The emailed PDF invoice: until when, and after
Enter how many PDF invoices you would still send after your date: the tool works out the possible fine, cap included.
Possible fine for the year
€3,000
€50 per invoice (cap €15,000), €500 per missed send (cap €15,000).
| Non-electronic invoices (art. 1737 III) | €3,000 |
| Transaction e-reporting (art. 1788 D I) | €0 |
| Payment data (art. 1788 D II) | €0 |
| Receiving without a platform (art. 1737 IV bis) | €0 |
CGI articles 1737 and 1788 D in force since 21 February 2026. Caps per calendar year; the receiving fine has no cap.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · Tax code, BOFiP and approved-platform list checked on 25 October 2026
A PDF invoice sent by email remains valid between businesses as long as you are not required to issue electronically. That date depends on your size: 1 September 2026 for large and mid-sized companies, 1 September 2027 for SMEs and micro-businesses. After that, every invoice to a VAT taxable business established in France must be issued electronically and go through an approved platform: a plain PDF is no longer enough, however well written. Each invoice issued otherwise can cost 50 euros, up to 15000 euros per calendar year. The PDF does not disappear, though: it remains possible for consumer sales and foreign customers, and the Factur-X format keeps a readable PDF that holds the required structured data. Before your date, sending Factur-X files already gets your customers used to it without changing anything for them, since they open like any PDF.
The dates that matter
Article 289 bis of the French tax code sets the principle, and the service-public.fr page on the timetable sums it up. The PDF remains accepted until your issuing date, then no longer for sales between businesses established in France.
| Size | Emailed PDF accepted until | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Large company, mid-sized company | 1 September 2026 | E-invoice via platform |
| SME, micro-business | 1 September 2027 | E-invoice via platform |
| Consumer sales | No limit | PDF or paper, data e-reported |
| Customers established abroad | No limit | Usual rules, data e-reported |
What one PDF too many costs
Article 1737 III of the tax code penalises each invoice that should have been electronic with €50, capped at €15,000 per calendar year. A first breach in the year and the 3 previous years is not penalised if it is repaired within 30 days. For a business invoicing around sixty business customers a year, the stake is therefore a few thousand euros, not counting the risk of late payment if the customer cannot process a PDF.
Possible fine for the year
Possible fine for the year
€3,000
| Non-electronic invoices (art. 1737 III) | €3,000 |
| Transaction e-reporting (art. 1788 D I) | €0 |
| Payment data (art. 1788 D II) | €0 |
| Receiving without a platform (art. 1737 IV bis) | €0 |
Moving from PDF to Factur-X
The gentlest transition goes through Factur-X: your invoice keeps its look, and an XML file is added to it. The free creator produces that file from the same information as your current template, with the new mentions. Before your date, you can already email it: it remains a valid PDF. From your date, you will submit it on your approved platform, which will send it to the customer.
Special cases
A customer established in France but not a taxable person, such as some associations or local authorities, does not receive an e-invoice under this reform; public bodies already receive their invoices through Chorus Pro. A foreign customer receives an invoice under the usual rules. Finally, a deposit invoice follows the same rules as the final invoice: if the customer is a VAT taxable business established in France, it must be electronic from your date.
Preparing the switch now
Three simple steps are enough to begin: list your business customers with their SIREN, check that your invoice template carries the new mentions, and choose the platform that will already receive your supplier invoices. When the day comes, all that remains is to submit your invoices instead of emailing them.