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 February-March 2022

Article: Electronic invoicing: e-invoicing and e-reporting : Getting ready for the upcoming change in 2024

In Brief

Article

Electronic invoicing: e-invoicing and e-reporting

Getting ready for the upcoming change in 2024

Since January 1, 2020, French companies must switch to the electronic format (e-invoicing) for issuing invoices to the public sphere (public contracting). All of these invoices transit via the Chorus Pro platform.

As of July 1st 2024, it is the turn of  intercompany relations(B2B)  to switch to electronic invoicing. Here are a few words on the steps and key ideas to remember.

An electronic invoice is an invoice issued, transmitted and received in a dematerialized form and which necessarily includes a minimum of data in structured form, which differentiates it from “paper” invoices or ordinary PDF.

Ordinance No. 2021-1190 of September 15, 2021 on the generalization of electronic invoicing in transactions between taxable persons for value added tax and the transmission of transaction data has generalized the obligation of electronic invoicing.

A new article 289 bis has been created in the General Tax Code. It provides for the obligation to issue invoices in electronic form when the issuer of the invoice and its recipient are taxable persons for VAT purposes who are established or have their domicile or habitual residence in France.

In other words, the obligation to issue electronic invoices applies to purchases and sales of goods and/or services between companies established in France that are subject to VAT, provided that the transactions are domestic, i.e. that they concern the national territory.

The obligation to issue and transmit invoices in electronic format will apply progressively, depending on the size of the company, as follows

• as of July 1, 2024, for large companies;
• as of January 1, 2025, for medium-sized companies;
• as of January 1, 2026 for small and medium-sized companies and microenterprises.

The size of the company is assessed as follows:

• a microenterprise is a company with less than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding 2 million euros;
• an “PME” is a company with a workforce of less than 250 people and an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million euros or a balance sheet total not exceeding 43 million euros;
• an “ETI”, intermediate-sized company, is a company that does not belong to the SME category, with a workforce of less than 5,000 people and an annual turnover not exceeding 1,500 million euros or a balance sheet total not exceeding 2,000 million euros;
• a large company is a company that cannot be classified as previous categories.

The size of the company is assessed as of June 30, 2023, based on the last fiscal year ended before that date or, if no such year has been completed, on the basis of the first fiscal year ended after that date.

Please note that while the obligation to issue invoices in electronic format is staggered over time depending on the size of the business, the obligation to receive invoices in electronic format applies to all businesses, regardless of size, as of July 1, 2024. Therefore, businesses must be ready to process electronic invoices inbound as of July 1, 2024, regardless of their size.

Electronic invoicing must be carried out, at the choice of the company, either using the public portal (Chorus Pro) or another dematerialization platform. A new IT tool must therefore be integrated into the company’s operations.

For commercial transactions that are not concerned by electronic invoicing (for example, sales and services to private individuals – BtoC – or transactions with operators established abroad – exports, intra-Community deliveries) the legislator has provided for an obligation to transmit certain data to the administration (e-reporting). The information that must be communicated within the framework of e-reporting concerns, for example, the amount of the commercial transaction and the amount of the invoiced VAT.

The e-reporting obligation comes into force according to the same timetable as the electronic invoicing obligation.

An FAQ has been put online by the Administration. The document is available in its version up to 31.01.2023 via the following link: FAQ.

In Brief

Cass. soc., 8 feb. 2023, n° 21-16.258, FS-B

In a decision dated February 8, 2023, the Court of Cassation ruled that an employer may not dismiss an employee who is unable to work for any reason other than inaptitude, regardless of whether he or she had initiated a dismissal procedure for another reason prior to the declaration of inaptitude.

Publications:

Luca Demurtas has published a new article on the Village de la Justice website entitled: “Gender equality index: how to calculate, what consequences and what sanctions?”