The French e-invoicing mandate: who is affected?
Enter your headcount, turnover and balance sheet: the tool gives your size category and the date from which you must issue e-invoices.
Your category
SME
Issuing mandatory on 1 September 2027; receiving for everyone on 1 September 2026.
| Micro | < 10 staff and turnover or balance sheet ≤ €2,000,000 |
| SME | < 250 staff and turnover ≤ €50,000,000 or balance sheet ≤ €43,000,000 |
| ETI | < 5,000 staff and turnover ≤ €1,500,000,000 or balance sheet ≤ €2,000,000,000 |
Article 3 of decree no. 2008-1354. The category used for e-invoicing is the one on 1 January 2025.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · Tax code, BOFiP and approved-platform list checked on 25 October 2026
The e-invoicing mandate covers transactions between VAT taxable persons established in France, under article 289 bis of the French tax code. It has three parts. Since 1 September 2026, every business must be able to receive e-invoices, whatever its size. Issuing has been mandatory since 1 September 2026 for large companies and mid-sized companies (ETI), and will be from 1 September 2027 for SMEs and micro-enterprises. On the same date as issuing, transactions that do not go through an e-invoice, sales to consumers and cross-border transactions, are covered by e-reporting, as are payments received for services. Company size is assessed on 1 January 2025 under the 2008 decree: headcount, turnover and balance sheet total for the last closed financial year. Exempt transactions that do not require an invoice, such as some health or education activities, stay outside the system. A business can therefore have to receive e-invoices long before it has to issue any.
Three duties, three timetables
The core text is article 289 bis of the French tax code: invoices for transactions between taxable persons established in France are issued electronically and sent through an approved platform. The timetable is in article 91 of the 2024 Finance Act, which replaced the original 2024 to 2026 dates with 2026 and 2027. The administration restated them in its news item of 30 September 2026.
| Duty | Large companies and ETIs | SMEs and micro-enterprises |
|---|---|---|
| Receive e-invoices | 1 September 2026 | 1 September 2026 |
| Issue e-invoices | 1 September 2026 | 1 September 2027 |
| Transaction and payment e-reporting | 1 September 2026 | 1 September 2027 |
The law allowed a decree to push these dates back, to 1 December 2026 at the latest for the first wave and 1 December 2027 for the second. The decree of 27 July 2026 did not use that option: the dates in the table are those in force when we checked.
What falls within scope
An e-invoice is required when seller and buyer are both VAT taxable persons established in France, including when the buyer is under the basic exemption. Sales to consumers, deliveries abroad, services to customers not established in France and purchases from foreign suppliers do not go through an e-invoice: they fall under the e-reporting of article 290 of the tax code. Exempt transactions that require no invoice, under articles 261 to 261 E, are outside both systems. Guadeloupe, Martinique and La Réunion are within scope, French Guiana and Mayotte outside.
E-invoices mandatory for issuing from
E-invoices mandatory for issuing from
1 September 2027
| Size category | SME |
| Receive e-invoices | 1 September 2026 |
| Issue e-invoices | 1 September 2027 |
| Sales e-reporting (consumers, abroad) | 1 September 2027 · 3 sends a month (1-10, 11-20, 21-end), within 10 days |
Your category, in a minute
The timetable depends on the size category defined by decree no. 2008-1354. The thresholds combine headcount with a financial test: turnover or balance sheet total, whichever is more favourable. A business with forty employees and eight million euros of turnover is an SME; it will issue from 1 September 2027. The calculator at the top of the page does this, and the micro-enterprise page covers the smallest businesses.
What the mandate changes in practice
For most small businesses, the first change is receiving: suppliers upload their invoices to their platform and they arrive on yours, not in your letterbox. You therefore need to choose a platform even if you issue nothing before 2027. The second change is invoice content, with four new mentions. The third is e-reporting of your consumer sales. The detailed timetable and the fine calculator complete the picture.