France E-Invoicing Mandate 2026: The Complete Compliance Guide

France is implementing mandatory B2B e-invoicing in phases starting September 2026. If your business is registered for VAT in France, you need to act now — the largest enterprises face the first deadline in less than six months.

This guide covers everything: the legal basis, the technical architecture, the formats, the deadlines, and exactly what you need to do to comply.

Why France Is Doing This

France has been pushing e-invoicing for years. The B2G (business-to-government) mandate via Chorus Pro has been live since 2017, and millions of invoices already flow through it every year. The B2B mandate is the logical extension: it gives the tax authority (DGFiP) near-real-time visibility into VAT-liable transactions, making fraud detection dramatically more effective.

The legal basis is Article 26 of the Finance Act 2024 (Loi de finances 2024), which delegates implementation authority to a series of decrees under the general supervision of the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP).

The Three-Phase Timeline

France is rolling out the mandate in three phases based on company size:

Phase 1 — 1 September 2026: Large enterprises (grandes entreprises) Companies with annual revenue exceeding €1.5 billion or with more than 5,000 employees must send and receive structured e-invoices. All other businesses must also be able to receive e-invoices from this date.

Phase 2 — 1 September 2027: Mid-size businesses (ETI — entreprises de taille intermédiaire) Companies with annual revenue between €50 million and €1.5 billion, or with between 250 and 5,000 employees, must send and receive structured e-invoices.

Phase 3 — 1 September 2028: All VAT-registered businesses (PME and micro-enterprises) Every remaining business registered for VAT in France must send structured e-invoices. No exceptions.

Note: All businesses must be able to receive e-invoices from Phase 1 (September 2026) onwards, even if they are not yet required to send.

The Technical Architecture

France's system is more complex than Germany's (which is decentralised) but more flexible than Italy's (where everything goes through one government hub). Understanding the architecture is essential for choosing the right tools.

Chorus Pro — The B2G Platform (Existing)

Chorus Pro remains the mandatory portal for invoices sent to French public authorities. If you already use it for B2G invoicing, your setup is already compliant for that use case. The B2B mandate does not replace Chorus Pro — it sits alongside it.

PPF — Portail Public de Facturation (Government Fallback)

The PPF is the government's own e-invoicing platform. Businesses that do not use a private PDP can use the PPF as their entry and exit point for e-invoices. It is free to use, but offers fewer features than certified PDPs.

PDP — Partenaires de Dématérialisation Privés (Private Platforms)

PDPs are certified private platforms that can route e-invoices between businesses. Think of them as authorised postal networks for e-invoices. They must be certified by the DGFiP, and only certified PDPs can legally route B2B e-invoices under the French mandate.

Most businesses are expected to use a PDP rather than the PPF, since PDPs integrate directly with accounting software and offer real-time status tracking. Your existing invoicing software will likely connect to a certified PDP automatically.

The Required Format: Factur-X

France's national e-invoice format is Factur-X. Here is the essential technical fact: Factur-X is technically identical to Germany's ZUGFeRD 2.x format. They share the same specification (ZUGFeRD 2.x / Factur-X 1.x are two names for the same EN 16931-compliant PDF/XML hybrid standard).

What this means in practice:

• A PDF invoice with embedded XML conforming to the EN 16931 "Factur-X" profile
• The PDF can be read and printed like any normal invoice
• The embedded XML contains all the structured data required by the mandate
• Software that supports ZUGFeRD (German format) generally supports Factur-X with minimal configuration changes

Required Factur-X Profiles

Not all Factur-X profiles meet the mandate requirements. You must use at minimum the EN 16931 (Confort) profile. The Minimum and Basic profiles do not carry enough data for mandate compliance.

What You Need to Do Now

For large enterprises (>€250M revenue): Your September 2026 deadline is under six months away. You need to:

1. Conduct a gap analysis of your current invoicing systems
2. Select and contract with a certified PDP
3. Configure your ERP to generate Factur-X EN 16931 profile invoices
4. Test the full send/receive cycle with your PDP
5. Train your accounts payable team to process incoming structured invoices

For mid-size businesses (ETI — €50M–€1.5B revenue or 250–5000 employees): Your September 2027 deadline gives you approximately 17 months. Use this time to evaluate PDPs and plan your implementation carefully. Do not wait until mid-2027.

For small businesses (PME and micro-enterprises): Your deadline is September 2028. Modern invoicing platforms will add compliant Factur-X generation automatically — check with your software provider about their roadmap and select a certified PDP early.

Exemptions

The following are currently exempt from the B2B e-invoicing mandate:

• Transactions with non-taxable persons (B2C)
• Intra-EU cross-border invoices (covered separately by ViDA from 2028)
• Invoices for health services exempt from VAT
• Banking and financial services exempt from VAT

Penalties for Non-Compliance

The French tax authority has not published the final penalty framework as of early 2026. However, based on existing VAT penalty rules, non-compliant invoice submission could result in:

• Rejection of the invoice by the recipient
• Potential disallowance of VAT deduction for the recipient
• Administrative fines to be confirmed by DGFiP decree

Check the DGFiP website (www.impots.gouv.fr) for the latest penalty guidance as it becomes available.

Summary: Key Dates

Phase	Date	Who
Receive mandate (all)	1 Sept 2026	All VAT-registered
Send mandate — Phase 1	1 Sept 2026	Revenue > €1.5B or >5000 employees
Send mandate — Phase 2	1 Sept 2027	ETI: Revenue €50M–€1.5B or 250–5000 employees
Send mandate — Phase 3	1 Sept 2028	All remaining VAT-registered (PME, micro)