For domestic sales between businesses established in France and liable for Value-Added Tax (VAT), the reform requires a structured Electronic Invoice (E-Invoice), plus a report of transactions that sit outside that domestic invoice. The public service in that design is a recipient directory and a data concentrator for the tax authority. It is not the pipe a supplier uses to deliver a Business-to-Business (B2B) invoice.
On 15 October 2024 the government said the project would focus on that directory, which platforms need in order to route invoices, and on a concentrator that passes invoicing and transaction data to the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP). The finance law for 2025 confirmed the narrower role. A free public submission portal, where any business could issue and receive invoices itself, is not part of the system. Exchange is reserved for a Plateforme de Dématérialisation Partenaire (PDP), the private operator the administration registers and now also calls an approved platform. Invoices to public bodies still travel through Chorus Pro, which is a different system. The State agency that builds and runs the finance IT systems operates the directory and the concentrator for DGFiP.
The Recipient Directory
The directory is the reference list of businesses and public entities that must send or receive electronic invoices. For each of them it records the approved platform that handles the flow and the electronic address used for routing. A sending platform consults it so the file reaches the recipient’s platform rather than a guessed inbox.
Entries are keyed to the Système d’Identification du Répertoire des Entreprises (SIREN). A location or branch can carry its own address under the Système d’Identification du Répertoire des Établissements (SIRET). The business does not maintain that row by uploading invoices. Its approved platform writes and updates the receiving details.
A public lookup has been available since 18 September 2025. Before a file is sent, a supplier can check three points:
- Scope. Whether the business or public entity is covered by the reform.
- Receiving platform. Whether an approved platform is recorded for it.
- Invoicing address. The electronic address used to route the file.
The Data Concentrator
The same public service takes in tax data, and only a registered platform may submit it. For domestic electronic invoicing, the concentrator receives invoice data and lifecycle statuses and passes them to DGFiP. E-reporting covers what that domestic invoice flow does not: international business sales and purchases, sales to consumers, and payment data where VAT is due when cash is collected. The buyer’s copy of the invoice still moves from the supplier’s platform to the buyer’s platform. The concentrator is the administration’s intake, not the buyer’s inbox.
Approved platforms exchange invoices as Universal Business Language (UBL), as Cross Industry Invoice (CII), or as Factur-X, a Portable Document Format (PDF) that carries an Extensible Markup Language (XML) invoice inside the file. French standard XP Z12-012 describes the invoice and status profiles used among platforms and toward the concentrator.
An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, or another compatible product, may still draft the invoice. If that product is not itself a registered platform, it has to connect to one. On its own it may not deliver the invoice to the customer’s platform or send the tax data onward.
Do not confuse the directory with Pan-European Public Procurement Online (Peppol). France routes domestic electronic invoices between registered platforms. That network is a separate exchange framework. It is not the public directory, and it is not the tax data hub.
Who Must Receive and Who Must Issue
Article 91 of the finance law for 2024 fixed the dates. From 1 September 2026, every business and public entity in scope must be able to receive electronic invoices. From that same date, large businesses and each Entreprise de Taille Intermédiaire (ETI) must issue them. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) and micro-enterprises must issue them from 1 September 2027.
The duty to report transactions outside domestic electronic invoicing follows those size-based issuing dates. The duty to receive does not. It already applies to every business and public entity in scope, so a smaller firm still needs a registered platform in order to be invoiced. Registration of a platform is granted for a renewable three-year term.
| Actor | Job | Boundary |
| Public service | Holds the recipient directory and intakes invoice data, lifecycle statuses, and e-reporting for DGFiP. | Does not issue, receive, or archive the commercial invoice as the buyer’s mailbox. |
| Registered platform | Exchanges the invoice, updates the directory, and submits the required data. | Must hold a DGFiP registration. A compatible product is not enough on its own. |
| Business system | May prepare the invoice in an ERP or other compatible software. | Cannot deliver the invoice or the tax data unless it is registered or connected to a registered platform. |
| Chorus Pro | Carries invoices from suppliers to public bodies. | Does not replace platform-to-platform exchange for a private customer. |
