Belgium’s Federal Public Service of Finance (FPS Finance) released details about the forthcoming mandatory e-invoicing requirement on 11 July 2024.
This e-invoicing obligation will apply for business-to-business (B2B) transactions, starting 1 January 2026. This obligation will apply to any company that has an active VAT number. However, it does not apply to outgoing invoices to these private entities, but they must be able to receive structured electronic invoices from their suppliers and must adapt their systems for this by January 2026.
The structured electronic invoices will be sent via a decentralised network, called Peppol. The
invoicing or accounting software will make a secure connection to this Peppol network to which customers or suppliers will also connect for the sending and receiving of invoices.
The FPS Finance is compiling a list of compliant software and service providers and the list will be published on the e-invoice website after finalisation. Additionally, FPS Finance has published frequently asked questions (FAQs), addressing key inquiries about e-invoicing.
To comply with this mandatory e-invoicing requirement, Belgium has introduced two supporting tax measures to cover the costs businesses may incur for the technical adjustments. These are:
- From 1 January 2025, the investment deduction for digital investments will increase to 20%.
- In the taxable periods 2024 to 2027, small SMEs and self-employed persons using subscription formulas may apply an increased cost deduction of 120% for invoicing packages.
