EU e-invoicing mandates: ViDA and country timelines

What an EU e-invoicing mandate is

An EU e-invoicing mandate is a national law that requires businesses to issue and receive invoices as structured data, usually in a format based on the European standard EN 16931, and often to report invoice data to the tax authority. It matters because an invoice that ignores the mandate is not a valid invoice, which puts the customer's VAT deduction and the supplier's compliance at risk.

Until 2025 each such mandate needed a special derogation from the EU VAT Directive. The VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package removed that requirement and set a common EU model for cross-border trade from 1 July 2030. As of September 2026, the result is a patchwork: several countries already enforce domestic mandates, more have fixed dates, and all of them will have to converge on the EU model. This guide explains the rules, the models and the dates, and what they demand of your accounting system.

What counts as an e-invoice

A PDF sent by email is an electronic invoice in the everyday sense, but not an e-invoice for these mandates (our guide on invoice vs receipt vs bill covers what any invoice must contain). ViDA rewrites Article 217 of the VAT Directive so that an electronic invoice is one issued, transmitted and received in a structured electronic format that allows automated processing. The data, not the picture, is the invoice.

The common language is EN 16931-1, the semantic data model developed under Directive 2014/55/EU on e-invoicing in public procurement. It defines the business terms an invoice carries (seller, buyer, VAT identifiers, lines, VAT breakdown by category, totals, payment terms) and can be expressed in two XML syntaxes: UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice. Countries publish core invoice usage specifications (CIUS) that tighten the rules, such as XRechnung in Germany and Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, used across the Peppol network. Hybrid formats such as Factur-X and ZUGFeRD embed the XML in a PDF; where they are accepted, the XML is what counts.

• Semantic model: EN 16931-1, the list of mandatory and optional business terms
• Syntaxes: UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII, the XML structures that carry those terms
• CIUS: national or network rules on top of EN 16931, for example XRechnung or Peppol BIS Billing 3.0
• Transport: a network or platform that delivers the file, such as Peppol access points or a national platform
• VAT category codes on every line: S standard rate, Z zero rate, E exempt, AE reverse charge, K intra-Community supply, G export, O outside the scope

ViDA: what it changes and when

The ViDA package was adopted by the Council on 11 March 2025 and published in the Official Journal on 25 March 2025 as Council Directive (EU) 2025/516, alongside an amending regulation and implementing regulation. The directive entered into force on 14 April 2025. Its e-invoicing and digital reporting rules arrive in stages, and each member state must transpose them into national law.

• From 14 April 2025: member states may require domestic B2B e-invoicing without asking the Council for a derogation, and without needing the recipient's acceptance
• From 1 January 2027: clarifications to the OSS and IOSS schemes apply
• From 1 July 2028: platform deemed-supplier rules for short-term accommodation and passenger transport (member states may delay to 1 January 2030), and extended reverse charge for non-established suppliers
• From 1 July 2030: e-invoices compliant with EN 16931 become the default for intra-EU B2B supplies, and digital reporting requirements replace recapitulative statements (EC Sales Lists)
• From 1 July 2030: invoices for intra-Community supplies and reverse-charge supplies must be issued within 10 days of the chargeable event; summary invoices within 10 days of the end of the month
• By 1 January 2035: member states that introduced domestic reporting systems before 2024 must align them with the EU model

Three delivery models

The mandates share the EN 16931 data model but differ in how the invoice travels and when the tax authority sees it. The model decides your integration work more than the file format does.

In a centralised clearance model, the invoice passes through a government platform, which validates it and assigns an identifier before the customer receives it. Italy's SdI, Poland's KSeF and Romania's RO e-Factura work this way; an invoice rejected by the platform has not been issued. In a network model, invoices move between certified access points on the Peppol network, as in Belgium, and in the five-corner variant the access points also send data to the tax authority, which is the design Slovakia has chosen. In a platform model, as in France, invoices move through approved private platforms, which also transmit the data the tax authority needs. Germany sits apart: it prescribes the format but, as of September 2026, has no invoice reporting.

Mandates already in force, as of September 2026

The dates below were checked against the tax authorities and the European Commission's eInvoicing country pages in September 2026. Grace periods and phased starts matter as much as the headline date, so they are listed where they apply. Our country guides on Belgium's Peppol mandate, France's 2026 reform, Germany's e-invoicing mandate, Italy's SdI and Spain's Verifactu go deeper.

• Italy: B2B e-invoicing through SdI in the FatturaPA format since 1 January 2019, extended to flat-rate small businesses from 1 January 2024
• Romania: RO e-Factura reporting of domestic B2B invoices from 1 January 2024, full B2B clearance from 1 July 2024, and B2C from 1 January 2025
• Belgium: all VAT-registered enterprises have issued and received structured B2B invoices since 1 January 2026, with Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 as the default; a tolerance period applied in the first three months of 2026; e-reporting is planned for 2028
• Croatia: under Fiscalisation 2.0, VAT-registered businesses have exchanged and fiscalised e-invoices since 1 January 2026; non-VAT businesses receive in 2026 and must issue from 1 January 2027
• Poland: KSeF has been mandatory since 1 February 2026 for taxpayers whose 2024 sales, including VAT, exceeded PLN 200 million and since 1 April 2026 for other taxpayers; the smallest (up to PLN 10,000 of monthly sales) follow on 1 January 2027, when penalties also begin
• France: since 1 September 2026 every business covered by the reform must be able to receive e-invoices, and large and intermediate-sized companies must issue them and e-report through an approved platform (plateforme agréée)
• Germany: every domestic business must be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025; a PDF or paper invoice may still be issued during the transition described below

Mandates legislated or scheduled

These obligations are fixed in law or official guidance but start later. Where a date depends on a regulation that is still in draft, it is marked as such: plan for it, but check again before you commit budgets.

• Germany: issuing e-invoices is mandatory from 1 January 2027 for businesses with prior-year turnover above EUR 800,000, and for all businesses from 1 January 2028; XRechnung and ZUGFeRD 2.0.1 or later (except the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles) qualify
• France: small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-enterprises must issue e-invoices and e-report from 1 September 2027
• Slovakia: amendments to the VAT Act introduce domestic B2B e-invoicing with reporting over a Peppol-based five-corner model from 1 January 2027
• Spain: Royal Decree 238/2026 was published on 31 March 2026; obligations start 12 months (turnover above EUR 8 million) or 24 months (all others) after the ministerial order enters into force. As of September 2026 that order was still in draft, with 1 October 2026 targeted, which would mean October 2027 and October 2028
• Spain, separately: the Verifactu requirements for invoicing software were postponed by Royal Decree-law 15/2025 to 1 January 2027 for corporate income taxpayers and 1 July 2027 for others
• Latvia: mandatory B2B e-invoicing was postponed by the Saeima in June 2025 from 2026 to 1 January 2028
• Greece: under the announced phases, large businesses (gross revenue above EUR 1 million) have been in scope since 2 March 2026 and the rest follow from 1 October 2026; confirm current dates with AADE
• EU-wide: intra-EU B2B e-invoicing and digital reporting from 1 July 2030 under ViDA

Worked example: Germany's transition by turnover

Two German companies invoice other German businesses. Company A had turnover of EUR 3,000,000 in 2026; Company B had EUR 650,000. Both have been able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025, because that duty has no threshold.

Company A may keep issuing PDF or paper invoices until 31 December 2026. Its 2026 turnover is above EUR 800,000, so from 1 January 2027 every domestic B2B invoice must be an e-invoice, such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD in a qualifying profile. Company B stays below the threshold, so it may issue other invoices throughout 2027 and must switch on 1 January 2028. For both, small-amount invoices of up to EUR 250 gross remain exempt.

The threshold looks at the previous year only. If Company B's 2027 turnover reached EUR 900,000, that would not bring its date forward, because by then the universal obligation of 1 January 2028 applies anyway. The lesson for a group is to plan every German company to the earliest date that applies to any of them, rather than company by company.

Worked example: a cross-border invoice after July 2030

A consultancy in the Netherlands completes a EUR 10,000 project for a business customer in France on 3 September 2030. The service is taxed where the customer is established and the French customer accounts for VAT under the reverse charge. The Dutch supplier issues an EN 16931 e-invoice showing net 10,000, VAT category AE, VAT 0, the customer's French VAT number and a reverse-charge reference. Under ViDA it must be issued no later than 13 September 2030, 10 days after the chargeable event, and its data is reported under the digital reporting requirements.

The French customer self-assesses output VAT of 2,000 at 20 percent and, if fully taxable, deducts the same 2,000 in the same return: Dr Services expense 10,000 / Dr VAT recoverable 2,000 / Cr Trade payables 10,000 / Cr VAT payable 2,000. If the Dutch firm had instead performed ten small jobs for the same client during September, it could issue one summary invoice, due within 10 days of the end of the month, by 10 October 2030.

Compare a domestic Belgian sale today: net EUR 10,000 plus 21 percent VAT of 2,100 gives a Peppol invoice total of 12,100, with category S on the lines. If goods worth 1,000 net come back, the correction is a Peppol credit note for 1,000 plus 210 VAT, 1,210 in total, never an edited invoice.

What your accounting system must be able to do

The mandates move invoicing from a printed document to a data exchange, and each weak spot in master data surfaces as a rejected invoice. Before choosing a provider, check that your system can supply everything below, or feed it to an e-invoicing service that does.

• Clean master data: legal names, addresses, VAT numbers and, for Peppol, the customer's participant identifier
• Correct VAT category codes and exemption reasons on every line, not just a rate
• Unique, gapless invoice numbering per series, and credit notes that reference the original invoice
• Output in the required syntax and CIUS, validated before sending, and receipt of incoming e-invoices into purchase processing
• Status tracking: accepted, rejected, delivered, and in some countries paid
• Legally compliant archiving of the structured file for each country's retention period
• A locked record once an invoice is issued, so corrections go through credit or debit notes

A readiness plan for finance teams

Start from your legal entities, not from the software. List each entity, the countries where it is established or VAT-registered, its customers' countries and the dates above that apply to it. Then assess master data quality, choose a delivery route per country (a Peppol access point, a national platform connection, an approved French platform) and test with real customers before the legal date.

Budget for receiving as well as sending, and check the accounting side: our guide on VAT accounting entries shows how reverse-charge and credit-note postings should look. Several mandates, including those in Germany, France and Belgium, required businesses to receive e-invoices before or at the same time as issuing them, and incoming structured invoices are only useful if purchase processing can read them. Finally, keep an eye on 2030: an entity that trades across borders will need EN 16931 invoices and digital reporting for intra-EU sales from 1 July 2030, whatever its home country decides.

E-invoicing and Skyline Nexus ERP

Skyline Nexus ERP already runs live e-invoicing through its ZATCA module for Saudi Arabia, which handles onboarding, compliance checks, clearance and reporting of invoices, and XML and QR output; our guide on ZATCA Phase 2 e-invoicing describes that flow. National e-invoicing connectors for European formats such as Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, XRechnung, Factur-X, FatturaPA and KSeF are being rolled out market by market: tell us your country and we will confirm your go-live date. Until your country's connector is live, the workable route is an e-invoicing service provider or Peppol access point fed with Skyline Nexus sales data.

The disciplines the mandates depend on are already in place. Invoice numbering schemes are set per branch, tax rates carry a VAT or excise category, and the VAT return and the VAT GL accounts are computed on the same basis. A REST API exposes sales, sales returns, contacts and taxes for integration with a provider. Sales returns are issued as credit notes, and invoices filed with ZATCA are locked and corrected only by credit or debit note, the same principle European mandates impose. Ask for a demonstration with your own invoice scenarios before you decide.