As from the 1st of January 2018, VAT payers recording direct payments from their customers by means of accounting or management software or a cash register system to use software shall use a secure and certified software or cash register systems fulfilling conditions of immutability, security, storage and archiving of data. VAT payers shall evidence the fulfillment of the following conditions in case of tax audit: either the software or cash register system is certified by an accredited organization or the VAT payer has an individual certificate from the publisher of the software or cash system certifying compliance. This obligation will be laid down by Article 286, I-3° bis of the French tax code as from the 1st of January 2018.
The French tax authorities have issued public guidelines, on the 3rd of August 2016, regarding this new liability.