The European Commission has developed a directive, ‘VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA)’, that requires e-invoicing for B2B transactions.
By 2024, European member states can make e-invoicing mandatory, without the consent of the European Parliament. Poland and Italy already do this. By 2028, e-invoicing must be the norm within the EU. Digital reporting of transactional data is also becoming a requirement.
Countries outside Europe are also making e-invoicing via Peppol mandatory, such as Australia, Singapore, Japan and New Zealand.
E-invoicing in Belgium
From January 1, 2026, e-invoicing will become mandatory in the B2B sector in Belgium. From that date, all taxable companies (such as SMEs, self-employed persons and freelancers) will have to send and receive their invoices electronically via the Peppol, the international network with an appointment framework, a standard size and applications that make e-invoicing and e-procurement easier. Today this is already mandatory for companies that collaborate with the Flemish or Federal government, from January 2026 this will be extended to all companies.
E-invoices in XML file
E-invoicing stands for exchanging and processing e-invoices in a structured XML-file.
Naturally, this mandatory electronic invoicing also has an impact on our (Belgian) customers. From 2026, they must be able to exchange and process e-invoices in a structured XML file. PDF invoices do not fall under this heading. E-invoicing uses so-called Access Points (AP) that receive XML invoices from a company and forward them via Peppol to other companies or Access Points.
Advalvas as Access Point
ICASA has chosen to work with Advalvas as Access Point. The customer is responsible for concluding an agreement with Advalvas for the processing of electronic invoices. As soon as this is provided, we can create invoices for our customers from the ICASA Suite in the requested XML file and deliver them to Advalvas.
Do you need help in setting up e-invoicing? Get in touch and we’ll gladly help you to become Peppol compliant.
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