France e-invoicing calendar 2026-2027: who must do what, and when?

France's reform took effect on 1 September 2026. The timetable was set by the 2024 Finance Act ^[1] and is confirmed by the French tax authority (DGFiP) ^[2]. The questionnaire above gives you your date; the details follow.

The three dates

Date	Who	Obligation
1 Sep 2026	Every VAT-taxable business established in France, whatever its size	Receive e-invoices through an approved platform ^[2]
1 Sep 2026	Large companies (GE) and mid-caps (ETI)	Issue e-invoices and transmit data (e-reporting) ^[2]
1 Sep 2027 at the latest	SMEs (PME) and micro-businesses, including sole traders (auto-entrepreneurs)	Issue and e-report ^[2]

Transaction e-reporting (sales to consumers, international transactions) follows the same timetable as issuing ^[2]. SMEs and micro-businesses that are members of a VAT group (assujetti unique, article 256 C of the French tax code) do not get the 2027 date ^[1].

Am I micro, PME, ETI or GE?

The category is assessed per SIREN (legal unit), using the 2008 decree criteria ^[3][4]:

Category	Headcount	And turnover or balance sheet
Micro-business	fewer than 10	turnover or balance sheet ≤ €2M
SME (PME)	fewer than 250	turnover ≤ €50M or balance sheet ≤ €43M
Mid-cap (ETI)	fewer than 5,000	turnover ≤ €1,500M or balance sheet ≤ €2,000M
Large company (GE)	all others	—

Two practical rules [3]:

a business moves up as soon as the headcount threshold is exceeded; otherwise only if turnover and balance sheet both exceed the threshold;
size is assessed on 1 January 2025, using the last financial year closed before that date. A business created since then uses its first closed financial year.

"Micro-business" here is a size category, not the micro-entrepreneur tax regime. A sole trader is a micro-business in this table; so is a limited company with 8 staff.

Receiving: already mandatory

Since 1 September 2026 every taxable business must have chosen an approved platform for receiving, even if it never charges VAT or only makes exempt supplies ^[2]. The DGFiP's example is a doctor or an osteopath, who must be able to receive invoices from their energy or internet provider ^[2]. Businesses under the VAT franchise (franchise en base) are included ^[8].

Issuing and reporting from 1 September 2027

From your issuing date, invoices to business customers established in France must go through an approved platform. Sales to consumers and transactions with foreign customers are e-reported, at a frequency that depends on your VAT regime [5]:

VAT regime	Transaction data	Payment data
Normal regime, monthly	3 filings per month (10-day periods)	monthly
Normal regime, quarterly (option)	monthly	monthly
Simplified regime	monthly	monthly
VAT franchise	every two months (calendar bimonth)	every two months

You may join voluntarily before your date ^[7]. Until your obligation starts, a customer cannot require an e-invoice from you on the basis of the law ^[7].

Penalties

The 2026 Finance Act raised the fines [6]:

€50 per invoice not issued electronically, capped at €15,000 per calendar year ^[3]^[6];
€500 per missing e-reporting transmission, capped at €15,000 per year ^[6];
no receiving platform: €500 after a formal notice left unanswered for three months, then €1,000 for each further three-month period ^[3]^[6].

A first offence is not penalised if it is corrected spontaneously or within 30 days of a first request ^[6]. For the start-up phase the DGFiP says it will not penalise businesses that have difficulties but are seriously working towards compliance; this is neither a postponement nor a suspension ^[7].

Key dates: France

1 Sep 2026 in force All businesses must be able to receive e-invoices [1] [2]

1 Sep 2026 in force Large and mid-size companies issue e-invoices and e-report [1] [2]

1 Sep 2027 in 308 days SMEs and micro-businesses issue e-invoices and e-report [1] [2]

Countdowns as of 28 Oct 2026. This page is updated every day.

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<p><a href="https://einvoicemap.com/en/fr/e-invoicing-calendar-2026-2027/">E-invoicing deadlines (France): E-Invoice Map</a></p>