Regulatory updates - France

AFNOR (the French National Organization for Standardization)—the entity that published this draft version of the API technical specifications—aims to define standardized APIs and applicable rules to facilitate the exchange of e-invoices, e-reporting data, and lifecycle statuses between PDPs, among other information.

Draft version 0.1 will remain open for public review and comments for one month, allowing stakeholders interested in the upcoming mandate to provide feedback. Future versions will be published in the coming months, incorporating the feedback received.

On April 11, 2025, the National Assembly rejected the amendment to postpone the French CTC mandate. The amendment proposed to delay the previous timeline by one year to give companies more time to prepare for the reform.

The previous timeline still remains, and companies should continue preparing for the following roll-out schedule:

• September 1, 2026:  Obligation for all companies to be able to receive e-invoices, and Large (Grandes Entreprises) and Intermediate (Entreprises de Taille Intermédiaire) companies to issue e-invoices;
  • This date may be postponed by a decree until December 1, 2027, at the latest;

• September 1, 2027: Obligation for Small, Medium (Petites et Moyennes Entreprises) and Micro (Très Petites Entreprises) companies to issue e-invoices.
  • This date may be postponed by a decree until December 1, 2028, at the latest.

On March 24, 2025, a draft amendment was adopted by the French committee of National Assembly. The amendment proposes to delay the initial introduction of the French CTC mandate on September 1, 2026, by the following timelines:

• September 1, 2027:  Obligation for all companies to be able to receive e-invoices, Large and Intermediate companies to issue e-invoices;
  • This date may be postponed by a decree until December 1, 2027, at the latest;

• September 1, 2028: Obligation for Small, Medium and Micro companies to issue e-invoices.
  • This date may be postponed by a decree until December 1, 2028, at the latest.

The main reason for this potential delay proposed by the amendment has to do with the changes to the PPF (Portail Public de Facturation), the Government’s e-invoicing platform, in October of last year. Previously, it was intended that the PPF would have a central part in the distribution of e-invoices and would offer a free-of-charge alternative for companies to choose. This is no longer the case, and the draft amendment aims to give companies more time to prepare, considering the changes that happened.

It is uncertain if the draft amendment will pass the next steps of the legislative process in its current form, but if it does, it would mean yet another delay to the French reform. The final vote on the draft amendment is expected in April 2025.