E-invoicing in France: the rules and the dates

In short

• The reform covers invoices between companies established in France and registered for VAT (B2B).
• Since 1 September 2026, every company must be able to receive e-invoices — through a certified platform (plateforme agréée, PA).
• Large and mid-sized companies (GE, ETI) must send them since 1 September 2026; small and medium-sized companies and micro-companies (PME, micro-entreprises) from 1 September 2027.
• Sales to private customers and sales abroad are not invoiced through this channel; their data is reported to the tax administration instead (e-reporting).

The dates

From	What changes
1 September 2026	Every company must be able to receive e-invoices through a certified platform. Large and mid-sized companies must send them.
1 September 2027	Small and medium-sized companies and micro-companies must send them too.

Certified platforms

In France an e-invoice does not travel by email: it goes through a certified platform (PA), registered by the tax administration. Each company chooses its platform; the platforms exchange the invoices with each other and pass the required data to the administration. The public invoicing portal serves as the directory of companies and their platforms — it does not exchange invoices itself.

A Factur-X sent by email is therefore not an e-invoice in the sense of the reform (art. 289 bis CGI).

The formats

The reform accepts structured formats that follow the European standard EN 16931. The base formats every platform handles are Factur-X (a PDF with the invoice data embedded — the counterpart of the German ZUGFeRD), UBL and CII.

The new mentions

With the reform, invoices carry new mandatory mentions:

• the SIREN of the buyer, in addition to the seller’s,
• the delivery address, when it differs from the buyer’s address,
• the category of the operation: goods, services or both,
• the option for VAT on debits, when the seller has chosen it.

For small and medium-sized companies and micro-companies they become mandatory on 1 September 2027.

What to do now

• Receiving is mandatory since 1 September 2026: choose a certified platform.
• Check that your invoices already carry the new mentions — the buyer’s SIREN first.
• Small and medium-sized companies: prepare sending through a platform before 1 September 2027.