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EU E-Invoicing Requirements

Mandatory B2B e-invoicing is rolling out across Europe. E-invoicing requirements in Europe differ by country, so check each one's status, key dates, and platform before it affects your business.

What e-invoicing isStatus by countryTimelineQuestions

What e-invoicing actually means

E-invoicing is not emailing a PDF. An e-invoice, or electronic invoice, is a structured data file, usually XML, that your client's accounting system reads field by field without anyone retyping it. A PDF is a picture of an invoice; an e-invoice is the invoice as data.

EU electronic invoicing follows one data model, the European standard EN 16931, so a file issued in Italy can be processed in Germany. More and more countries go further and require every business invoice to pass through a government platform before it reaches the buyer.

PDF: made for people to read

E-invoice: made for software to read

Invoice number
2026-0142
BT-1
Issue date
2026-09-14
BT-2
Seller VAT ID
NL526018159B01
BT-31
Buyer VAT ID
NL186091390B01
BT-48
VAT total
315.00 EUR
BT-110
Amount due
1,815.00 EUR
BT-115

E-invoicing status in EU countries

Filter by rollout status to see exactly where each EU member state stands in the European e-invoicing rollout today.

Country Status Key Dates Format / Platform
Italy Live / mandatory Jan 2019: all B2B/B2C; Jan 2024: SMEs included
Domestic only - cross-border invoices do not go through SdI		 FatturaPA via SdI clearance platform
Germany Live / mandatory Jan 2025: all must receive; Jan 2027: sending >€800k; Jan 2028: all sending
Domestic B2B only - cross-border transactions are exempt from the mandate		 XRechnung / ZUGFeRD, EN 16931, Peppol
Romania Live / mandatory Jan 2024: all B2B; Jan 2025: B2C added
Domestic transactions only - cross-border VAT reporting handled separately		 RO e-Factura platform
Greece Launching 2026 Feb 2026: B2B via myDATA
Domestic B2B focus - cross-border scope not yet confirmed		 myDATA or certified providers, Peppol-based
Belgium Launching 2026 Jan 2026: all B2B sending & receiving; 2028: e-reporting
Domestic B2B - cross-border not in initial mandate scope		 Peppol, UBL 2.1
Poland Launching 2026 Feb 2026: large taxpayers; Apr 2026: all VAT-registered
Domestic B2B only - cross-border transactions temporarily excluded from KSeF		 KSeF clearance system
France Launching 2026 Sep 2026: all receive + large/mid send; Sep 2027: SMEs send
Domestic B2B - cross-border covered by separate e-reporting obligations		 PPF portal or registered PDPs
Croatia Launching 2026 2026: mandatory B2B (date TBC)
Expected domestic scope - cross-border details not yet published		 EN 16931 expected
Slovakia Launching 2026 B2G since 2023; 2026: B2B CTC planned
Domestic focus - cross-border scope TBC		 CTC system under development
Denmark Launching 2026 Jan 2026: B2B phased in
Domestic B2B - cross-border via Peppol network where supported		 Peppol network
Spain Planned 2027+ 12 months after regulation: >€8M; 24 months: all others
Domestic B2B - cross-border excluded from current draft law		 Draft law, not yet final
Estonia Planned 2027+ B2G since 2019–2021; Jul 2025: buyer-choice; 2027: fully mandatory
Domestic B2B - cross-border via Peppol where applicable		 Peppol, operator-based
Latvia B2G only / partial Jan 2025: B2G; Jan 2028: B2B + reporting
B2G domestic only - no cross-border mandate		 State Revenue Service (VID), Peppol
Hungary B2G only / partial All invoices: report to NTCA within 24h
Reporting applies to cross-border B2B invoices too - but no exchange mandate		 RTIR real-time reporting, no B2B exchange mandate
Finland B2G only / partial B2G mandatory; B2B must accept (law 2020); sending voluntary
No cross-border mandate - domestic B2G only		 Peppol, no B2B sending mandate
Sweden B2G only / partial B2G since 2008–2019; B2B voluntary
No cross-border mandate - B2G domestic only		 Peppol, B2B voluntary
Austria B2G only / partial B2G central gov mandatory; B2B voluntary
No cross-border mandate - domestic B2G only		 Peppol, no B2B mandate confirmed
Netherlands B2G only / partial B2G via Peppol since 2019; B2B voluntary
No cross-border mandate - domestic B2G only		 Peppol, no B2B mandate yet
Ireland B2G only / partial Public consultation launched for B2B/B2G real-time reporting
No mandate yet - cross-border scope under consultation		 No mandate yet
Portugal B2G only / partial No B2B mandate; SAF-T active
No cross-border e-invoicing mandate - SAF-T applies domestically		 Certified billing software required
Czech Republic B2G only / partial No B2B mandate confirmed; B2G in progress
No cross-border mandate - under discussion		 Under discussion
Luxembourg B2G only / partial B2G progressing; B2B: no mandate
No cross-border mandate - B2G domestic only		 Peppol expected
Bulgaria B2G only / partial B2G discussions ongoing; no B2B timeline
No cross-border mandate - under review		 Under review
Status as of March 2026 · Sources: European Commission (ViDA), Peppol
EU-wide (ViDA): Cross-border B2B e-invoicing + digital reporting mandatory by July 2030. Full harmonisation deadline January 2035.

Status guide & abbreviations

What each status means and the acronyms used across the table.

Status guide
Live / mandatory
E-invoicing already required by law for domestic B2B transactions.
Launching 2026
Mandate confirmed and going live during 2026.
Planned 2027+
Mandate announced or in legislation but effective 2027 or later.
B2G only / partial
Mandate only covers invoices sent to government entities. No B2B requirement yet.
Abbreviations
B2B Business to Business
B2G Business to Government
B2C Business to Consumer
CTC Continuous Transaction Controls (real-time clearance)
ViDA VAT in the Digital Age (EU regulation)
Peppol Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine
UBL Universal Business Language (XML invoice format)
EN 16931 European standard for electronic invoicing
SAF-T Standard Audit File for Tax

The EU e-invoicing mandate, year by year

  1. 2019Italy makes B2B e-invoicing mandatory through SdI, the first EU country to do so.
  2. 2024Romania requires e-Factura for business invoices.
  3. 2025Germany: every business must be able to receive e-invoices from 1 January. On 11 March the EU adopts ViDA, the package that sets the common rules.
  4. 2026Belgium, Greece, Poland and France go live, with others such as Croatia following. Most start with large companies.
  5. 2027–2028Germany phases in mandatory sending, France extends sending to small businesses, and more member states follow.
  6. 2030From 1 July, structured e-invoices become mandatory for cross-border B2B sales inside the EU, with near real-time reporting to tax authorities.
  7. 2035Target date for national systems to line up with the EU model.

The e-invoicing standards behind each format and platform

FatturaPA / SdI
Italy's XML format, cleared through the Sistema di Interscambio before it reaches the buyer. SdI checks it, gives it an ID and passes it on. Domestic invoices only.
XRechnung / ZUGFeRD
Germany's two formats, both built on EN 16931: XRechnung is pure XML, ZUGFeRD is a PDF with the XML embedded inside it.
e-Factura
Romania's national system, run by the tax authority ANAF. XML invoices are cleared through it.
KSeF
Krajowy System e-Faktur, Poland's clearance system. Invoices are submitted as XML, validated and forwarded.
PPF / PDP
France's public invoicing portal and the private platforms approved to work alongside it. Chorus Pro remains the portal for invoices to the public sector.
myDATA
Greece's real-time reporting system, run by the tax authority AADE.
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0
Not a national format but a Europe-wide profile and network. It carries invoices between countries and is the default for voluntary exchange in the Nordics and Benelux.

Two ways an e-invoice reaches your client

Clearance platform

YouTax authorityClient

The government platform checks and stamps every invoice before passing it on. Italy, Romania, Poland and France work this way.

Peppol network

YouAccess pointsClient

Invoices travel between certified access points, with no central gateway. Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands rely on it, and ViDA favours this model for cross-border trade.

Domestic versus cross-border e-invoices

  1. Today Domestic B2BNational mandate Cross-border B2BPDF still works
  2. 2030 Cross-border B2BEN 16931 + reporting

Most national mandates cover domestic sales between businesses only. An Italian supplier billing a client in Germany can still send a regular PDF today, with the usual reverse-charge rules.

That changes on 1 July 2030, when ViDA requires cross-border B2B invoices inside the EU to be structured to EN 16931 and reported in near real time. Until then, the cross-border note in each row of the table is the answer for that country: if it says domestic only, a PDF still works.

What BlueInvoice does and does not do

  • PDF invoices, with VAT worked out
  • VAT number checks against VIES
  • Structured e-invoices (on our roadmap)
  • Sending through Peppol or a tax platform

BlueInvoice produces PDF invoices. They remain valid for cross-border sales until 2030, and for domestic sales in every country without a live B2B mandate. Where a country requires a structured e-invoice or a clearance platform, send through an e-invoicing provider or your accountant. Structured formats are on our roadmap.

Before any cross-border business invoice, check your client's number with the VAT number checker, then create the invoice in the editor.

E-invoicing questions

ViDA, VAT in the Digital Age, is the EU package adopted on 11 March 2025. It lets member states mandate B2B e-invoicing without asking Brussels for permission, which is why so many national dates cluster in 2025 and 2026. From 1 July 2030 it requires structured e-invoices and real-time reporting for cross-border B2B sales, built on EN 16931.
The European standard that defines what an electronic invoice contains: seller, buyer, lines, tax, totals and payment terms, and the rules for each field. FatturaPA, XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, Factur-X and most KSeF profiles are built on it, so a compliant invoice can be read by any system that supports the standard.
Yes, under two names. Both are a PDF with an EN 16931 XML file embedded inside it, so a person can read the PDF and a system can read the data. Germany uses the name ZUGFeRD, France uses Factur-X, and the current versions are aligned.
In most cases, no. National mandates cover domestic B2B sales, so a supplier in one country can still send a PDF to a business in another. The structured format becomes mandatory for cross-border B2B sales on 1 July 2030.
Yes. B2G only means e-invoices are required for sales to the public sector, not yet between businesses. Many companies in those countries already use Peppol voluntarily because it speeds up payment on the receiving side, and most are consulting on B2B mandates for 2027 or 2028.
The UK is outside the EU and outside this table. It has no B2B e-invoicing mandate yet; for UK and EU trade, a PDF invoice with the right VAT treatment works in both directions.
Not yet. BlueInvoice creates PDF invoices, which are valid in every country without a live B2B mandate. For countries that require a clearance platform or a structured format, use an e-invoicing provider or your accountant for now.
It is checked against the European Commission's VAT pages, the ViDA text and each country's tax authority, linked in the table. Dates do slip, so confirm with the tax authority before relying on a date for a high-value sale.

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