France’s E-Invoicing Mandate Goes Live

After years of preparation, redesign and delays, France’s e-invoicing and e-reporting mandate officially went live today, 1st September 2026, marking one of Europe’s biggest transitions to digital tax reporting.¹

From today, every business in scope must be capable of receiving electronic invoices, while large companies and ETIs must also issue compliant e-invoices and transmit required transaction and payment data to the French tax authority. SMEs and micro-businesses join the issuance and e-reporting mandate from September 2027.¹

The scale is significant. More than 10 million economic operators are affected by the reform, and the French government confirmed on go-live day that 66% of businesses have already selected their approved platform.¹ ²

But France is not expecting a perfectly clean Day One.

In an important announcement accompanying go-live, Minister for Public Action and Accounts David Amiel confirmed that no company will face sanctions during 2026, describing 1st September as a starting point rather than a cut-off date.²

That breathing space may prove important.

France has built one of the most ambitious e-invoicing regimes attempted in Europe: structured domestic B2B invoicing, e-reporting for transactions outside the domestic B2B flow, payment data, invoice lifecycle statuses, a central directory and an ecosystem of more than 130 approved private platforms.³

Cybersecurity is also moving rapidly up the agenda. Approved platforms must provide the administration with a cybersecurity progress report by the end of September, immediately report cyber incidents and begin widespread penetration testing this autumn. Platforms failing to demonstrate the required security standards could have their operations suspended.²

After years of discussing the French mandate in the future tense, France is now live.

And the real test starts now.

Sources:

¹ https://www.economie.gouv.fr/actualites/facturation-electronique-entre-entreprises-coup-denvoi-de-la-reforme

² https://presse.economie.gouv.fr/la-facturation-demarre-aujourdhui-priorite-a-laccompagnement-des-entreprises/

³ https://questions.assemblee-nationale.fr/q17/17-16666QE.htm