Germany plans to introduce B2B e-invoicing by 2026

Germany plans to introduce a B2B e-invoicing mandate 

Following the latest updates from August 2023, Germany plans to introduce mandate B2B e-invoicing by January 2026. An initial discussion paper proposed the introduction of e-invoicing in Germany by January 2025, however, the recent draft of the Growth Opportunities Act delays the starting date to January 2026. 

Also, Germany already received the EU authorization to implement the mandate on B2B electronic invoicing by way of derogation of articles 218 and 232 of the EU VAT Directive. German B2B e-invoicing mandate is now a solid plan. 

The details about German B2B e-invoicing

According to the information contained in the Government’s draft proposal:

• German e-invoicing would aim to cover domestic B2B transactions.
• German B2B e-invoicing would be in line with the European standard for electronic invoicing and the list of corresponding syntaxes according to Directive 2014/55/EU of April 16, 2014. This is the format proposed in ViDA.

The German proposal implies early compliance with ViDA regulations concerning electronic invoicing:

• Electronic invoicing changes its definition in the VAT Directive to refer exclusively to structured electronic invoices. This means that a PDF sent over email may no longer be considered an e-invoice.
• Electronic invoicing will be the default system for the issuance of invoices. The issuance of e-invoices will not depend on the acceptance of the recipient. 
• The use of paper invoices will only be possible in situations where Member States authorize them and will never apply to intra-Community transactions.
• The invoice standard format proposed is European e-invoice standard CEN 16931.
• Also, the content of invoices (semantic) will be extended according to the Commission’s proposal to include: i) an identifier of the bank account in which the payment for the invoice will be credited, ii) the agreed dates and amount of each payment related to a concrete transaction, and, iii) in the case of an invoice that amends the initial invoice, the identification of that initial invoice.