France extends Tax document retention period from six to ten Years

As part of efforts to step up the fight against tax and social security fraud, the rules on retaining accounting and tax documents are changing in France. Following this reform, businesses must retain a number of supporting documents for a longer period than before. Until now, most accounting and tax documents had to be retained for six years. This period has now been extended to ten years for documents that may be requested under the authorities’ rights of access, investigation or audit.

This applies in particular to :

• • accounting books and registers;
  • invoices and VAT supporting evidence;
  • documents supporting a reliable audit trail;
  • electronically generated records that must remain in electronic form.

This measure is provided for by Law No. 2026-534 of 25 June 2026 on combating social security and tax fraud, published in the Official Journal No. 0148 of 26 June 2026. For businesses, this means they must pay greater attention to the management of their records, whether physical or digital. The rules on retention remain unchanged : documents may still be kept in paper or digital format, provided that the usual security and accessibility requirements are met.

This new rule applies to documents whose retention period expires after 1 January 2027. Documents whose retention period expires before that date remain subject to the previous rules. For example, an invoice issued in 2020 with a retention period expiring in 2026 will not be affected by this reform. However, an invoice issued in 2024 must be retained until 2034, in accordance with the new 10-year retention period. It is important to note that failure to comply with these obligations may result in financial penalties, including a fine of up to 10,000 euros in the event of the documents being missing or destroyed before the end of the statutory retention period. This change means that businesses should adjust their archiving practices now to ensure long-term compliance.