Belgium’s e-invoicing mandate for 2026: A summary

Belgium has joined the ranks of European countries planning to introduce mandatory e-invoicing, after proposing a draft law — Project Law: Amending the VAT code to introduce an electronic invoicing (‘e-invoicing’) obligation — on December 28, 2023. 

According to the draft, invoices must be sent and received in a structured format that complies with the European standard EN 16931 using the Peppol network. This means that businesses will have to use service providers that are Peppol-certified to send and receive structured e-invoices. 

The e-invoicing mandate will come into force from January 1, 2026. It will apply to domestic business-to-business (B2B) transactions by taxpayers established in Belgium. However, the draft law excludes certain categories of taxpayers, such as those under a simplified tax regime, or those who exclusively carry out VAT-exempt transactions. 

E-invoicing also applies to Belgian taxpayers whose economic activity is conducted outside the country, but who have a permanent establishment in Belgium.

B2C transactions are excluded from the structured invoicing obligation outlined in the draft law. Non-domestic B2B transactions are also excluded. Data related to these transactions are likely to be covered by the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) initiative, which proposes a mandatory electronic reporting obligation for such data.

Belgium has announced tax incentives in the draft in a bid to minimise the financial impact of digital transformation projects, which would particularly affect small and medium-sized businesses. An accompanying information campaign will inform businesses on upcoming changes and how to prepare.  

The draft law is subject to authorisation from the European Commission and must not detract from Directive 2006/112/EC — the EU legislation establishing the common system of VAT — which Belgium already follows.

E-invoicing mandates and requirements are constantly emerging across Europe and beyond. Connect with Avalara today to discover E-Invoicing and Live Reporting — a cloud-based, scalable solution that can help businesses of all types comply now, and in the future.