E-invoicing in France: the reform explained for non-French speakers

Who is affected

The reform covers every VAT-registered business (entreprise assujettie à la TVA) established in France. Being VAT-registered does not mean charging VAT: a micro-entrepreneur (micro-entrepreneur) under the VAT exemption regime (franchise en base de TVA) remains VAT-registered and is therefore affected. The same applies to sole traders, companies such as SAS, SASU, SARL or EURL, and associations or property companies when they are VAT-registered.

Your passport, your mother tongue and the language of your software play no role: only the place of establishment and the VAT status count. According to the Insee figures quoted on this site, 16% of individual businesses created in France in 2023 had a founder of foreign nationality, all covered like French founders.

The reform applies to transactions between businesses established in France. Sales to private individuals and sales to customers abroad do not go through e-invoicing (facturation électronique); they are covered by e-reporting (e-reporting), explained below.

The timeline: two dates to remember

The reform has two steps. Receiving e-invoices (réception) has been mandatory for every affected business since 1 September 2026, regardless of size. Issuing e-invoices (émission) started on the same date for large companies (grandes entreprises) and mid-sized companies (entreprises de taille intermédiaire, ETI). SMEs, very small businesses and micro-businesses (PME, TPE et micro-entreprises) must issue e-invoices from 1 September 2027.

Concretely, a small business today needs a way to receive electronic invoices from its French suppliers. It has until September 2027 to send its own invoices to French business customers electronically, and it can start earlier.

The tolerance announced on 1 September 2026

On 1 September 2026, the Ministry of Finance (Bercy) announced that no penalties would be applied during the start-up phase in 2026, a start-up tolerance (tolérance de démarrage) that runs into 2027. The practical guide of the tax administration (DGFiP) nevertheless asks businesses to start their compliance work, document incidents and correct them.

This tolerance is not a postponement. The obligations and the legal penalty scales remain in force, and the announcement gives no exemption for the September 2027 deadline.

The penalties planned after the tolerance

The French tax code provides a fine of 50 euros per invoice that should have been issued electronically and was not, capped at 15,000 euros per calendar year. Missing e-reporting transmissions carry a fine of 500 euros each, also capped at 15,000 euros per year. A business with no platform to receive invoices first receives formal notices before fines of 500 euros, then 1,000 euros.

For SMEs and micro-businesses the issuing obligation, and therefore the 50-euro fine, only starts in 2027.

Approved platforms and the official registry

Electronic invoices travel through approved platforms (plateformes agréées), private operators registered by the tax administration. Earlier texts called them PDP, an abbreviation you will still see. A software that is not approved itself, called a dematerialisation operator (opérateur de dématérialisation, OD), must rely on an approved platform. The public portal (portail public de facturation, PPF) is no longer a free platform: it is the recipient directory (annuaire des destinataires) and the administration's hub.

The official registry (registre des plateformes agréées) published by the tax administration lists 149 platforms with a definitive registration. Before choosing a tool, check that it is on that list or that it names the approved platform it relies on. FactureMatch reproduces the registry, in French, in its directory of approved platforms.

A PDF attached to an email is not an electronic invoice under the reform.

E-reporting in brief

E-reporting transmits to the tax administration the data of transactions that do not go through e-invoicing: sales to private individuals, to associations that are not VAT-registered, and to customers established outside France. The business transmits amounts excluding VAT, the VAT and the dates, without identifying private customers. A separate flow reports payment data depending on when VAT becomes due.

E-reporting replaces no existing declaration: the VAT return and the turnover declaration to URSSAF for micro-entrepreneurs remain due. Its frequency depends on your VAT regime; under the VAT exemption regime the published rhythm is every two months. Some exempt operations are excluded.

What to do now

The order of the steps matters more than speed. Most of them can be done in English with your accountant.

• Confirm your VAT status with your chartered accountant (expert-comptable): VAT exemption regime, VAT payer or exempt activity.
• Choose a tool that is an approved platform or that relies on one, and check the interface language you need. Our guide to software in English lists the options.
• Activate your reception address on the platform and check that your business appears in the recipient directory.
• Test in a demonstration environment. Do not create a real invoice to yourself or to a customer just to test.
• Plan the issuing step before September 2027 if you are an SME or a micro-business, and keep the usual invoicing rules for private customers.