Belgium submits to the Parliament draft law on mandatory B2B e-invoicing

The Belgian Ministry of Finance recently submitted to the Parliament a draft law with the general framework for the introduction of mandatory B2B e-invoicing in the country.

Timeline

The proposal sets January 1, 2026 as the go-live date for all taxpayers under scope, therefore not adopting a phased approach.

Impact

According to the draft, almost all VAT taxpayers established in Belgium will be required to issue and receive invoices electronically, with very few exceptions, such as taxpayers under the flat regime, bankrupt taxpayers, and those who provide certain VAT-exempt supplies. Non-established buyers, when required to use their Belgium VAT number for purchase purposes, must also be able to receive structured e-invoices from their Belgian suppliers under the scope of the mandate.

The draft proposes e-invoice issuance via the Peppol network, as the default standard, with details still to be determined by future regulation. The parties may, however, agree on the exchange of e-invoices in the European Standard (EN).

Transactions under scope are the supply of goods and/or services that take place in Belgium for VAT purposes and that are not exempt under Article 44 of the local VAT Code. B2C transactions are not included in the mandate, while B2G transactions fall under an already existing e-invoicing obligation.

The draft law still needs to go through the legislative process for approval and Belgium must receive authorization from the EU Commission before adopting the proposed e-invoicing mandate.