E-invoicing in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and French Guiana: who must do what, and when. Clear answers, territory by territory.
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Guadeloupe and Martinique: since 1 September 2026, every business subject to VAT must be able to receive e-invoices, through an approved platform.
- Small and medium-sized businesses and micro-enterprises: they will also have to issue them by 1 September 2027 at the latest. A plain PDF sent by email does not count.
- Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, French Guiana: businesses established there are not affected by e-invoicing, because VAT does not apply there.
- Selling from Guadeloupe to a client in Saint Martin or French Guiana? No e-invoice for that sale, but its data must be sent to the tax authorities (e-reporting).
- By 1 September 2026, 4.1 million businesses had chosen their receiving platform, out of nearly 10 million concerned.
| Your business is established… | E-invoice | Data reporting (e-reporting) |
|---|---|---|
| In Guadeloupe or Martinique | Yes. Receive: since 01/09/2026. Issue: from 01/09/2027 for small and medium-sized businesses | Yes, for sales to individuals and sales outside the scope of e-invoicing |
| In Saint Martin or Saint Barthélemy | No | Only for certain operations subject to French VAT |
| In French Guiana (or Mayotte) | No | Only for certain operations subject to French VAT |
E-invoicing, e-reporting: what are we talking about?
The French reform rests on two obligations, both handled through an approved platform. Everything depends on who your client is.
- E-invoicing covers invoices between businesses that are subject to VAT and established in France. The invoice is no longer a PDF or a sheet of paper: it is a structured file, readable by software, sent from your platform to your client's platform. The tax authorities receive the invoice data along the way.
- E-reporting (data reporting) covers sales that do not give rise to an e-invoice: sales to individuals, to foreign businesses or outside the scope of the reform. Nothing changes for your client, but you send the data of these sales to the tax authorities. For services, payment data (date and amount received) is sent too.
A concrete example: a contractor in Guadeloupe who invoices a hotel in Martinique sends an e-invoice. The same contractor working for a private individual does not issue an e-invoice, but the sale data goes to the tax authorities through e-reporting.
What is an approved platform?
It is an operator "registered by the State", as defined by impots.gouv.fr, the French tax authority's website. It issues, sends and receives your e-invoices, and passes invoicing, transaction and payment data on to the tax authorities. If you already use invoicing software, it must be connected to an approved platform.
The official list includes more than a hundred operators, among them names many business owners already know:
- online business banks: Qonto, Shine;
- accounting and invoicing software: Pennylane, Tiime, Indy, Dougs, ABBY;
- business management software: Sage, Cegid, Axonaut, Sellsy.
A good first step: check whether your bank, your invoicing software or your accountant is already on the list. It is often the simplest option. These names are examples, not recommendations: the list changes, so check it on impots.gouv.fr.
Prices, free offers, the hidden cost of retyping: it is all explained in our article on what e-invoicing costs in Guadeloupe.
E-invoicing in Guadeloupe and Martinique: what applies
In Guadeloupe and Martinique, the reform applies just as it does in mainland France. VAT applies there, so businesses are subject to it and concerned by both parts: e-invoicing and data reporting.
The timeline comes down to two dates, confirmed by the official tax FAQ:
- 1 September 2026: every business, whatever its size, must be able to receive e-invoices. Large and mid-sized companies must already issue them.
- 1 September 2027: small and medium-sized businesses and micro-enterprises must in turn issue their invoices electronically and report their transaction data.
In practice, an e-invoice goes through a platform approved by the authorities. Your platform sends it to your client's. The tax FAQ is clear: "a simple PDF sent electronically is not an e-invoice".
Sales between businesses in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and mainland France all fall within the scope of e-invoicing.
Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, French Guiana: outside e-invoicing
Businesses established in Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, French Guiana or Mayotte fall outside the scope of e-invoicing. The reason is simple: VAT does not apply there, so these businesses are not VAT-registered.
One nuance matters. If one of these businesses carries out operations considered to take place in France and subject to VAT, it may have to report its data (e-reporting). In that case, it must also choose an approved platform. This is rare for a small local business, but worth checking with your accountant.
Cross-territory cases
This is where most businesses get it wrong: the rule depends on where your client is established, not only where you are.
| You are in Guadeloupe or Martinique and your business client is… | What applies |
|---|---|
| In Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion or mainland France | E-invoice |
| In Saint Martin or Saint Barthélemy | No e-invoice, but e-reporting |
| In French Guiana or Mayotte | No e-invoice, but e-reporting |
Example: a company in Baie-Mahault invoicing a hotel in Saint Martin does not send an e-invoice for that sale. It does, however, report the transaction data to the tax authorities through its platform.
Approved platform: what to do now
If you are in Guadeloupe or Martinique and have not yet chosen a receiving platform, this is the priority. The obligation has applied since 1 September 2026.
On penalties, the French Government has announced "no penalty for any business in 2026", with an approach it describes as "educational and proportionate". The amounts set by law are still worth knowing:
- €500 if you have not chosen a receiving platform three months after a formal notice, then €1,000 for each further three-month period until things change;
- €50 per invoice that should have been electronic, capped at €15,000 a year (the first offence is not penalised).
From 2027, your invoices will also carry new mandatory details, such as the client's SIREN number (the French company ID). The Entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr website lists them.
Where to start?
- Check where your business clients are established: this decides between e-invoicing and e-reporting.
- Choose a receiving platform from the official list of approved platforms, if you haven't already.
- Review your specific cases with your accountant.
- Get ready to issue e-invoices before summer 2027, without waiting for the last minute.
- Take the opportunity to review the whole chain: quotes, invoices, reminders, payment tracking.
E-invoicing: a constraint that saves time
E-invoicing forces businesses to adapt. Adapting is a chance to modernise how you run things. The French Government says so itself in its answer to the National Assembly: for businesses still on paper or PDF, standardisation "makes it possible to automate tasks that used to be manual".
Once your invoices are clean data, a lot can run on its own:
- an accepted quote becomes an invoice without retyping;
- reminders go out automatically on the due date;
- payments received are matched to invoices;
- an AI assistant drafts quotes, answers the team's questions or flags unpaid invoices.
That is what E.T. Connect does. We build custom business software, connected to your approved platform, and AI assistants that work with your data. The goal: cut costs, save time and stay in control of your processes. We work with businesses in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Martin. To go further on first steps, read our article on business tools in the French Caribbean.
Want to know what e-invoicing could automate in your business? Take our 1-minute quiz on our home page, or write to us directly. We'll reply with concrete ideas suited to your business.
Frequently asked questions
Not as an e-invoice. The French tax FAQ states that a simple PDF sent electronically is not an e-invoice under the reform. Between businesses in scope, the invoice must go through an approved platform, which sends it to the client's platform. For small and medium-sized businesses, the obligation to issue applies by 1 September 2027 at the latest.
Yes, for receiving. Since 1 September 2026, every business subject to VAT must be able to receive e-invoices, whatever its size. A micro-enterprise under the VAT exemption scheme is still subject to VAT, even if it does not charge it. It will have to issue e-invoices from 1 September 2027.
Yes. Small and medium-sized businesses can get ahead of the 1 September 2027 deadline and start issuing invoices through an approved platform now. It is often the best time to do it: less pressure, and time to set the tool up around your habits before everyone rushes at once.
Prices are free to set. The authorities do not regulate them, as they are a matter for competition. According to the Government's answer to the National Assembly, there are very simple offers, sometimes free or low-cost, and more complete tools with automation and reporting. The right choice depends on how many invoices you send.
The Government has announced that no business will be penalised in 2026 and that businesses in difficulty will be supported. Penalties do exist in the law, however: €500 then €1,000 without a receiving platform after a formal notice, and €50 per non-electronic invoice. It is better to get set up now.
Sources
- impots.gouv.fr, FAQ "J'approfondis la facturation électronique", version of 01/09/2026 (in French)
- impots.gouv.fr, FAQ "Je découvre la facturation électronique", version of 01/09/2026 (in French)
- French National Assembly, written question no. 17870 and the Government's answer, 2026 (in French)
- impots.gouv.fr, list of approved platforms, 2026 (in French)
- Entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr, mandatory invoice details, 2026 (in French)
Information checked on 11 October 2026. Every situation is different: review yours with your accountant. Quotes from French official sources are our translations.
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