France the reform

Objectives:

• Strengthening the competitiveness of companies
• Reduction of the administrative burden
• Decrease in payment times
• Productivity gains resulting from dematerialization (4.5 billion euros)
• Fight against fraud
• Improved knowledge of company activity
• Simplification, in the long term, of VAT declaration obligations thanks to pre-filling

Companies concerned:
All companies subject to VAT

Electronic invoicing/CTC model:

• B2G: centralized/Peppol
• B2B: post audit, customs clearance/centralized from July 2024

Mandatory status:

• B2G: Public administrations and their suppliers are obliged to exchange electronic invoices, within the framework of public procurement, via the Chorus Pro concentrator portal
• B2B: The exchange of B2B electronic invoices will become mandatory between 2024 and 2026, depending on the size and sector of the company. Currently, in the B2B context, its use is subject to the recipient's acceptance, and therefore not mandatory

e-invoicing: Y-shaped diagram
Four actors:

• The companies
• Their Dematerialization Operator (DO)
• The Public Billing Portal (PPF)
• The Partner Dematerialization Platforms (PDP)

Mandatory infrastructure:

• B2G: Chorus Pro/Peppol
• B2B: N/A

Mandatory format:

• B2G: UBL 2.0, UBL 2.1, CII 16B, CPP, FacturX, PES, PDF, Peppol BIS
• B2B: N/A

Mandatory for issuance:

• B2G: Suppliers to all contracting authorities
• B2B: Gradual roll-out from July 2024

Mandatory for receiving:

• B2G: All contracting authorities
• B2B: all buyers from July 2024

Electronic signature:

• Not mandatory, but common

Archiving period:

• 6 or 10 years. The minimum obligation is 6 years in tax law, 10 years in commercial law

Reference links:

• AIFE: Agency for State Financial Information Technology
• DGFiP: General Directorate of Public Finance
• Tax Authority: External Specifications
• FNFE: National Forum of Electronic Invoice