C: Invoices

I. - 1. Every taxable person shall ensure that an invoice is issued, by himself, or in his name and on his behalf, by his customer or by a third party:

a. For supplies of goods or services which he carries out for another taxable person, or for a non-taxable legal person, and which are not exempt pursuant to Articles 261 to 261 E ;

b. For the supplies of goods referred to in Article 258 A and for the supplies of goods exempted pursuant to I and III of Article 262 ter and II of Article 298 sexies, except where the taxable person avails himself of the special scheme provided for in Article 298 sexdecies G;

c. For advance payments made to him before any of the transactions referred to in a and b are carried out, with the exception of supplies of goods exempted under I of article 262 ter and II of article 298 sexies;

d. For supplies at public auction of second-hand goods, works of art, collectors' items or antiques.

2. Invoices may be physically issued by the customer or by a third party where the taxable person gives them a mandate to do so. Subject to acceptance by the taxable person, each invoice is then issued in his name and on his behalf.

A decree in the Conseil d'Etat shall specify the specific procedures for applying the first paragraph when the agent is established in a country with which there is no legal instrument relating to mutual assistance similar in scope to that provided for by Council Directive 2010/24/EU of 16 March 2010 on mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to taxes, duties and other measures and by Council Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 of 7 October 2010 on administrative cooperation and combating fraud in the field of value added tax.

3. The invoice is, in principle, issued as soon as the delivery or provision of services is completed.

For supplies of goods exempt pursuant to I of Article 262 ter and II of Article 298 sexies and for supplies of services for which tax is payable by the customer pursuant to Article 196 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, the invoice is issued no later than the 15th of the month following the month during which the chargeable event occurred.

It may be issued periodically for several separate supplies of goods or services made to the same customer for which tax becomes chargeable during the same calendar month. This invoice is drawn up by the end of that month at the latest.

4. The taxable person must keep a duplicate of all invoices issued.

5. Any document or message which modifies the initial invoice, issued in application of this article, and which refers to the initial invoice in a specific and unequivocal manner is treated in the same way as an invoice. It must include all the information specified in II.

II. - A Conseil d'Etat decree sets out the compulsory information that must appear on invoices. This decree shall in particular determine the elements for identifying the parties, the data concerning the goods delivered or the services rendered and those relating to the determination of value added tax.

III. - (Repealed).

IV. - The amounts shown on the invoice may be expressed in any currency, provided that the amount of tax to be paid or adjusted is determined in euros using the conversion mechanism provided for in 1a of Article 266.

Where it is drawn up in a foreign language, the tax department may, for control purposes, require a translation into French, under the conditions set out in the second paragraph of Article 54.

V. - The authenticity of the origin, the integrity of the content and the legibility of the invoice must be ensured from the time it is issued until the end of its retention period.

VI. - Electronic invoices are issued and received in any electronic form. They take the place of original invoices for the application of Article 286 and this Article. Their transmission and availability are subject to acceptance by the recipient.

VII. - In order to satisfy the conditions laid down in V, the taxable person may issue or receive invoices:

1° Either in electronic form using any technical solution other than those provided for in 2° and 3°, or in paper form, provided that documented and permanent controls are put in place by the business and make it possible to establish a reliable audit trail between the invoice issued or received and the supply of goods or services on which it is based ;

2° Or by using the qualified electronic signature procedure within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/ EC. A decree shall specify the conditions for issuing, signing and storing these invoices;

3° Or in the form of a message structured in accordance with a standard agreed between the parties, enabling it to be read by computer and able to be processed automatically and unambiguously, under conditions specified by decree ;

4° Or by using the qualified electronic seal procedure within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/ EC. A decree specifies the conditions for issuing, stamping and storing these invoices.