Update: France’s new guidance on the timeline preceding the CTC mandate!

Answer:

The Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), which translates to the General Directorate of Public Finances, is a French government agency under the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty. It is the main tax and public finance administration in France. The DGFiP helps define tax policies and drafts the laws and regulations, such as e-invoicing in France. 

Answer:

Continuous transaction control (CTC) allows law enforcement agencies, such as tax authorities, to collect data on business transactions in their respective countries. Unlike traditional invoice reporting, in the CTC model, data is obtained directly from business transaction processes or data management systems in real-time or near real-time. 

Answer:

The models for continuous transaction control (CTC) differ from country to country and vary in design and implementation. These models can be centralised or decentralised. Even though these models are country-specific, we can group them into broad categories such as: 

• Interoperability: Allows taxpayers to use a service provider to exchange e-invoices.  

• Real-time invoice reporting (RTIR): In this model, there are no specific regulations for invoice exchange. 

• Clearance model: In this model, companies had to clear or authorise invoices through the tax authority platform. 

• Centralised model: This model requires a mandatory exchange mechanism throughout the country. 

• Decentralised CTC and Exchange (DCTCE) 

• PEPPOL CTC: This model allows transactional data reporting to the tax authorities. 
• Hybrid model: This model is a mixture of DCTCE and the centralised exchange model. 

Answer:

A hybrid continuous transaction control (CTC) model will be adopted for e-invoicing in France, which is a combination of a centralised Public Invoicing Portal (PPF) with decentralised exchanges through certified service providers known as Plateformes de Dématérialisation Partenaires (PDPs). This mandate requires that domestic business transactions be issued, exchanged, and processed electronically through either the PPF or PDP. 

Answer:

Here are a few of the key steps to follow for a seamless transition to e-invoicing: 

• Understand and evaluate the current invoicing processes 

• Select the right solutions according to your requirements  

• Train your employees for the upcoming invoicing requirements  

• Initiate a pilot phase by selecting a small group of clients to test and tweak your e-invoicing processes. 

• Transfer all the relevant data to your new systems 

• Communicate with the relevant stakeholders and inform them about the implementation process 

• Thoroughly check, review, and refine the process as per the requirement 

Answer:

Initially planned for July 2024, the requirements for e-invoicing in France have now been postponed. The obligation will be rolled out in phases based on the size of an organisation and the activity carried out. Here are some of the recent updates: 

• 1 September 2026: obligatory for large and intermediate-sized organisations. Moreover, all companies must be able to receive electronic invoices with that data. 

• 1 September 2027: Small and medium-sized enterprises 

It is critical to note that, despite the postponement of implementations, all companies must be able to receive electronic invoices by 1 September 2026. 

Answer:

There are numerous benefits of e-invoicing that both governments and organisations can enjoy. Some of which are: 

• Reduced invoicing costs  

• Lowered risk of VAT fraud 

• Precise monitoring of invoice processes  

• End-to-end transparency in business transactions and tax reporting 

• Less administration burden on invoice management