E-invoicing in Europe: what applies to you
In several European countries every business must already be able to receive e-invoices; the duty to send them follows. Four questions tell you what applies to your business, with a source for every date.
Two duties, two dates
E-invoicing has two sides. Receiving usually becomes mandatory first and applies to almost everyone. Issuing follows, often in phases by company size.
| Country | Receive from | Issue from |
|---|---|---|
| Germany live | law Source: IHK Hannover · undated · verified 15 Oct 2026 · secondary |
|
| France live | law Source: Kohen Avocats · 15 Oct 2026 · verified 15 Oct 2026 · secondary |
|
| Belgium live | law Source: Tradeshift · undated · verified 15 Oct 2026 · secondary |
|
What you need to be able to do
Receive
Accept structured invoices by email, Peppol or a platform, open them and check them, not only the PDF.
Send
Produce an EN 16931-conformant file in the format your country and your buyers expect.
Archive
Keep the structured file unaltered for the legal retention period of your country.
What changes next
The next four dated changes across Europe.
- United Kingdom: Budget 2026: e-invoicing roadmap and technical standard due announced Source: GOV.UK (HM Treasury and HMRC) · 26 Nov 2025 · verified 15 Oct 2026 · official
- Greece: B2B phase 2: e-invoicing for all remaining businesses (originally 1 Oct 2026) law Source: vatcalc · 1 Oct 2026 · verified 15 Oct 2026 · secondary
unverified
We found this in secondary sources or sources disagree; we have not yet confirmed it in the official text. - Poland: End of the relief for businesses invoicing up to PLN 10,000 gross per month (and cash-register invoices up to PLN 450) law Source: jpk.info.pl · 18 Sept 2026 · verified 15 Oct 2026 · secondary
unverified
We found this in secondary sources or sources disagree; we have not yet confirmed it in the official text. - Portugal: PDF accepted as an e-invoice without QES ends (extension to 2027 proposed in the draft budget) law Source: Fonoa · undated · verified 15 Oct 2026 · secondary
unverified
We found this in secondary sources or sources disagree; we have not yet confirmed it in the official text.
What is an e-invoice?
An e-invoice is a structured data file, usually XML in the European standard EN 16931 (syntax UBL or CII), that software can read without a human. A PDF is a picture of an invoice: where a domestic mandate is in force, a plain PDF no longer counts. Hybrid formats such as ZUGFeRD / Factur-X carry the XML inside a PDF.
Until 30 Jun 2030 a PDF by email remains a legal electronic invoice under the current EU VAT Directive wherever no domestic mandate excludes it. From 1 Jul 2030 a PDF or scan no longer qualifies. law Source: internal research · 15 Oct 2026 · verified 15 Oct 2026 · secondary unverified
We found this in secondary sources or sources disagree; we have not yet confirmed it in the official text.
Choose your country
no mandate (5)
* Partial mandate (reporting-only or sector duties); see the country page.
How we know
Every fact on this site carries its publisher, publication date, the day we last verified it, and whether the source is official or secondary. Items we could not confirm are labelled unverified, not hidden. Our data covers 29 countries and 159 sources (82 official).
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