THE KEY POINTS IN 5
- E-invoicing covers invoices between businesses established in France. E-reporting covers what falls outside it: sales to consumers and transactions with other countries.
- It concerns online sellers, retailers and tradespeople who sell to consumers, freelancers with private clients, and businesses that export or trade with other EU countries.
- The dates are those for issuing e-invoices: September 1, 2026 for large and mid-sized companies, and September 1, 2027 for SMEs, very small businesses and micro-enterprises.
- Two kinds of data go to the tax authority, transaction data and payment data, at a frequency that depends on your VAT regime.
- A missing or non-compliant transmission costs €500, up to €15,000 per year and per category.
What is e-reporting?
The reform rests on two mechanisms. The first, e-invoicing, moves invoices between businesses established in France in electronic form, from one accredited platform (plateforme agréée) to another. Many sales stay outside this network. A sale to a consumer, an export or a delivery to a German customer don’t go through it, and the state wants to keep an eye on these flows.
That’s the role of e-reporting. For these transactions, you don’t send an e-invoice to a customer: you send the transaction data to the tax authority, through your accredited platform. The public invoicing portal (PPF) acts here as a concentrator. It gathers what the platforms send it and hands it to the DGFiP, the French tax authority.
E-invoicingSales between businesses established in France
- You issue the invoiceFactur-X, UBL or CII
- Your accredited platform
- Your customer’s accredited platform
- Your customer receives the invoice
E-reportingConsumers, other countries, payments received
- Your sales or payment dataas totals, or transaction by transaction
- Your accredited platform
- The PPF concentrator
- The tax authority
Transaction data, payment data
The tax authority distinguishes two categories.
- Transaction data covers transactions with people who aren’t liable for VAT, in practice consumers, or with operators established abroad (exports, intra-EU supplies and acquisitions).
- Payment data covers payments received for transactions whose VAT is due on receipt of payment. These are mainly services, when the business hasn’t opted to pay VAT on invoicing (d’après les débits) and the transaction isn’t reverse-charged.
Who is concerned by e-reporting?
More businesses than you’d think. Look for your situation in the table.
| Your situation | Transaction data | Payment data |
|---|---|---|
| Online seller selling to consumers | Yesas totals | Depends on the regimefor VAT |
| Retailer or tradesperson with private customers | Yesas totals | If VAT is due on receipt |
| Freelancer or service provider with private clients | Yesas totals | If VAT is due on receipt |
| Business that exports outside the European Union | Yestransaction by transaction | Case by case |
| Intra-EU supplies or acquisitions | Yestransaction by transaction | Case by case |
| Business that only sells to French businesses | Noe-invoicing takes care of it | If VAT is due on receipt |
| Foreign business, transactions taxable in France | Yessame timeline | Yessame timeline |
Two clarifications. A foreign business that isn’t established in France, but carries out transactions taxable in France that fall within e-reporting, follows the same timeline as a French business (article 91 of the 2024 Finance Act). And the VAT exemption for small businesses (franchise en base) doesn’t exempt you. A micro-entrepreneur who sells to consumers is concerned from September 1, 2027.
The identity of your private customers
It isn’t sent. For sales to consumers, you send totals per period, amounts and VAT, without your customers’ names. That’s what the CNIL, the French data protection authority, asked for in its May 2022 opinion. Transactions with businesses established abroad, on the other hand, are sent one by one, with both parties identified.
What sets e-invoicing apart from e-reporting
The two mechanisms complement each other, but they don’t work the same way.
| Criterion | E-invoicing | E-reporting |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Sales between VAT-registered businesses established in France | Sales to consumers and international transactions |
| What travels | The full invoice, from one accredited platform to another | Data, sent to the tax authority |
| Recipient | Your customer, through their accredited platform | The tax authority, through the concentrator |
| Level of detail | Invoice by invoice | As totals (consumers) or transaction by transaction (international) |
| Formats | Factur-X, UBL, CII | Structured reporting data |
| Penalty | €50 per invoice | €500 per transmission |
The same business often falls under both. Take a software publisher that sells licenses to French businesses, to consumers and to German customers. Its sales to French businesses go through e-invoicing, the other two through e-reporting. For the invoicing side, see the full guide to e-invoicing in France.
The e-reporting timeline and how often to send
E-reporting starts at the same time as the obligation to issue e-invoices.
How often you send depends on your VAT regime. The table below follows the one the DGFiP updated in August 2026.
Source: impots.gouv.fr, “Fréquences et délais de transmission des données de transaction et de paiement” (transmission frequencies and deadlines), August 2026 update.
Your accredited platform makes these filings from your sales data. Your till, online store or invoicing software still has to feed it properly. Every date of the reform is gathered in our e-invoicing timeline.
The data that goes to the tax authority
Without going into the DGFiP’s external specifications, remember that e-reporting says who is selling (your SIREN, the French company number), what was sold and when, for what amount excluding VAT and with what VAT. Payment data adds the sums received over the period.
You don’t have to send your invoices electronically to your private customers, who aren’t required to receive them, and your internal business documents aren’t concerned. E-reporting is a reporting flow. It is designed for tax audits and, in time, for pre-filling VAT returns.
What a missed filing costs
A missing or non-compliant transmission costs €500, up from €250 before (article 1788 D of the French General Tax Code, amended by law no. 2026-103 of February 19, 2026). The total is capped at €15,000 per calendar year and per category, transactions on one side, payments on the other. A first offense isn’t penalized if you correct it on your own or within 30 days, provided you haven’t been penalized in the current year or the three previous ones. It’s all detailed on our page on penalties and fines.
Two real cases
The same text doesn’t weigh the same depending on what you sell and to whom.
You sell online to consumers
- Sales to consumers in FranceTransaction e-reporting, as totals
- Sales to French businessesE-invoicing, through your platform
- Sales abroadE-reporting, one by one if the customer is a business
First check that your online store or invoicing software is connected to an accredited platform that can produce these three flows.
You invoice services to private clients
- Services to private clientsTransaction e-reporting, as totals
- Your payments received, if your VAT is due on receiptPayment e-reporting
- Your deadlineSeptember 1, 2027
VAT on receipt is the default regime for services. A platform with a free plan, such as Indy, Tiime, Abby or Shine, may be enough. Check that it is on the official list.
In both cases, your filings start from your records. If your sales invoices and proof of payment are scattered across your emails, marketplace exports and binders, the quality of your e-reporting will suffer. Start by gathering them and dating them.
Gather the records that back up your sales
E-reporting sends your sales data to the tax authority. It doesn’t file your sales or your purchases, yet it’s in your records that someone will check a figure.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between e-invoicing and e-reporting?
E-invoicing moves an invoice between two businesses established in France, from one accredited platform to another. E-reporting sends the tax authority the data of transactions that fall outside this network, such as sales to consumers and international transactions. In that second case, no invoice is routed to a customer.
Is a micro-entrepreneur concerned by e-reporting?
Yes, if they sell to consumers or abroad. The obligation applies from September 1, 2027 for micro-enterprises, even under the VAT exemption for small businesses, and filings are then made every two months. It’s all detailed in e-invoicing for micro-entrepreneurs.
Do I have to send the identity of my private customers?
No. For sales to consumers, you send totals per period (amounts and VAT), in line with the CNIL’s opinion. Only transactions with businesses established abroad are sent one by one.
How often do I have to send data?
It depends on your VAT regime. Under the standard monthly regime, transaction data goes every ten days, three times a month, and payment data once a month. Under the simplified regime and the standard quarterly regime, filings are monthly. Under the VAT exemption for small businesses, they happen every two months. The full table is above.
What’s the fine for a missed e-reporting filing?
€500 per missing or non-compliant transmission, up to €15,000 per year and per category. A first offense corrected on your own or within 30 days escapes the fine, under conditions.
Are my sales abroad concerned?
Yes, whether they are exports outside the European Union or intra-EU supplies and acquisitions. These transactions are sent one by one, with the parties identified.
Who sends the data, me or my accredited platform?
Your platform does the sending, but the obligation remains yours. It passes the data up to the tax authority’s concentrator. It’s up to you to feed it properly and to check that your till or invoicing software is connected to it.
Can Clivio do my e-reporting?
No. Clivio is not an accredited platform and sends no data to the tax authority, but it helps you keep and find the invoices and receipts your returns are based on.
Official sources (in French): impots.gouv.fr, Je découvre la facturation électronique · impots.gouv.fr FAQ, J’approfondis la facturation électronique · impots.gouv.fr, transmission frequencies and deadlines · economie.gouv.fr · Légifrance (General Tax Code, law no. 2026-103)
Updated October 15, 2026 by the Clivio team. Spotted an error or a new text? contact@clivio.app