As of Jan. 1, 2026, all Belgian companies must electronically invoice their business-to-business (B2B) transactions. Specifically, this concerns nearly 1.2 million companies subject to VAT, of which some 250,000 are already registered today on Peppol. This is the secure network through which the transfer of invoices will take place. So many companies have yet to take the step. This is why the FPS Finance and the FPS Economy are now launching an awareness campaign.

From Jan. 1, 2026, all Belgian VAT-registered companies will have to use structured electronic invoices for their B2B transactions. Invoices in PDF format or on paper will be replaced by structured invoices exchanged directly between companies’ software.

The purpose of this obligation is to reduce the VAT gap and to digitize our Belgian economy. Our country is thus a step ahead of European regulations, which will become mandatory for intra-community transactions from July 1, 2030.

“Although e-invoicing will become mandatory from January 1 next year, too few companies are yet prepared for it. E-invoicing offers many benefits, such as time savings and cost savings, but it also ensures smooth day-to-day management for our 1,200,000 enterprises.” Eléonore Simonet, Minister of the Self-Employed and SMEs

Benefits for businesses

E-invoicing offers several benefits to businesses, including:

• Lower costs: savings of up to €9 per invoice, or 75% less billing costs;
• higher efficiency: automated processing reduces errors and speeds up payments;
• better security: a fully secure system prevents abuse and attempted fraud.

Secure Peppol network

The exchange of structured electronic invoices will be done through the secure Peppol network. That system facilitates the transfer of standardized business documents between companies.

Companies must ensure that their billing software is compatible with Peppol to meet future obligations.

Today 250 000 companies are already registered on Peppol, and about 1 500 are added daily.

How can companies prepare?

Companies should, in preparation for the mandatory transition:

• evaluate their current billing system;
• use software that supports Peppol;
• prepare their staff for the new electronic billing procedures.

In addition, tax benefits are available for companies to adopt this new form of invoicing:

• Since Jan. 1, 2025, the digital investment deduction increased to 20%.
• For the taxable periods from 2024 to 2027, SMEs and self-employed individuals who use subscription formulas will be able to take an increased deduction of 120% for billing packages and consulting costs incurred to meet the new obligations.

To ensure a smooth transition and to support companies in this transition, FPS Finance and FPS Economy are launching an awareness campaign via the website http://efacture.belgium.be.

The website provides:

• a very detailed FAQ;
• a contact page;
• a roadmap.

“This awareness campaign is a very good thing. Moving to e-invoicing will be a big change for companies, to the benefit of their efficiency. So it is important to support them in this process. To encourage them, companies can already take advantage of tax breaks, such as the deduction for digital investments or the increased deduction of 120% for billing packages.” Jan Jambon, minister of finance