France e-invoicing mandate: guide for foreign companies

Who the French mandate covers

The French reform applies to businesses that are subject to VAT and established in France, regardless of size. That includes a French subsidiary of a foreign group, a French branch, and even a one-person micro-business under the VAT franchise scheme, because being subject to VAT is enough even when no VAT is charged.

The confirmed timeline and scope come from the French administration’s business portal, entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr. The sources we rely on describe the obligation for businesses established in France. They do not settle the position of a foreign company that holds a French VAT number without being established in France, so that question needs a French tax adviser’s answer, not an assumption.

Invoices to consumers are outside the e-invoicing obligation itself. However, data on consumer sales, international operations and payments must be reported to the tax authority through e-reporting, on the same timeline as issuing.

• French subsidiary or branch: in scope. It must receive e-invoices now and issue them from 2026 or 2027 depending on its size.
• Foreign company with a French VAT number but no French establishment: ask a French tax adviser to confirm your obligations in writing.
• Foreign company selling to French businesses from abroad: your customers are in scope, so expect requests for complete invoice data.
• French entity selling to consumers or abroad: no e-invoice for those sales, but e-reporting applies.

Timeline: receive in 2026, issue in 2026 or 2027

France split the reform into two obligations. Receiving applies to everyone in scope from the same date. Issuing e-invoices and e-reporting depend on the size category of the French entity.

If you sell to French businesses from abroad

Take a German machine-parts supplier with French trade customers and no French entity. Its French customers have had to receive e-invoices through a registered platform since 1 September 2026. They are also preparing, or already running, e-reporting, which covers international operations, so their dealings with foreign suppliers feed into what they report.

In practice this means your French customers’ accounts payable teams increasingly work through their platform. They may ask for invoices that carry complete data, such as their SIREN number, and that their systems can process without re-keying. Whether you are legally required to send your invoices through a French platform depends on your own status, which is the question to put to a French tax adviser.

Even without a confirmed obligation on your side, it pays to be easy to buy from. Keeping each French customer’s SIREN and delivery addresses in your master data, and being able to provide a structured invoice format on request, removes friction for their finance team.

If you have a French subsidiary or branch

A French entity of a foreign group is treated like any other French business. It must be able to receive e-invoices from its French suppliers through a registered platform since 1 September 2026. It must issue e-invoices to French business customers from 1 September 2026 if it is a large company or ETI, or from 1 September 2027 if it is an SME or micro-business.

E-reporting can be the larger piece of work for a group entity. The French entity must report data on operations that do not go through a domestic e-invoice, including international operations and consumer sales, and payment data. For a sales subsidiary that buys from and sells to other group companies abroad, those flows need to be identified and mapped before the reporting date.

The practical challenge is usually systems, not law. The French entity may invoice from a group ERP that was not built for the French platform model. The connection between that ERP and the platform, and the mapping of the new invoice fields, is the core of the project.

Registered platforms (PA) and the role of the PPF

Invoices and e-reporting data flow through Plateformes Agréées (PA), formerly called PDP. These are private operators registered by the French tax authority (DGFiP). The official list of registered platforms is published on impots.gouv.fr.

The public invoicing portal, the Portail Public de Facturation (PPF), still exists but in a narrower role. Its function as a free invoicing platform was abandoned in October 2024. It now acts as a directory of businesses and a concentrator that routes tax data. It no longer offers free direct issuing or receiving of invoices, so every French entity needs a PA.

When selecting a platform for a French entity, check:

• Is the platform on the official list published on impots.gouv.fr?
• Can it connect to your group ERP or billing system, and through which interface?
• Does it handle e-reporting for international operations and consumer sales as well as e-invoices?
• Can it serve several entities, and does it support formats your other countries use, such as Peppol BIS?
• Can you export invoice history and switch provider later?

Formats and new invoice data

The three base formats generally cited are Factur-X (a human-readable PDF with embedded XML data), UBL and CII (Cross Industry Invoice). Some platforms also accept Peppol BIS and EDIFACT. Usually the platform handles the final format; your job is to send it complete and accurate data.

The reform also adds data to French invoices, on top of existing mandatory content. According to specialist guides, these are:

• the customer’s SIREN number;
• the delivery address for goods, if it differs from the billing address;
• whether the transaction is a supply of goods, a supply of services, or both;
• the mention “TVA sur les débits” (VAT on debits) where that option applies.

Penalties after the 2026 Finance Law

The 2026 Finance Law (Loi de finances pour 2026) raised the penalties. According to entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr, they are now:

• Invoice not issued electronically when it should have been: EUR 50 per invoice, capped at EUR 15,000 per year.
• Missing e-reporting transmission: EUR 500 per missing transmission, capped at EUR 15,000 per year.
• No registered platform to receive invoices: a 3-month formal notice, then a EUR 500 fine; after a second 3-month notice, EUR 1,000; then EUR 1,000 every 3 months until resolved.
• First offence: no penalty if there was no infringement in the current year or the previous 3 years, and the error is corrected spontaneously or within 30 days of the administration’s first request.

What to do now: six steps

Reception is already mandatory and the SME issuing date is under a year away. Work through these steps in order.

1. Establish your status. List every French entity and its size category, and ask a French tax adviser whether any non-established French VAT registration creates obligations.

2. Choose a registered platform for each French entity, checking the official list on impots.gouv.fr, and confirm reception works with a real supplier invoice.

3. Map flows: domestic invoices to French businesses, sales to consumers, international and intercompany operations, and payment data that feeds e-reporting.

4. Update master data and invoice templates: customer SIREN, delivery addresses, goods/services classification and, where relevant, “TVA sur les débits”.

5. Connect your ERP or billing system to the platform and test end to end, including e-reporting. This is the kind of integration Synelo builds as a project, alongside your platform and your tax adviser.

6. If you sell to France from abroad, prepare to supply French customers with complete invoice data and a structured format on request.

This guide is general information as of October 2026, not legal or tax advice: check your situation with your French tax adviser or the French tax authority.