on the VAT regime: three times a month for the regular monthly regime, monthly for the simplified and quarterly regimes, and every two calendar months for businesses on the franchise en base.

Penalties after loi n° 2026-103

The 2026 finance law (loi n° 2026-103 of 19 February 2026) raised these amounts from €15 per invoice and €250 per transmission. For a missing receiving platform, the business first gets a formal notice with three months to comply.

The start-up phase

The DGFiP says that during the start-up phase it will not apply sanctions to businesses that have real, documented difficulties and are on a "serious compliance path". It stresses that this is not a postponement. Invoices received by e-mail, PDF or paper must not be rejected for that reason alone, and VAT deduction is not lost automatically. No end date for this approach has been published.

Will the SME date move?

The official DGFiP wording is "at the latest 1 September 2027". Some sources say the law allows a decree to push the SME and micro stage back to 1 December 2027 at the latest. We have not found that wording in a consolidated official text, and no such decree has been issued as of 14 November 2026. Plan for 1 September 2027.

What to do now

1. Check your status: established in France or not, and your size category on the year closed before 1 January 2025.
2. Choose a platform for receiving if you have a French entity and have not done so yet. This has been required since 1 September 2026.
3. Collect your customers' SIREN numbers for the new mandatory mention.
4. Plan issuing and e-reporting for your date. SMEs may start voluntarily before 1 September 2027, but a customer cannot force you to.
5. Test your files with our e-invoice validator, which checks Factur-X, UBL and CII against EN 16931 in your browser.

Many French invoicing tools are approved platforms themselves, for example Pennylane and Qonto, both listed on the official register. Our French e-invoicing software comparison and the free options page cover more.

This page explains the rules; it is not tax advice. For group structures, insolvency proceedings or Monaco counterparties, ask a French expert-comptable or tax adviser.