Novelties regarding e-invoices in France

French companies will be required to agree to receive invoices in electronic form from January 1, 2023. France is preparing for a major reform that will require all companies to exchange their invoices electronically (e-invoicing) and to transmit to the administration all the tax data of their transactions (e-reporting) falling within the scope of VAT application.

This reform aims to fight VAT fraud, simplify business life, reduce the cost of processing invoices and ultimately, allow pre-filling of their VAT returns.

According to the French Administration, it could also have an impact on the management of the deadlines for settling their invoices by companies.

The construction of the reform is progressing under the authority of the „e-invoicing“ project management, created within The General Public Finances Directorate (DGFIP) and in consultation with all the stakeholders organized within the framework of periodic workshops addressing the various aspects of the project.

At the same time, the request for an exemption that France must obtain from the Council of the EU in order to implement its project is being examined by the services of the European Commission.

The legal framework of the device, which is based on the report submitted to Parliament by the DGFIP in November 2020 should be fixed by a government ordinance by September 30, 2021, at the latest, but this text will probably not provide all the details necessary for the concrete preparation of companies.