Legal provisions of COM(2021)735 - Authorisation of France to derogate from Articles 218 and 232 of the VAT Directive

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dossier COM(2021)735 - Authorisation of France to derogate from Articles 218 and 232 of the VAT Directive.
document COM(2021)735 EN
date January 25, 2022


Article 1

By way of derogation from Article 218 of Directive 2006/112/EC, France is authorised to accept invoices which have been issued by taxable persons established in the French territory in the form of documents or messages only if those documents or messages are transferred in electronic format.

Article 2

By way of derogation from Article 232 of Directive 2006/112/EC, France is authorised to provide that the use of electronic invoices issued by taxable persons established in the French territory shall not be subject to a recipient established in the French territory accepting the use of electronic invoices.

Article 3

France shall notify the national measures implementing the special measures for derogations referred to in Articles 1 and 2 to the Commission.

Article 4

1. This Decision shall take effect on the day of its notification.

2. This Decision shall apply from 1 January 2024 until 31 December 2026.

3. Where France considers that the extension of the special measures for derogations referred to in Articles 1 and 2 is necessary, France shall submit a request for extension to the Commission, together with a report assessing the extent to which the national measures referred to in Article 3 have been effective in combatting VAT fraud and evasion and in simplifying tax collection. That report shall evaluate the impact of those measures on taxable persons and in particular whether those measures increase their administrative burdens and costs.

Article 5

This Decision is addressed to the French Republic.