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Electronic invoicing: how are French companies faring?

Published on October 19, 2020 - 2 mins reading time
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Article 56 of the Finance Act for 2020 provides for the gradual generalization of electronic invoicing from 2023. The main aim of this measure is to reduce VAT fraud and speed up payments.

Generalization of electronic invoicing between companies

Already mandatory for suppliers in the public sector, electronic invoicing will soon be so for companies subject to VAT. Article 153 of the 2020 Finance Act passed on December 28, 2019 specifies that this measure will apply " at the earliest from January 1, 2023 and at the latest from January 1, 2025 ", depending on the size and sector of activity of the companies concerned.

This new obligation to collect and control VAT is designed to enable tax declarations to be made online, to reduce payment times and the costs associated with processing paper invoices, and to better combat fraud. It will be accompanied by the transmission of VAT data to the tax authorities.

Certain points, particularly those concerning the technical side and the invoice formats selected, still need to be clarified. While the three current ways of dematerializing invoices for tax purposes - EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), electronic signature and reliable audit trail - could be retained, other simpler solutions are being studied, such as " Factur-X ". This new European standard for dematerialized invoicing was created to make the transition to dematerialization inexpensive and, above all, adapted to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. This invoice flow format is in line with the European Semantic Standard EN 16931 published by the European Commission in October 2017.

Other questions, such as how to store invoices in an electronic safe, or how to transmit invoices by secure, encrypted means, also need to be clarified.

Half of companies have not heard of this obligation

According to a study conducted by OpinionWay for Quadient, 47% of companies surveyed between March and May 2020 are not aware of the obligation to invoice their B2B customers. The survey also revealed that 4 out of 10 companies believe they will not be ready by January 1, 2023.

Nevertheless, the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the importance for companies of using digital technologies to reduce reliance on paper, cut expenses and review the use of human resources more judiciously.

It is therefore in the interests of all those affected by the new legislation to be proactive in setting up infrastructure and industrial facilities that comply with the regulatory framework.