Updated November 1, 2026, based on the law and the French tax authority’s documentation.
What is e-reporting?
E-invoicing only covers sales between businesses established in France. To give the tax authority a full view of your activity, other transactions are sent to it as data: that is e-reporting. It comes in two kinds, transaction data and payment data.
This data is used in particular to prefill your VAT returns, which remain mandatory.
Transaction data: consumers and foreign businesses
| Transaction | What is reported |
|---|---|
| Sale to a consumer or a body not registered for VAT, in France or abroad | The day’s total, by category (goods, services…) and VAT rate: net amount and VAT |
| Sale to a business established abroad (in or outside the EU) | The data of each invoice, as for an e-invoice |
| Purchase from a business established abroad (intra-EU goods, reverse-charged services) | The data of each invoice received, reported by you, the buyer |
Imports, transactions outside the scope of VAT and exempt transactions with no invoice requirement are excluded. If your business client has no SIREN and is not in the directory, you report the sale as a consumer sale, with no penalty.
Payment data: the money you receive
For services, VAT is due when you are paid. The tax authority therefore needs to know when you receive payment: you report the payment date and the amount received, by VAT rate.
- For an e-invoice, you simply set its status to “Paid”: the platform reports it.
- For a sale to a consumer, payments are grouped by day and by rate.
- Nothing to report for sales of goods, if you opted to pay VAT on debits, or if your client reverse-charges the VAT.
- Deposits received on services are covered too.
How often do you report?
| VAT regime | Transactions | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Standard, monthly returns | Three times a month (1st-10th, 11th-20th, 21st-end), by the 20th, the last day of the month and the 10th of the next month | Monthly, by the 10th of the next month |
| Standard, quarterly returns | Monthly, by the 10th of the next month | Monthly, by the 10th of the next month |
| Simplified regime | Monthly, between the 25th and the end of the next month | Monthly, between the 25th and the end of the next month |
| VAT franchise | Every two months (January-February, March-April…), between the 25th and the end of the next month | Same rhythm and deadline |
No transactions in the period, nothing to report. A period already reported is corrected by a new report that replaces it. The detailed rules are in the official tax guidance (BOFiP).
Who reports, and to whom?
Data goes through the approved platform you chose, which sends it to the tax authority. You may use one platform for invoices and another for e-reporting. The obligation stays yours: the platform sends, but your business is liable for a missing report.
What are the penalties?
A missing report costs €500, capped at €15,000 a year, under article 1788 D of the French Tax Code. The amount was €250 before the 2026 Finance Act: some sites still quote the old figure.
A first offense in the current year and the three previous years is not penalized if it is fixed spontaneously, or within 30 days of the tax authority’s request. A temporary transmission problem does not invalidate your invoices: fix it and keep a record of the incident.
E-reporting with Elevia
Elevia routes each invoice to the right flow: e-invoice for a business client established in France, e-reporting for a consumer or a client established abroad, Chorus Pro for a public body. When an invoice is paid, the payment is sent to the approved platform. Everything starts from your e-invoicing software, with nothing extra to do. It is included from the Essential plan, at €29 excl. VAT per month.
