Receiving, Issuing, E-Reporting: The Three E-Invoicing Obligations Explained
- 18 août
- 7 min de lecture
E-invoicing versus e-reporting in France is where most English explanations go wrong. They treat "electronic invoicing" as one switch. French law actually creates three related duties: receiving e-invoices, issuing e-invoices (domestic B2B), and e-reporting transaction and sometimes payment data for flows outside that B2B channel. A family SCI or LMNP landlord may need only reception. A VAT-liable short-term host may need all three.
This explainer is the mechanism page for the cluster. Read it once, then return to the hub or to the SCI / furnished guides for your ownership profile.
FrenchNotaires matches you free of charge with vetted bilingual notaires, typically within about 48 hours, in person or by video call. Platform choice stays with your accountant; the notaire helps when title or SCI structure decides who the taxable person is.
Key takeaways
Three duties, not one: reception, issuing (e-invoicing), e-reporting.
E-invoicing = structured domestic B2B invoices between French-established taxable persons, via a Plateforme Agréée (Factur-X, UBL or CII).
E-reporting = data to the tax authority for flows outside that channel (notably B2C and many cross-border cases), plus payment data for many services.
Reception is mandatory for in-scope businesses from 1 September 2026, even if you never issue.
A casual PDF by email is not a compliant domestic B2B e-invoice once issuing applies.
Three distinct obligations, not one
French reform language often says facturation électronique as an umbrella. Under the bonnet you will meet:
Reception - capacity to receive structured electronic invoices from suppliers through an approved platform;
Issuing (e-invoicing) - creating and sending structured electronic invoices for in-scope domestic B2B supplies;
E-reporting - transmitting transaction data (and, in defined cases, payment data) to the administration for operations that do not travel as domestic B2B e-invoices.
Legal anchors include CGI Article 289 bis (electronic issue, transmission and reception between French-established taxable persons via a plateforme agréée) and CGI Article 290 (transaction / e-reporting framework). Article 289 E covers transmission of e-invoice data to the administration by the platform.
You can be in scope for reception only. You can be in scope for reception plus e-reporting but rarely issue a B2B e-invoice. Mixing the three words is how landlords buy the wrong software.
E-invoicing: domestic B2B between French-established taxable persons
In the narrow sense, e-invoicing is the structured exchange of invoices when:
both supplier and customer are VAT taxable persons;
both are established (or domiciled / habitually resident) in France, in the sense of Article 289 bis;
the operation is a domestic supply that falls inside the e-invoice perimeter.
Those invoices must travel through a Plateforme Agréée in an accepted structured format. The administration and ecosystem documentation repeatedly cite Factur-X, UBL and CII. A free-text PDF attached to an email is not that channel.
When an e-invoice is issued under Article 289 bis, required invoice data is also pushed toward the tax authority via the platform chain. You are not meant to email a spreadsheet to the DGFiP yourself for those B2B flows.
Who is a taxable person, and how that differs from merely charging VAT, is the companion concept page in this series. For property owners, start with the hub: Rental Income and E-Invoicing.
E-reporting: what e-invoicing does not cover
E-reporting fills the gaps. Where there is no domestic B2B e-invoice to carry the data, the taxable person still reports defined information to the administration through a platform.
Transaction e-reporting
Typical cases include:
B2C supplies to non-taxable persons (individuals);
certain cross-border / internationally situated taxable-person customers, where the domestic e-invoice channel does not apply in the same way.
For B2C, the DGFiP e-reporting sheet describes daily aggregated turnover data: net amounts by VAT rate and VAT amounts per day, plus identifiers such as the supplier SIREN and transaction category. Personal names of retail customers are not part of that B2C aggregate package.
Payment e-reporting
For many services (VAT due on collection), payment data must also be transmitted once the service is paid, unless the business has opted for VAT on debits. DGFiP and France Num guidance treat payment reporting as a distinct stream alongside transaction reporting. Short-term hospitality and other service-heavy lets that are VAT-liable often sit in this world.
What e-reporting is not
E-reporting is not "turning every quittance into Factur-X". For classic Article 261 D residential rents that stay outside issuing, you are usually not inventing a B2B e-invoice for the tenant. If you become VAT-liable on tourism or professional flows, your adviser will map which of those flows are e-invoiced and which are e-reported.
Identify the taxable person before you map the flows
Reception, issuing and e-reporting attach to a French taxable person: you, an SCI, or another vehicle. A bilingual notaire can confirm the ownership wrapper; your tax adviser then labels each cash flow.
Reception: the obligation that is easiest to overlook
From 1 September 2026, every business concerned by the reform must be able to receive electronic invoices through a plateforme agréée. That date is not limited to large companies. Issuing may wait until 2027 for SMEs; reception does not.
Why landlords trip here:
they correctly conclude they need not e-invoice a residential tenant;
they incorrectly conclude they need no platform at all;
then a syndic, insurer, cleaner or booking platform sends an e-invoice that has nowhere to land.
Reception means directory registration and a live PA pathway, not a vague intention to "check email more often".
Who does what, and when
Your customer | Typical channel (when you are in scope to issue / report) |
French-established taxable person (domestic B2B) | E-invoicing via PA in structured format |
Individual / non-taxable person (B2C) | Transaction e-reporting (often daily aggregates); invoice to the customer may remain a conventional document |
Internationally established taxable person (many cross-border cases) | Transaction e-reporting rather than domestic B2B e-invoicing |
Services with VAT on collection | Add payment e-reporting when paid (unless VAT-on-debits option applies) |
Duty | From when |
Reception (all in-scope taxable persons) | 1 September 2026 |
Issuing + e-reporting for GE / ETI | 1 September 2026 |
Issuing + e-reporting for SME / micro | 1 September 2027 at the latest |
Formats, platforms and the end of the free inbox myth
Structured e-invoices use formats such as Factur-X (hybrid PDF + XML data), UBL or CII. Your PA may convert between formats so the buyer's system can read what the seller produced, while integrity and completeness rules still apply.
A Plateforme Agréée (PA) is a private operator registered by the tax authority. Per impots.gouv.fr, it can:
issue, transmit and receive e-invoices;
extract and send invoice data to the administration;
transmit transaction data that never became a domestic e-invoice;
transmit payment data where required.
The State's public infrastructure acts as directory and data hub. It is not a free personal inbox that replaces a PA for day-to-day issuing and receiving. Plan on contracting a PA from the official list: Plateformes agréées.
Compatible software (formerly discussed as OD / now often "Solution Compatible") may connect you to a PA without you living inside the PA's own UI. Your accountant often orchestrates that stack.
How this maps for landlords, SCIs and short-term hosts
Profile | Reception | Issuing | E-reporting |
Classic residential let (Art. 261 D), taxable person with SIREN | Often yes from Sep 2026 | No for those exempt rents | No for those exempt rents |
Family SCI, bare residential only | Yes if assujetti recognised | No for those rents | No for those rents |
Para-hôtellerie / VAT-liable furnished tourism | Yes from Sep 2026 | Yes for FR B2B clients (size calendar) | Yes for B2C / relevant cross-border; payment data often relevant |
Professional premises with VAT option | Yes | Yes per client type | Yes where B2C / international |
Deep dives: SCI and E-Invoicing, LMNP and LMP E-Invoicing, Rental Income hub.
Business continuity if a supplier still sends a PDF
The DGFiP practical guide stresses continuity: the reform changes transmission channels, not whether a real supply exists, whether you owe the price, or whether VAT deduction rules suddenly vanish. If a supplier still sends a habitual PDF or paper document during transition, the administration's message is not "refuse to pay". Regularise into the electronic channel as soon as practicable so expected data can reach the administration, and keep evidence that you are actively moving to compliance.
That nuance matters for property managers chasing artisan invoices in autumn 2026. Do not freeze works payments over format panic; do fix the PA pathway.
What to do with this explainer
List your flows: supplier invoices in; tenant rents out; any B2B professional lets; any short-term guest stays.
Label each flow: reception only, e-invoice, or e-report (transaction / payment).
Confirm taxable-person status and SIREN with your accountant.
Choose a PA (and any compatible software) sized to your volume.
Diary 1 September 2026 for reception; diary 2026 or 2027 for issuing / e-reporting if you are VAT-liable.
Where the notaire fits in
Does: identify the owning entity, SCI partners, and deed constraints that decide who faces French compliance.
Does not: usually configure Factur-X, file e-reporting packs, or pick your PA.
Frequently asked questions
Is e-reporting the same as e-invoicing?
No. E-invoicing is the structured exchange of invoices between VAT taxable persons established in France for domestic B2B. E-reporting is the transmission of data for transactions outside that scope, such as B2C and many cross-border flows, plus payment data in some cases.
What is the reception obligation?
From 1 September 2026, every in-scope business must be able to receive electronic invoices from its suppliers through an approved platform, even if it never has to issue one.
Can I keep emailing PDF invoices to French business clients?
Not as the compliant channel once issuing applies to you for domestic B2B. Structured formats via a Plateforme Agréée replace casual PDF email for those flows.
Do residential landlords e-report their rents?
Classic Article 261 D exempt residential rents do not create an issuing or e-reporting duty for those rents. Reception of supplier invoices may still apply.
Does B2C e-reporting require Factur-X to each guest?
No. B2C e-reporting sends aggregated transaction data to the administration through a PA. Your customer-facing document can remain a conventional invoice or receipt as advised for your VAT status.
Is the free public portal enough?
Not for day-to-day issuing and receiving. Use a Plateforme Agréée from the official list. The public layer concentrates directory and data-hub functions.
Related guides
Label the flow, then pick the tool
Once reception, issuing and e-reporting are distinct in your head, platform shopping becomes easier and landlord myths fall away.
Find a bilingual Notaire within 48 hours · Free matching · In person or video · e.g. Lyon or Toulouse