France: Announcement on e-invoice validation services

The Ministry of Finance on October 15, 2024, made an announcement (French) reaffirming its commitment to assist businesses throughout the implementation of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing).

The requirement for French companies to issue and receive e-invoices will apply from September 1, 2026. The transition to e-invoicing will be gradual and is expected to enhance the competitiveness of businesses by improving payment times and streamlining billing processes:

• From September 1, 2026, all businesses must be able to receive e-invoices. Large and mid-size enterprises (ETIs) must also issue e-invoices.
• From September 1, 2027, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and microenterprises must issue e-invoices.

The Ministry of Finance further highlighted that so far 70 entities are authorized to act as providers of e-invoice validation services (locally known as Plateformes de Dematerialisation Partenaires or PDPs). The PDPs will be authorized to handle all e-invoicing functions, including issuing and transmitting e-invoices to customers and transmitting invoice, transaction, and payment data to the administration.

The announcement also seems to suggest that the French government will no longer pursue the provision of a free platform for taxpayers to be able to issue e-invoices as that role will be solely played by the authorized PDPs. The development of a tool that would allow certain taxpayers to issue, receive and manage their e-invoices for free was going to be under the responsibility of the Public Invoicing Portal (Portail Public de Facturation or PPF). Instead, the government will focus on building a directory of recipients, which is essential for exchanges between platforms, and a data concentrator that allows their transmission to the tax authority.

Kathya Capote Peimbert | kcapotepeimbert@kpmg.com

Philippe Stephanny | philippestephanny@kpmg.com

Ramon Frias | ramonfrias@kpmg.com