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France VAT & Invoicing Guide for Businesses (2026)

TVA 20%, mandatory invoice fields, and the upcoming e-invoicing mandate — the complete guide

Last updated: 30 April 2026 · Written by the Hisabi team

TL;DR, the key facts

  • Standard TVA (Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée) rate is 20%; reduced rates of 10%, 5.5%, and 2.1% apply to specific goods and services.
  • France's B2B e-invoicing mandate is rolling out: large companies from September 2026, mid-size from September 2027, SMEs from September 2028.
  • Every TVA invoice must include your numéro de TVA intracommunautaire (format FR + 11 digits) for EU cross-border supplies.
  • Registration threshold for residents: none below the auto-entrepreneur/franchise threshold. Non-residents must register before making the first taxable supply.

What you need to know

Francetax & invoicing, covered

VAT

French TVA at 20%

France's standard TVA rate is 20%. Reduced rates apply: 10% on restaurant meals, renovation work, and passenger transport; 5.5% on food, books, and energy-saving works; 2.1% on certain medicines and press publications.

  • Standard rate: 20% — intermediate rate: 10% — reduced rate: 5.5% — super-reduced: 2.1%
  • Franchise en base (small business exemption): turnover ≤ €85,000 (services) or ≤ €37,500 (micro-entrepreneurs from 2025)
  • Monthly or quarterly CA3 declarations; annual CA12 for smaller businesses
  • EU OSS (One Stop Shop) scheme available for e-commerce sellers
E-Invoicing

France B2B E-Invoicing Mandate

France is rolling out mandatory B2B e-invoicing via the Portail Public de Facturation (PPF) or accredited third-party platforms (PDPs). Invoices must be structured (Factur-X, UBL, or CII) and transmitted via the PPF network.

  • Large companies (>5,000 employees or >€1.5B revenue): September 2026
  • Mid-size (250–5,000 employees or €50M–€1.5B revenue): September 2027
  • SMEs and micro-businesses: September 2028
  • Accepted formats: Factur-X (hybrid PDF+XML), UBL 2.1, UN/CEFACT CII
  • All businesses must be able to receive e-invoices from September 2026
Invoicing

Mandatory TVA Invoice Fields

French TVA law sets mandatory fields for all tax invoices. B2C simplified invoices are allowed below €150.

  • Supplier and buyer name, address, and TVA number
  • Sequential invoice number (per continuous series)
  • Date of issue and date of supply if different
  • Description, quantity, unit price HT (excluding tax)
  • TVA rate and TVA amount; total TTC (including tax)

Timeline

Key compliance dates

  1. September 2026

    Large companies must issue and receive e-invoices via PPF/PDP network.

  2. September 2027

    Mid-size companies join the mandate.

  3. September 2028

    All remaining businesses (SMEs, micro-entrepreneurs) must issue e-invoices.

VAT and invoicing compliance

Frequently asked questions: France

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Standard rate is 20%. Intermediate rate of 10% applies to restaurant meals, accommodation, passenger transport, renovation of residential property. Reduced rate of 5.5% applies to food, books, energy-saving products, and some cultural goods. Super-reduced rate of 2.1% applies to certain press publications and reimbursable medicines.

France is rolling out mandatory B2B e-invoicing in three waves: large companies from September 2026, mid-size from September 2027, and SMEs from September 2028. All businesses must be able to receive e-invoices by September 2026. Invoices must be in a structured format (Factur-X, UBL, or CII) and transmitted via the Portail Public de Facturation (PPF) or an accredited PDP.

Factur-X is France's hybrid e-invoice format — a PDF with embedded XML data compliant with EN 16931. It is the most common format for French e-invoicing as it is human-readable (PDF) and machine-readable (XML) simultaneously.

Resident businesses below the franchise en base threshold (€85,000 for services, adjusted for micro-entrepreneurs from 2025) are exempt from VAT. Non-residents must register before making their first taxable supply in France, with no threshold.

Supplier name, address, and TVA number; buyer name and address (and TVA number for B2B); unique sequential invoice number; date of issue; description and quantity of goods or services; unit price HT; applicable TVA rate and TVA amount; total HT; total TTC.

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