France is implementing a decentralised continuous transaction control (CTC) system where domestic B2B e-invoicing constitutes the foundation of the system, adding e-reporting requirements for data relating to B2C and cross-border B2B transactions (sales and purchases).
Under this upcoming regime, data or invoices can be directly sent to the Invoicing Public Portal ‘PPF’ (Portail Public de Facturation, so far known as Chorus Pro) or to a Partner Dematerialization Platform ‘PDP’ (Plateformes de Dématerialisation Partenaires). In addition, there are also Dematerializing Operators (Operateurs de dématérialisation) that are connected to either the PPF or a PDP.
Requirements for these portal and platforms have been published.
New details on requirements for portals and obtaining PDP status
The Ministry of Economy published Decree No. 2022-1299 and Order of 7 October 2022 on the generalisation of e-invoicing in transactions between taxable persons for VAT and the transmission of transaction data (together known as ‘new legislation’), providing long-awaited details for PDP operators and PPF.
The new legislation introduces rules concerning the application process for PDP operators. Although French establishment isn’t required, PDP operators must fulfill a number of requirements, such as operating their IT systems in the EU.
France is implementing a model where third-party service providers are authorised to transmit invoices between the transacting parties. With the mandatory use of the PPF or PDPs for exchanging e-invoices, trading parties cannot exchange invoices between them directly. Therefore, PDPs must be able to receive and send invoices in structured formats, whether the ones supported by the PPF (CII, UBL, or FACTUR-X) or any other required by their clients. Also, to ensure interoperability, PDPs are expected to connect with at least one other PDP. Besides this requirement, it’s stated by the new decree that PDPs must be able to send e-invoices to PDPs chosen by their recipients which implies a complete interoperability between PDPs.
Transitional period for submitting PDF invoices
It was previously announced that taxpayers could submit PDF invoices for a transitional period. The new legislation outlines the transitional period as until the end of 2027. During this period PDPs and PPF must be able to convert the PDF into one of the structured formats.
New details on e-invoicing and e-reporting in France
The new legislation also provides information about the content of e-invoices, which has new mandatory fields, and the content of transaction and payment data to be transmitted to the tax authority.
It also announced frequencies and dates of data transmission. Deadlines for transaction and payment data transmission are based on the tax regimes of taxpayers. For example, taxpayers subject to the normal monthly regime should transmit payment data within ten days after the end of the month.
With the aim of having traceability over documents, the lifecycle statuses of the domestic B2B e-invoices are exchanged between the parties and transmitted to the PPF. Lifecycle statuses that are mandatory (“Deposited”, “Rejected”, “Refused” and “Payment Received”) are listed in the new legislation.
Further details regarding the Central Directory, which consists of data to properly identify the recipient of the e-invoice and its platform, are provided within the Order.
The road ahead for service providers
PDP operator candidates can apply for registration as of Spring 2023 (precise date still to be confirmed), instead of September 2023 as previously set. From January 2024, a six-month test run is expected to be conducted for enterprises and PDPs before the implementation in July 2024.
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