Implementing electronic invoicing with a phased approach to B2G transactions from 2017, France plans to introduce mandatory B2B e-invoice and e-reporting from 2023. This includes prepayment of sales invoices via the government’s Chorus Pro portal. Thus, it will initially cover local B2B invoices and additionally, local B2C and cross-border sales invoicing transaction data will need to be reported to French tax authorities (‘e-reporting’).
Both requirements will be implemented as follows:
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January 2023 – Large Businesses
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January 2024 – Medium-Sized Enterprises
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January 2025 – Small Companies
It will require an application to the European Commission for an exception from the EU VAT Directive, as it requires clients to consent to receive e-invoices only in a legal agreement.
Businesses will have to apply for digital access to Chorus Pro. They will then be able to upload sales invoices in one of the following ways:
Manuel Entry PDF or XML Invoice Upload EDI or API Connection
The recording of invoices and their data is used by many countries in Europe. In addition to administrative simplification, it helps fight fraud. Electronic invoicing, a community obligation in exchanges with management, will be extended to transactions between businesses in France.
The General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFiP) examines the generalization of electronic invoicing in its October 2020 report “VAT in the digital age in France” and explains the reform envisaged by the government. In order for the reform to be effective, electronic invoicing (e-invoice) should be done together with electronic transmission of data (e-reporting).
Goals and Advantages of Electronic Invoices
Article 153 of the Finance Law imposes an electronic invoicing obligation for all companies subject to VAT (depending on their size) between January 1, 2023 and January 1, 2025. Four goals have been defined:
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Removing restrictions on the processing of paper invoices and safe trading;
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Fight against tax evasion and reduce the VAT deficit through automatic cross-checks;
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Knowing about companies’ activities to encourage more detailed management of government action;
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Facilitate VAT returns by pre-filling.
According to the DGFiP report, the advantages of electronic invoicing are numerous:
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Low cost (less than one Euro compared to more than ten Euro for paper invoice);
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Continuous automatic invoicing chain;
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Regular monitoring of the progress in invoice processing;
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Limitation of disputes regarding payment terms.
We help our clients with Melasoft SAP e-Invoice Solution, where they can manage their e-Invoice processes from within SAP, which is fully integrated with the French General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFiP).
