France will terminate the one‑off fiscal representation route for Customs Procedure 42 on 1 January 2026, requiring non‑EU sellers to register for French VAT in their own name and file ongoing returns. The change removes the simplified “France‑as‑gateway” model and forces operators to adopt a formal French VAT footprint or reroute through other EU members.
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VatCalc · 1 day ago
France confirms that its e‑invoicing mandate remains scheduled for 1 September 2026, with no postponement announced. The DGFiP will soften penalty enforcement until at least 1 January 2027 for taxpayers who made best efforts from the start of the first phase, and a contingency deferral to 1 December 2026 is still available. The launch will rely on the Plateforme Agréée network, of which only a fraction are currently active.
e-Invoice.app · 2 days ago
France's e-invoicing reform, effective 1 September 2026, requires all businesses with a French VAT footprint to use approved platforms for issuing and receiving electronic invoices and for transmitting transaction and payment data. The reform mandates structured invoice formats (UBL, CII, Factur-X) following EN 16931 with French extensions and adds four mandatory fields. SMEs and micro-enterprises will join the issuance and reporting obligations on 1 September 2027, while large enterprises must comply from 1 September 2026.
The Invoicing Hub · 21 days ago
France's e-invoicing mandate will enter its first phase on 1 September 2026, requiring large companies to issue and receive electronic invoices and submit e‑reporting to the PPF, while small firms must only receive them. The latest External Specifications v3.2, published 30 April 2026, mandate hourly aggregation of PPF submissions by Accredited Platforms and clarify B2G, G2B, and G2G processing. AFNOR standards are slated for final updates by the end of May 2026 to cover additional use cases such as agriculture and food industry.
Bloomberg Tax · 23 days ago
The French Supreme Court reaffirmed that contractual arrangements determine the recipient of services for VAT purposes in the American Express case. It ruled that issuer commissions are considered services supplied to a non‑EU recipient, allowing the French entity to recover VAT on those commissions. The decision reinforces the importance of economic substance and contractual reality in VAT treatment.
Melasoft · about 2 months ago
France will enforce e-invoicing for B2B transactions from 1 September 2026, requiring all VAT‑registered businesses to receive and issue invoices in UBL, CII, or Factur‑X formats via certified dematerialisation platforms. The obligation extends to SMEs and micro‑businesses on 1 September 2027, and the Business Directory based on SIREN numbers will replace email addresses for recipient identification.
E-Invoice.app · 2 months ago
The blog explains that ISO 27001 certification is becoming a mandatory requirement for e‑invoicing platforms in several jurisdictions, notably France, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. It outlines the key dates, such as France’s September 2026 deadline and the October 2025 completion of the ISO 27001:2022 transition, and details the certification’s three‑year validity and surveillance audit schedule.
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Key Takeaways
France ends the one‑off fiscal representation route for Procedure 42 on 1 January 2026.
They must register for French VAT in their own name and file ongoing French VAT returns, and may need a fiscal representative.
No, the new framework does not cover Procedure 42 imports.
Brokers and 3PLs must update master data, importer‑of‑record fields, and documentation templates to reflect the new VAT registration and reporting requirements.
Primary source
Read the full article at VATAiThis summary was published on VATfaqs.com on 10 January 2026. It relates to VAT developments in France. The original source is VATAi.
