France’s Finance Bill 2026 (PLF 2026)—specifically Article 28—clarifies the future of the e-invoicing mandate and closes the door on the discussed two-year grace period on penalties.
1. E-invoicing timetable unchanged
Finance Bill 2026 does not move the core dates already set in the 2024 Finance Law and government guidance:
- From 1 September 2026
- All VAT-registered businesses established in France must be able to receive e-invoices.
- Large enterprises and mid-caps must issue e-invoices (and e-reporting data) for in-scope B2B transactions.
- From 1 September 2027
- The issuing obligation extends to SMEs and micro-enterprises.
These dates remain the planning baseline.
2. Article 28: platform framework and sanctions
Article 28 of Finance Bill 2026 mainly:
- Re-labels former PDPs as “plateformes agréées” (PAs) and tightens their approval and supervision regime. Only approved PAs (or the public portal) may sit in the core e-invoicing flow.
- Provides an explicit legal basis for structured e-invoice and e-reporting data flows from PAs to the tax administration (new Article 290-0 CGI).
- Adjusts penalties for e-invoicing / e-reporting non-compliance (Articles 1737 and 1788 D CGI). Earlier drafts increased fines per faulty invoice or missing report; subsequent amendments softened some increases and dropped a standalone penalty for failing to appoint a PA, while keeping sanctions for not being able to issue/receive e-invoices when required.
3. The proposed 2026–2028 grace period (Amendment I-1028)
The two-year grace period came from a separate amendment, not from the core Article 28 text:
- Amendment I-1028 proposed that businesses acting in good faith would not be subject to penalties under Article 1737 III and Article 1788 D I–II for infringements recorded between 1 September 2026 and 31 August 2028.
- A decree of the Conseil d’État would have defined what “good faith” means and how the tolerance operates.
4. Current status: grace-period amendment withdrawn
Crucially, the National Assembly’s official page for Amendment I-1028 now shows the status “Retiré” (withdrawn). That means:
- The amendment was not adopted by the Assembly.
- The two-year tolerance paragraph does not appear in the version of Article 28 agreed between the Assembly and the Senate.
Recent updates confirm that while Parliament converged on Article 28’s technical e-invoicing provisions, it rejected the proposed 2026–2028 grace period.
As a result:
There is no statutory two-year grace period for e-invoicing penalties in the current Finance Bill 2026 package.
5. Practical implication for businesses
From an e-invoicing perspective, you should now work on the basis that:
- The September 2026 / 2027 dates remain firm for receiving and issuing e-invoices.
- Penalty provisions will be available from go-live, subject only to the calibrated levels set in Article 28.
