Mandatory B2B e-invoicing in Belgium: what changed on 1 January 2026

Since 1 January 2026, sending an invoice as a PDF by email no longer cuts it between Belgian businesses. The law of 6 February 2024 amending the VAT Code requires a structured electronic invoice for B2B transactions, and that deadline is now behind us. If you still invoice the old way, here is what it means in practice.

What counts as a "structured" invoice?

A structured invoice is not a PDF, a scan or an image. It is a data file, in XML format, that your customer's software reads and records automatically, with no re-keying. In Belgium the chosen standard is Peppol BIS 3.0, aligned with the European EN 16931 norm, and the exchange runs by default over the Peppol network. A PDF emailed across, however neat, does not meet the obligation: a machine cannot read it the same way.

Who is concerned?

In practice, almost every VAT-registered self-employed person and company in Belgium. The obligation applies whether you work as your main activity or on the side, the moment you hold an active VAT number. It also covers:

• small businesses under the VAT exemption (franchise) scheme, with annual turnover not exceeding €25,000;
• operators under the special agricultural scheme;
• members of a VAT group and Belgian permanent establishments of foreign companies.

The takeaway is blunt: the VAT-franchise threshold exempts you from nothing here. As soon as you invoice other businesses, you are in scope.

Who is not

A few situations stay outside the obligation:

• invoices addressed to private individuals (B2C);
• transactions exempt under article 44 of the VAT Code (certain medical, financial and educational services, among others);
• taxable persons not established in Belgium and without a permanent establishment, even when they hold a Belgian VAT number.

So what about a PDF by email?

It hasn't vanished entirely, but it can no longer be your default channel. An alternative format is allowed only if both parties agree and if that format remains convertible to the EN 16931 norm. Above all, no one can force an alternative on a trading partner: the Peppol route must always stay open. In real life, the simplest move is to switch to Peppol and stop asking the question on every invoice.

A tax incentive to get equipped

Moving to e-invoicing carries a software cost, and the legislator planned for it. For tax periods 2024 to 2027, small companies and the self-employed who use a subscription plan for their invoicing software can deduct 120% of those costs. Since 1 January 2025, the investment deduction for digital investments has also been raised to 20%. That offsets part of the cost of getting compliant.

What is already coming: e-reporting in 2028

The structured invoice is only a first step. The federal coalition agreement plans, by 2028, an electronic, near real-time transaction reporting system meant to replace the annual customer listing. That part is not yet written into law, but it will draw on the data already sitting in your structured invoices. In other words, the business that adopts Peppol today gets a head start on the next stage.

How to get compliant

The path comes down to three points: have software that can issue and receive Peppol invoices, get your company registered on the network, then check that your customers are reachable on it before you send. With Voilo, Peppol registration is free and receiving supplier invoices is unlimited, even on the free plan; paid plans start at €25/month excl. VAT. You create the invoice as usual, it is automatically converted to the structured format, validated, then transmitted through a certified Peppol Access Point.

To understand the network in detail, read our Peppol guide; to compare the plans, the pricing page sets out what each one includes.

One last point: for strictly tax questions (penalties, edge cases, the timeline for your own situation), the FOD Financiën / SPF Finances remains the reference. Better to check there than to rely on a rough reading.