France is to impose electronic invoicing on B2B transactions between January 2023 and 2025. 

This rule will include pre-approval of sales e-invoices through the government portal Chorus Pro before sending them to the customer. The withdrawal of paper invoices is included in the last financial account. The French are also proposing to introduce pre-filled VAT returns in 2023. This is to apply to previously submitted e-invoices, for which taxpayers could apply for correction in the event of errors or corrections.

The French e-invoice plan follows the success of the Italian SdI system, covering B2B and B2C transactions in 2019. France will apply to the European Commission for a derogation from the EU VAT Directive, which usually requires customers to submit written agreements to accept electronic invoices.

Businesses will need to use the free Chorus Pro portal to issue and send e-invoices to their business customers. Invoices can be sent to Chorus Pro in one of the following ways:

1. Manually

2. Sending invoices in PDF or XML format

3. EDI or API connection.

The collected data will then be used to fill in draft VAT returns, including sales and purchase invoices. After that, the invoices will be made available to taxpayers for inspection and request for corrections. It would therefore end the model of filling in and submitting VAT returns by taxpayers. It is not yet clear how cross-border or non-resident taxpayers would be treated. In Italy, such cases require separate reports from the electronic invoicing model.