Electronic Invoicing in Belgium

In February of 2024, the Belgian Parliament passed legislation regarding the nationwide adoption of electronic invoicing. The enforcement of mandatory e-invoicing is scheduled to commence in early 2026. Further details can be found in this blog post.

February 9, 2024

Belgium has announced plans to make electronic invoicing mandatory for B2B transactions.  The new regulations, which were originally scheduled to take effect in July 2024, have been postponed and will now come into effect from January 2026. This means that starting from January 1, 2026, all taxable B2B businesses in Belgium will be obligated to send and receive invoices electronically. 

The Belgian Ministry of Finance’s proposal for the introduction of a mandatory e-invoicing system was approved on September 29, 2023. The ministry has selected Post Audit as their preferred system with real-time reporting expected to be introduced subsequently. 

Invoice Format

Companies subject to VAT in Belgium must exchange structured B2B e-invoices in accordance with European standards (EN16931 standard). Under the new regulations, traditional formats of invoicing, such as PDF, will no longer be permitted.  

Belgium detailed plans to use the PEPPOL standard which is already in use for Business-to-Government (B2G) e-invoicing across Belgium. There is an exception on the previso that all parties agree, organisations are permitted to choose other standards. However, these standards should comply with the European norm. 

Implementation Timeline

The expected “go-live” date for B2B e-invoicing is January 2026 for all affected taxpayers across Belgium. Despite a previously proposed phased roll out, implementation will now take place simultaneously as part of a ‘big bang’ approach.