French E-Invoicing and E-Reporting (2026): Rules for Foreign Companies

When does e-invoicing become mandatory in France?

The reform applies on two key dates: 1 September 2026 and 1 September 2027. The timetable depends on two criteria: the type of obligation (receiving, issuing or reporting data) and the size of the company. This calendar has already been postponed twice since 2023; the dates below are those set by the 2024 Finance Act and in force as of this article (22 July 2026).

The logic is simple: everyone must be able to receive an electronic invoice from September 2026, because a large company that issues one needs a recipient able to receive it. The obligation to issue is staggered to give smaller structures time to get equipped. The reform does not change the underlying rules for invoicing a client in France, but it imposes a new format and a new channel for transmitting the invoice.

The reception obligation on 1 September 2026 targets all taxable persons established in France, including micro-entrepreneurs and businesses under the VAT exemption threshold. It does not concern non-established foreign companies (we come back to this in detail below).

What is e-invoicing? E-invoicing versus e-reporting

The reform covers two distinct obligations that must never be confused: e-invoicing and e-reporting. One concerns the invoices themselves, the other concerns transaction data that falls outside the electronic invoicing circuit. Understanding this distinction is the key to knowing what you must do, especially as a foreign company.

E-invoicing: the electronic invoice between French businesses

E-invoicing is the obligation to issue, transmit and receive invoices in structured electronic form for transactions carried out between two VAT-taxable businesses established in France (domestic B2B). An electronic invoice is not a simple PDF sent by email: it is a structured file, readable by software, that travels through an accredited platform rather than directly from issuer to customer.

It covers supplies of goods and services located in France, subject to French VAT and not exempt, between two established taxable persons. E-invoicing rests on Article 289 bis of the French General Tax Code.

E-reporting: transmitting data to the tax authorities

E-reporting is the obligation to transmit to the tax authorities the data of certain transactions that do not go through electronic invoicing. It covers three broad families of operations: sales to private individuals (B2C), international and intra-EU transactions (with customers or suppliers outside France), and payment data for services.

In practice, you do not transmit an invoice but aggregated data: net amount per VAT rate, VAT amount, nature of the operation and period. E-reporting rests on Article 290 of the Tax Code. This pillar, not e-invoicing, is the one that concerns most foreign companies registered in France.

What goes into the electronic invoice, and which flows do you report?

The electronic invoice carries new mandatory data, and e-reporting follows a precise list of flows. Where a paper invoice made do with the classic mentions, the structured electronic invoice must let the authorities pre-fill VAT returns. That requires additional data and a standardised format.

What the electronic invoice must contain

Beyond the usual mentions (identity of the parties, date, number, amounts), the electronic invoice adds four new mandatory fields: the customer's SIREN number, the delivery address of the goods if it differs from the billing address, the nature of the operation (supply of goods, provision of services or both), and the option to pay VAT on debits where applicable.

The format must comply with the European core of the EN 16931 standard. Three formats are accepted: Factur-X (a hybrid format combining a readable PDF and an XML file), UBL and CII (two pure XML formats). Factur-X suits smaller structures best because it stays human-readable. Each invoice also carries a lifecycle made of statuses (deposited, made available, approved, rejected, cashed) that the platform reports back.

The flows reported under e-reporting

E-reporting covers operations outside the scope of domestic electronic invoicing. Here are the flows concerned:

• B2C sales and services carried out in France (to private individuals or non-taxable persons).
• Operations with customers or suppliers located outside France: intra-EU supplies, exports, international services and acquisitions.
• Payment data for services, which determines when VAT becomes chargeable.

Some operations are excluded from e-reporting: operations exempt from VAT (including exports and certain intra-EU supplies), as well as the banking, insurance, medical or educational operations covered by Articles 261 to 261 E of the Tax Code.

Foreign non-established companies: what are your obligations in France?

If your company is VAT-registered in France without a permanent establishment there, you are not subject to e-invoicing, but you are subject to e-reporting. This is the most misunderstood point of the reform, and the one that carries the most risk. The confusion often comes from a hasty comparison with other countries (Belgium, for example, has different rules). In France the dividing line is clear, but it does not rest on registration.

"Established" or "non-established": the dividing line is the permanent establishment

The distinction does not depend on your French VAT number but on the existence of a permanent establishment for VAT purposes. A company that has permanent human and technical resources in France taking part in its operations is treated as established. A company that sells, stores or imports in France but runs everything from abroad, even with a French VAT number, stays non-established.

E-invoicing does not concern you

As a non-established foreign company, you have no obligation to issue or receive electronic invoices through a platform. You do not appear in the central directory for e-invoicing purposes. Your invoices to your customers continue to follow the ordinary invoicing rules in force today.

E-reporting, your only obligation: on which flows?

You fall under e-reporting as soon as you carry out operations deemed to take place in France for which you are liable for French VAT. In concrete terms:

The reporting frequency is not continuous: it follows your company's filing regime (monthly or quarterly depending on your actual VAT regime), just like your current returns.

What you must do in practice before the deadline

You must choose an accredited platform to transmit your e-reporting data, before 1 September 2026 if you are a large or mid-sized company, or before 1 September 2027 if you are an SME or a small business. Since you have neither a French accountant by default nor access to a free public portal, two options are open to you: connect directly to an accredited platform, or delegate to a fiscal representative who already handles your French returns. Most foreign companies I work with have already obtained a French VAT number and file a CA3 return.

Which platform should you join? Accredited platform (PA) and the end of the free PPF

Every company subject to the reform must go through an accredited platform (PA), formerly called a partner dematerialisation platform (PDP). There is no longer a free public filing option. This is the major change introduced in October 2024, and much of the content online has not yet caught up.

What the Public Invoicing Portal becomes

The Public Invoicing Portal (PPF) no longer plays the role of a free issuing and receiving platform that was initially planned. Since the October 2024 decision, it keeps only two functions: a central directory of businesses and their electronic invoicing addresses, and a data hub that receives the data intended for the authorities. All invoice and data traffic now goes through private platforms accredited by the DGFiP.

The direct consequence: every company, and every foreign company subject to e-reporting, must choose and pay for an accredited platform. "Free" now exists only as commercial offers from software vendors, often tied to the use of another service.

The accepted formats: Factur-X, UBL and CII

An accredited platform must handle the three formats of the EN 16931 core: Factur-X, UBL and CII. It ensures interoperability with the other platforms, transmits the lifecycle statuses, and pushes the data up to the public hub. This role of a certified trusted third party is what justifies the fee.

Top 5 accredited platforms and what they cost

Around 138 accredited platforms were registered by the DGFiP by mid-2026, and the list grows every week. The right choice depends on your profile: French small business, mid-sized company, or foreign company with cross-border flows. Here are five representative platforms and their indicative prices as of 22 July 2026. Prices move fast: always check the current grid and the "definitively registered" status on the official impots.gouv.fr list before signing.

For a non-established foreign company or a multi-country e-commerce seller, EDI and Peppol-oriented players such as Generix, Esker or Docaposte are often the best fit, even if their pricing is on quotation. For a French small business, Qonto and Pennylane offer the most accessible entry tickets.

E-invoicing and e-commerce: what it means for Amazon and marketplace sellers

For an e-commerce seller, the reform mainly means e-reporting on sales to private individuals, not e-invoicing. B2C sales, including distance sales, fall outside electronic invoicing but inside the scope of e-reporting. The seller stays responsible for this obligation, not always the marketplace.

Who issues the invoice on a marketplace like Amazon?

On a marketplace, the e-reporting obligation falls on the seller. Amazon may offer invoicing services, but the responsibility to report B2C sales data stays yours, except in the schemes where the marketplace is deemed liable for the VAT (the deemed-supplier fiction). For your sales to private individuals, you must transmit the net amount, the VAT rate applied, the customer's country and the nature of the operation. This data overlaps with what you already use to report your Amazon sales on the CA3 return.

E-reporting and the One-Stop Shop (OSS): two logics to reconcile

Declaring your distance sales through the OSS does not exempt you from French e-reporting. This is a common trap. The OSS is used to declare and pay the VAT due in other member states for your intra-EU distance sales; French e-reporting concerns the data of operations deemed to take place in France. A single sale can therefore fall under the OSS for VAT and feed e-reporting for the data. You need to map your flows to avoid both omissions and double counting.

The non-established foreign e-commerce seller

If you are a foreign e-commerce seller VAT-registered in France without a permanent establishment, you fall under e-reporting on your operations located in France for which you are liable, and you have no e-invoicing obligation. Like any non-established foreign company, you must choose an accredited platform before your deadline (see the dedicated section above).

Need support with e-invoicing in France?

The reform is simple to state, but applying it to foreign companies and e-commerce sellers means mapping your flows precisely: what falls under e-reporting, what is excluded, which platform to choose and how to reconcile it with your existing VAT returns. As the fiscal representative of foreign companies registered in France, Eurofiscalis handles your registrations, your returns and your e-reporting compliance, from end to end.

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